Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013 introduces a brand new debugger. Debugging will no longer be a painful task in Microsoft Dynamics NAV. Conditional breakpoints, debug other user sessions, and debug C/AL code in the Windows client instead of incomprehensible C# code are the new features, which will convert the debugging experience into a happy experience.

With the new debugger, you can now debug the following sessions:

You will find more information about the new debugger in Chapter 11, Debugging.

Page development is easier with Dynamics NAV 2013 than it was with Dynamics NAV 2009. Several enhancements have been added to the Page Designer page, as follows:

Testing options were introduced with Dynamics NAV 2009 SP1. Dynamics NAV 2013 has gone further in testing and introduces the ability to test pages.

On a test codeunit, we can now create a new type of variable, TestPage.

With this type of variable, we will be able to do with code almost the same things a user can do in a page. We will be able to:

Report development is completely different from what it used to be. The report development experience changed in Dynamics NAV 2009, with the introduction of RLDC-based reports, but it changes again with the actual release of the application.

With Dynamics NAV 2009, RLDC-based reports were introduced, but reports were still compatible with the classic definition of reports in Dynamics NAV. RLDC reports were actually based on the classic definition of the report.

With Dynamics NAV 2013, the classic definition for reports has disappeared and only RLDC-based reports are now available. But RLDC reports cannot now be based on the classic definition of reports. That is why the report development experience has changed again.

The report development experience in Dynamics NAV Development Environment now resembles the development experience of pages, queries, or XMLports. We now include, in the report designer, not only data items but also columns (fields) that will be displayed on the report.

The second part of report development, the development of the layout of the report, has to be done in Visual Studio 2010 (Dynamics NAV 2009 used Visual Studio 2008).

Reports in Dynamics NAV 2013 include a new function, SAVEASWORD, that enables you to save a report on the computer that is running Dynamics NAV Server as a Microsoft Word (.doc) document.

Reports in Dynamics NAV 2013 include three new properties to specify the printer tray from which pages of a report are printed. Those properties are as follows:

Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013 introduces a new application object, the Query.

A Query is a read-only object that allows us to combine data from multiple tables into a single dataset using several SQL join types. Results in a query can easily be filtered, sorted, and grouped, and totals can easily be calculated using methods such as sum, average, or count.

You will find more information about this new application object in Chapter 12, The Query Object.

In the previous versions of Dynamics NAV, XMLports could not be executed directly. They had to be run from a codeunit. With Dynamics NAV 2013, we can now run XMLports directly from Object Designer. The XMLport will run on the Dynamics NAV server.

In previous versions, when using XMLports with the Import option, new records could be inserted but existing records could not be modified. XMLports now have a set of new properties, called AutoSave, AutoReplace, and AutoUpdate, to determine whether records are automatically inserted, replaced, or updated.

In the previous versions, XMLports could only import and export data in text format encoded with MS-DOS encoding format. With Dynamics NAV 2013, we can now specify whether to use the MS-DOS, UTF-8, or UTF-16 encoding formats.

When you add new elements to a Dynamics NAV object, such as new global or local variables, new functions and new controls in pages, you are automatically given an ID for that new element that always starts with the same ID.

When developing in Dynamics NAV, we usually identify changes for a specific solution using the object's version list and also using object and field numbering. However, we cannot use element numbering in standard objects to identify developments done for a specific solution. In Dynamics NAV 2013, that is now possible with Start ID Offset.

When we specify a Start ID Offset, for example 1000, all elements that we create will have an ID starting with 1000 and then incremented by 1. That is, the first element created on an object will have 1000 as ID, the second element will have 1001 as ID, and so on.

To specify a Start ID Offset, the following steps have to be performed:

Dynamics NAV 2013 introduces new data types, functions, properties, and triggers. There are also some data types, functions, properties, and triggers that have changed or that have been removed.

The following table provides an overview of all the changed properties and their replacements:

The following table provides an overview of all the changed triggers and their replacements:

The following table provides an overview of all the changed data types and their replacements:

The following table provides an overview of all the changed functions and their replacements:

The following table provides an overview of all the changed objects and their replacements:

Dynamics NAV can be extended with the .NET Framework assemblies. We can reference assemblies and call types directly from C/AL code of Dynamics NAV objects, such as pages and codeunits. Dynamics NAV objects can also subscribe to events that are published by .NET Framework types.

Control add-ins has been enhanced with the following features:

The sales, purchase, and service posting routines of Dynamics NAV 2013 have been redesigned to lock differently from how previous versions of Dynamics NAV locked.

In previous versions, posting routines used to lock the G/L Entry table at the very beginning of the transaction. That meant that a user could not initiate a posting transaction while another posting transaction was being executed. This was a huge performance issue in multiuser environments.

Dynamics NAV 2013 sales, purchase, and service posting routines have been redesigned to lock the G/L Entry table later on, when the lock is really needed. Thus, the time for which this table remains locked is shorter than in previous versions, letting multiple users execute a posting routine at the same time and thus improving performance in multiuser environments.

With Dynamics NAV 2013, the dimension feature has been redesigned. From the user's point of view nothing has changed; dimensions still work as they used to, and they are used for the same purposes.

But the way dimensions are stored in the database has been completely redesigned. Instead of explicitly storing each dimension value in the database, a dimension set ID is used, and all the tables that use dimensions (documents, journals, entries, and so on) now refer to the same dimension set ID. This way, a dimension set is stored only once in the database, reducing the database space required to store dimensions and improving the application's overall performance. A new table called Dimension Set Entry has been created. Dimension set IDs are then assigned to journal lines, documents headers, and document lines.

Dimension set entries

Dimension sets are stored in the Dimension Set Entry table as dimension set entries with the same dimension set ID.

When you create a new journal line, document header, or document line, you can specify a combination of dimension values. Instead of explicitly storing each dimension value in the database, a dimension set ID is assigned to the journal line, document header, or document line to specify the dimension set.

When you edit and close the Edit Dimension Set Entries window, a check is performed to see whether the combination of dimension values exists as a dimension set in the table. If the combination occurs in the table, the corresponding dimension set ID is assigned to the journal line, document header, or document line. Otherwise, a new dimension set is added to the table, and the new dimension set ID is assigned to the journal line, document header, or document line.

The implementation of Automated Data Capture System, known as ADCS, was implemented in previous versions of Dynamics NAV using NAS services. In Dynamics NAV 2013, the implementation of ADCS is now based on web services. The user experience remains the same.