.NET

How to replace DotNet in AL

  • Reading time:7 mins read

A lot of us still have a ton of C/AL code sitting around in existing databases that sooner or later will have to be moved into AL. A lot of us also have a ton of AL code using DotNet that we want to be able to run in Microsoft’s cloud (that is: not on-prem). And I guess most of us don’t want to maintain a DotNet-less and DotNet-ful versions of our code.

Sooner or later, you’ll want all of DotNet out of your AL. Even if you are a seasoned .NET developer, you’ll want all DotNet out of AL.

Anyway, when you need to replace DotNet, what options do you have? Let’s take a look at all possible paths.

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C/AL internals: Some more invalid object states

  • Reading time:6 mins read

If you have followed the posts about how C/AL really executes in NAV, you know that C# and C/AL can sometimes be in a state where C/AL compiles, but C# does not, causing you some headaches during run time.

However, what might not be obvious is that there are situations where C/AL does not compile anymore (typically due to a changed dependency signature, or due to an object that went AWOL) but C# not only compiles, but also happily runs as if nothing is wrong in the first place.

These situations can be confusing, and after having read my original post, my friend Heinz has pointed out to those situations and asked me if I can explain them. So, here it goes.

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From C/AL to executable: how NAV runs your C/AL code

  • Reading time:10 mins read

A lot of folks write C/AL and never worry about what happens then. C/AL is written, NAV execute is, the story ends. The same way the story ends when you flush a toilet and the tank refills. How exactly? Who cares.

While understanding the inner workings of a toilet flush tank doesn’t necessarily make you more efficient at whatever it was that made you press the flush button in the first place, having a better understanding of exactly how NAV uses your C/AL code throughout its lifecycle is of arguably higher practical value.

Have you ever wondered what exactly happens to your C/AL code when you write it? How exactly does NAV run that stuff? Does it do any run-time interpretation, or does it compile C/AL into native code that runs on a processor? What does just-in-time compilation  mean and does it happen with C/AL? If so, when and why?

If any of these questions bother you, read on. If they don’t bother you, read on because they should bother you. If they don’t bother you because you know the answers, read on still, and then brag by poking holes in my explanation.

Continue ReadingFrom C/AL to executable: how NAV runs your C/AL code

Dynamically loading assemblies at runtime

  • Reading time:6 mins read

When you spend more time in C# than C/AL, and you still tell yourself and the world around you that you are developing for NAV, then this post is for you.

I already wrote a three-article series about “DLL hell” and how to resolve it, and in my last post in the series (https://vjeko.com/sorting-out-the-dll-hell-part-3-the-code) I delivered some code that help you take control of your .NET assemblies.

This time, I am delivering an updated solution, one that solves all the problems others, and myself, have encountered in the meantime.

So, fasten the seatbelt, and let’s embark on another .NET interoperability black belt ride.

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Database deployment of add-ins in NAV 2016 is broken, big time

  • Reading time:9 mins read

If you are developing .NET assemblies for use with NAV, then sooner or later you’ll figure out that the new database deployment of add-ins in NAV 2016 is broken.

I’ve just suffered through medieval torture of attempting to have my NAV forget about a database-deployed assembly.

First of all – if you are merely consuming an off-the-shelf assemblies developed by somebody out there, you’ll probably not need to worry at all. However, if you are developing your own assemblies, then sooner or later you’ll find yourself stretched in exactly the same torture rack.

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Getting out of the DateTime mess, or how to get Utc DateTime in C/AL

  • Reading time:3 mins read

Today at work I was trying to untangle one big bowl of spaghetti called DateTime. It’s the C/AL DateTime I am talking about, not System.DateTime from .NET.

The problem with C/AL DateTime is that no matter what you do it’s, according to documentation, “always displayed as local time”.

Another problem with C/AL DateTime is that C/AL is a bit rude when it comes to System.DateTime: whenever C/AL compiler (or runtime) encounters a value of System.DateTime it’s automatically converted to C/AL DateTime.

When you combine those two problems, you get the following problem: even though System.DateTime is perfectly capable of handling time in both UTC or local kind, C/AL isn’t.

To prove this point, just run this:

MESSAGE(‘Current local time: %1\Current UTC time: %2’,SystemDateTime.Now,SystemDateTime.UtcNow);

It will show this:

image

And I am currently sitting in a UTC+1 time zone, mind you.

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Sorting out the DLL hell, Part 3: The Code

  • Reading time:11 mins read

[Update, February 8, 2016: there is a new version of code from this post. Please check https://vjeko.com/dynamically-loading-assemblies-at-runtime]

Okay here we go. In this post I deliver the promised code that handles automatic deployment of all your assemblies to client and server, as needed.

For any of you who haven’t read the last two posts, I am talking about automatically deploying .NET assemblies to clients and server, from the database, on demand, at runtime.

This will be heavy on code, so fasten your seatbelt and brace for impact.

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Sorting out the DLL hell, Part 2: The Solution

  • Reading time:4 mins read

Deploying .NET assemblies to clients and servers in need is no simple affair. In my last post I have explained the problem, and announced the solution.

As promised, in this post I bring you the solution.

To be fully honest, this post only brings the conceptual solution, just a little brain game for you to train your .NET brain muscles a bit. The actual code I’ll deliver in the next post.

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Sorting out the DLL hell, Part 1: The Problem

  • Reading time:6 mins read

Let me tell you right away if you need to read this post at all. If you never wrote a single .NET class library intended to be used as a .NET interoperability assembly from C/AL, or if you never ever deployed a .dll file into the Add-ins folder of either Service or RoleTailored Client, then you probably don’t want to read this post.

Good, since you are still reading it means that you either deployed your own or somebody else’s .NET stuff into NAV’s client or server’s Add-ins folders. If you ever did so, you probably did not enjoy the experience too much. If you did enjoy the experience, maybe you should not read any further either.

Even better! Since you are still here it means that you didn’t enjoy deploying assemblies. Let me break some good news – all your problems are now gone! And I am not talking NAV 2016, I am talking NAV 2013 and anything newer.

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Client Extensibility Demos

  • Reading time:2 mins read

On Monday, June 15th I have delivered another session in Microsoft’s Road to Repeatability series of online demos about technical NAV features, this time covering Client Extensibility. The session went through both the .NET and JavaScript aspects of client extensibility, and again – I promised to post all of the demos and content from the session on my blog.

So, here it is, given as-is, with no guarantees or strings attached, just the plain content for you to see if you can make any sense out of it.

Now my to-do list has grown quite big with the stuff that I want to blog, and it includes presenting and explaining most of the concepts I showed in my presentation. So, keep your fingers crossed that I find just enough time to blog about all those small things that have found their way into my presentation, but never into real blog posts that take them inside out and explain in-depth what they are and how really they work.

Of course, you are still free to use any of this in any real, or unreal life scenarios.

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