Create Dynamic Dynamics 365 Business Central Grids Using the Infragistics XamDataGrid

Using Infragistics WPF UI controls, you can build contemporary applications reminiscent of Microsoft Office for both desktop and touch-based devices. When coupled with the CData ADO.NET Provider for Dynamics 365 Business Central, you gain the capability to construct interactive grids, charts, and various other visual elements while directly accessing real-time data from Dynamics 365 Business Central data. This article will guide you through the process of creating a dynamic grid within Visual Studio using the Infragistics XamDataGrid control.

You will need to install the Infragistics WPF UI components to continue. Download a free trial here: https://www.infragistics.com/products/wpf.

Create a WPF Project

Open VisualStudio and create a new WPF project.

Add a TextBox for passing a SQL query to the CData ADO.NET Provider and a Button for executing the query.

The XAML at this stage is as follows:

< Window
        xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
        xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
        xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
        xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
        xmlns:local="clr-namespace:CDataXamDataGridGroupingListApp"
        xmlns:igWPF="http://schemas.infragistics.com/xaml/wpf" x:Class="CDataXamDataGridGroupingListApp.MainWindow"
        mc:Ignorable="d"
        Title="MainWindow" Height="450" Width="800">
  < Grid>
    < TextBox x:Name="textBox" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Height="44" TextWrapping="Wrap" Text="TextBox" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="682" Margin="10,10,0,0"/>
    < Button x:Name="button" Content="Execute" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="697,10,0,0" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="85" Height="44"/>
  < /Grid>
< /Window>

Add and Configure a XamDataGrid

After adding the initial controls, add a XamDataGrid to the App. The component will appear in the Visual Studio toolbox.

Arrange the component on the designer so that it is below the TextBox & Button and linked to the boundaries of the app.

Once the XamDataGrid is placed, edit the XAML to set the XamDataGrid DataSource attribute to "{Binding}" and set the FieldSettings AllowRecordFiltering and AllowSummaries attributes to "true." Next, add an empty method as the Click event handler for the Button component. The XAML at this stage is as follows:

< Window
        xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
        xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
        xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
        xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
        xmlns:local="clr-namespace:CDataXamDataGridGroupingListApp"
        xmlns:igWPF="http://schemas.infragistics.com/xaml/wpf" x:Class="CDataXamDataGridGroupingListApp.MainWindow"
        mc:Ignorable="d"
        Title="MainWindow" Height="450" Width="800">
  < Grid>
    < TextBox x:Name="textBox" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Height="44" TextWrapping="Wrap" Text="TextBox" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="682" Margin="10,10,0,0"/>
    < Button x:Name="button" Content="Execute" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Margin="697,10,0,0" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="85" Click="Button_Click" Height="44"/>

    < igWPF:XamDataGrid Margin="10,59,10,10" DataSource="{Binding}">
      < igWPF:XamDataGrid.FieldSettings>
        < igWPF:FieldSettings AllowSummaries="True" AllowRecordFiltering="True"/>
      < /igWPF:XamDataGrid.FieldSettings>
    < /igWPF:XamDataGrid>

  < /Grid>
< /Window>

Connect to and Query Dynamics 365 Business Central

The last step in building our WPG App with a dynamic DataGrid is connecting to and querying live Dynamics 365 Business Central data. First add a reference to the CData ADO.NET Provider to the project (typically found in C:\Program Files\CData[product_name]\lib).

Next, add the Provider to the namespace, along with the standard Data library:

using System.Data.CData.D365BusinessCentral;
using System.Data;

Finally, add the code to connect to Dynamics 365 Business Central and query using the text from the TextBox to the Click event handler.

To authenticate to Dynamics 365 Business Central, you must provide the User and AccessKey properties.

To obtain the User and AccessKey values, navigate to the Users page in Dynamics 365 Business Central and then click on Edit. The User Name and Web Service Access Key values are what you will enter as the User and AccessKey connection string properties. Note that the User Name is not your email address. It is a shortened user name.

To connect to data, specify OrganizationUrl. If you have multiple companies in your organization, you must also specify the Company to indicate which company you would like to connect to. Company does not need to be specified if you have only one company.

private void Button_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
  //connecting to Dynamics 365 Business Central
  string connString = "OrganizationUrl=https://myaccount.financials.dynamics.com/;";
  using (var conn = new D365BusinessCentralConnection(connString))
  {
    //using the query from the TextBox
    var dataAdapter = new D365BusinessCentralDataAdapter(textBox.Text, conn);
    var table = new DataTable();
    dataAdapter.Fill(table);
    
    //passing the DataRowCollection to the DataContext
    //  for use in the XamDataGrid
    this.DataContext = table.Rows;
  }
}

Run the Application

With the app fully configured, we are ready to display Dynamics 365 Business Central data in our XamDataGrid. When you click "Execute," the app connects to Dynamics 365 Business Central and submits the SQL query through the CData ADO.NET Provider.

Live Dynamics 365 Business Central data is displayed in the grid.

Group the data by dragging and dropping a column name into the header.

As you add groupings and filters, the underlying SQL query is submitted directly to Dynamics 365 Business Central, making it possible to drill down into live Dynamics 365 Business Central data to find only the specific information you need.

Free Trial & More Information

At this point, you have created a dynamic WPF App with access to live Dynamics 365 Business Central data. For more information, visit the CData ADO.NET Provider page. Download a free, 30-day trial and start working live Dynamics 365 Business Central data in apps built using the Infragistics UI controls today.