If you’re running Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, chances are you’ve already installed at least one extension from the Business Central Extension Marketplace (part of Microsoft AppSource). Extensions are how partners and ISVs add functionality to BC without touching the core code, and a lot of them do this by adding new fields to existing pages or creating entirely new custom tables to store their own data.
That’s great for functionality, but it raises a common question we hear from Popdock customers: how do you actually report on that custom data once it’s in Business Central? In the following sections, I’ll walk through the two ways extensions typically add data to BC, and how Popdock handles each one.
What the Extension Marketplace Actually Changes in Business Central
Extensions installed from AppSource generally do one of two things to your Business Central environment:
- Add custom fields to existing pages — for example, an extension might add a “Certification Number” field to the Item Card, without creating a new table. The field usually lives on the underlying table (or a related table) tied to that record.
- Add entirely new custom tables — larger extensions often need their own data model. Instead of bolting fields onto standard tables, they create new tables specific to the extension (a shipping extension might add its own “Carrier Rate” table, for instance).
Both patterns are common, and knowing which one you’re dealing with determines how you’ll get that data into Popdock. But before you can decide which path to take, you need to know where the field is actually coming from, and that’s where Business Central’s page inspection feature comes in.
Finding Out Where a Field Actually Lives
Not every field on a BC page tells you at a glance whether it’s a real table field or something that only exists on the page (which is often the case with fields added by extensions). Business Central has a built-in feature called Inspect Pages and Data that lets you check this without needing a developer or digging into the database yourself.
Here’s how to use it:
1.) Open the page that has the field you’re trying to trace (the Item Card, Sales Order, etc.).
2.) Click the question mark (?) icon in the top-right corner of the page.
3.) Choose Help & Support, then select Inspect pages and data. (You can also skip the menu entirely and just use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Alt+F1.)
4.) The Page Inspection pane opens on the right side of the screen. Click on the field you’re investigating, and the pane will update to show details about it, including the page’s source table and the specific field it’s tied to.
5.) Under Table Fields, you’ll also see every field that exists on the underlying table, even ones that aren’t shown on the page itself. If the field you’re looking for shows up here with a source table and field name, it’s a real table field, which means it’s a candidate for a Query Builder list against the replica database.
6.) If the field doesn’t show a source table, or it only appears on the page itself, it likely only exists at the page level. In that case, you’ll need to bring it into Popdock through a page web service instead, since it won’t be present in the underlying table data.
Once you know which type of field you’re dealing with, you can move on to the right approach in Popdock.
Reporting on Custom Tables Using Query Builder and BC’s Read-Only Replica Database
When an extension creates its own custom table, that data lives in Business Central’s read-only replica database, an optimized, automatically maintained copy of your live BC data that’s designed specifically for reporting and heavy queries without impacting production. You can’t query this replica database directly with standard SQL tools; it’s accessed through API query objects, which is exactly what Popdock’s Query Builder is built to do.
With Query Builder, you can visually build a query against the replica database, combine data from multiple tables (including custom tables added by an extension), filter it down to what you need, and save it as a reusable list, all without writing any code. For a full walkthrough of setting this up, check out our KB article on utilizing Business Central’s read-only replica database with Popdock’s Query Builder.
Reporting on Custom Fields Using Page Web Services
Custom fields added to existing pages are a different story, especially if the field only exists on the page and not on the underlying table (which is exactly what you’d confirm using Inspect Pages and Data). For these, the more reliable path is to publish the page as a web service and connect to it through Popdock’s Business Central connector.
Here’s how that works:
1.) In Business Central, search for Web Services and open the page.
2.) You will want to look at Object Types of Page and see if the Web Service you want to bring into Popdock is listed and published. If it is already published, look at the Service Name and skip to Step 8 to add the list to Popdock.
3.) If the page is not listed, click the +New button to add a new web service to be published.
4.) For Object Type, choose Page. For the Object ID, you can enter the ID provided in the page inspection, for example, Item Card Object ID was 30. If you are unsure you can view a full list by clicking the drop down on Object ID and clicking “Select from full list”.
5.) Once you have the Object ID entered, the Object Name will populate and then you will need to enter a Service Name. This is usually the same as the Object Name with no spaces.
6.) Next make sure to check the Published check box.
7.) Then click off the row and your entry will be completed and you should see the Odata V4 URL populate with a URL.
8.) In Popdock, edit your Business Central connector, go to Lists, and click + Add List.
9.) This brings up a list of available web services. Search or scroll through them to locate the one you just published, and select it to add it as a list.
Once that’s set up, the custom field behaves like any other field in your Popdock report. You can filter on it, add it to a widget, or combine it with data from other connectors, including a Query Builder list built against the replica database.
If you have any questions about custom tables, custom fields, or getting your Business Central extensions reporting properly in Popdock, please reach out to our Support Team at support@popdock.com.
