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Dialog design creation

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Hi,

A requirement came to create a dialog that creates multiple things
let's say the dialog should contain a section for filling some vendor details

another section for creating vendor bank details

another section for creating purchase order header (somehow similar to the fields in the original dialog)

and another section for creating one purchase order line (specific fields)

i was going to duplicate the PO create dialog and add the extra fields. But is there a better approach? as i feel the dialog will be very long now
I mean could we for example create multiple dialogs with "Next" option to go to the second one, but only actually save at the end of everything?
or is there a better design for this or sth similar that was done in standard?

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Martin Dráb 240,835 Most Valuable Professional on at

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You may be looking for Wizard form pattern.
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Hi Martin,

So you agree that one dialog with all of those things is a wrong desing?

the benefit from using on dialog when copying the PO create dialog(PurchOrderCreate), is that it will save me alot of logic as i need lots of things from (it's almost the same fields but hiding few of them) (that's why i wanted multiple dialogs with next button to not lose the logic behind the PO form)
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Saif Ali Sabri 2,829 Super User 2026 Season 2 on at

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You're on the right track in looking for ways to simplify this complex dialog. A few approaches to consider for making the process more user-friendly and structured:

Multi-Step Dialogs: Microsoft Dynamics allows creating multi-step dialogs where you can structure it as a sequence. Each "step" could represent a section (Vendor Details, Bank Details, PO Header, PO Line). Users would click "Next" to move to the next step, and the data would only be saved at the final step. This approach keeps each screen uncluttered and allows the user to navigate back if needed.

Tabbed Sections: Another approach is to use tabs within a single dialog, dividing each section into its tab (e.g., "Vendor Info," "Bank Details," "PO Header," "PO Line"). Tabs offer an organized layout without overwhelming users with excessive fields on one screen.

Modal Dialogs: For complex sections (like Vendor or PO Line), you could open a separate modal dialog that users complete before returning to the main dialog. This can keep the main dialog concise while still offering detail entry when needed.

Separate Forms with Save Confirmation: In Dynamics, you can build separate forms for each section that all save in a draft state. Then, use a final confirmation dialog that gathers and verifies the data before a single save.

Custom Page with Form Navigation: Consider a custom page that incorporates a form navigation pane (like a summary on the left and details to the right). This is more advanced but could offer the most streamlined experience if users need to revisit sections often before finalizing.
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Hi Saif,

I would like to go with the Tabbed section. But my question is:

1. Shall i duplicate the PurchOrderCreate form?

2. If I'm going to insert data into different tables (VendTable, VendBankAccount, PurchTable, PurchLine), does that mean i need to add those datasources to this form, or shall i create a tmp table with the fields needed? or what approach is the best one to insert into multiple tables from a dialog?

3. And in general, can you give me an existing example in the system of each design u mentioned in the previous reply?