The ultimate guide to mastering Business Central’s user interface development
If you’re building extensions for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, you’re building pages. Every card, every list, every document, every Role Center—they’re all page objects. And if you’re preparing for the MB-820 certification exam, you need to understand them inside and out.
That’s why I’m excited to announce the latest addition to my MB-820 Exam Cram series:
Pages and Page Extensions in Business Central
This comprehensive 50+ page guide covers everything you need to know about Business Central’s user interface layer.
What’s Inside?
Understanding Page Types
Business Central has over 14 page types, each designed for specific purposes:
- Card pages for single record editing
- List pages for browsing multiple records
- Document pages for header-line structures
- RoleCenter pages for user dashboards
- API pages for OData endpoints (and why they can’t be extended!)
Do you know when to use a ListPart vs a CardPart? What about NavigatePage vs StandardDialog? This booklet explains them all.
Mastering the Layout Section
The layout section is where your UI comes to life:
- Organizing content with areas and groups
- Field properties that control behavior: Importance, Style, Editable, Visible
- Dynamic expressions for conditional UI
- Parts and FactBoxes for related information
- Repeaters with tree views for hierarchical data
Actions That Actually Work
Actions are how users interact with your pages:
- The four main action areas: Processing, Navigation, Reporting, Creation
- Modern promoted actions syntax (goodbye legacy
Promoted = true!) - RunObject, RunPageLink, and RunPageView explained
- Action groups and proper organization
Page Extensions Done Right
Extending existing pages is an art:
- Placement keywords:
addfirst,addlast,addafter,addbefore - Moving controls with
movefirst,movelast,moveafter,movebefore - Modifying existing controls without breaking things
- Why API pages can’t be extended (and what to do instead)
Role Centers and Profiles
Understanding the customization layers is crucial:
- Creating Role Center pages
- Profile objects that link Role Centers to users
- Page customization objects for profile-specific UI
- The priority hierarchy: Personalization > Client > AL > Extension > Base
BONUS: Page Scripting Tool
The new Page Scripting feature (Business Central 2024 Wave 1) is a game-changer:
- Record user actions without writing code
- Create acceptance tests that actually work
- Power Fx integration for dynamic test data
- YAML output for CI/CD pipeline integration
Hands-On Learning
Theory is great, but practice makes perfect. This booklet includes:
4 Comprehensive Exercises:
- Create a custom list page with views and FactBoxes
- Build a page extension with conditional visibility
- Design a document page with header and lines
- Create a profile with page customizations
20 Exam-Style Questions:
Each question mirrors the format and difficulty of the actual MB-820 exam, with detailed explanations for every answer.
Quick Knowledge Check
Before you grab your copy, test yourself:
Question 1: Your page extension isn’t working on a standard page. You check the base page and see Extensible = true. What else could be the problem?
Question 2: You want a field to appear grayed out but still visible. Which property do you use—Editable or Enabled?
Question 3: What’s the correct syntax to add a field after the Name field in a page extension?
(Answers at the bottom of this post)
Who Is This For?
- MB-820 Exam Candidates – This is exactly what’s tested
- AL Developers – Build better user interfaces
- Solution Architects – Design proper UI patterns
- Technical Consultants – Customize BC for your clients
Get Your Copy
Ready to master pages and page extensions?
Limited time 20% off
Companion Resources
I’ve also created YouTube videos that complement this booklet:
About the MB-820 Exam Cram Series
This is part of my growing series of MB-820 exam preparation guides:
- Install and Upgrade Codeunits
- Admin and Automation APIs
- Performance Toolkit
- Cloud Migration Tool
- Creating New Companies
- Outlook Integration
- Teams Integration
- Tables and Table Extensions
- Pages and Page Extensions (NEW!)
Each booklet focuses on a specific topic area, giving you deep knowledge where you need it most.
Answers to Knowledge Check
Answer 1: The page might be an API page. API pages cannot be extended via page extensions—you need to create a new API page instead.
Answer 2: Enabled = false grays out the field. Editable = false makes it read-only but it still looks normal.
Answer 3:
addafter(Name)
{
field(MyField; Rec.MyField)
{
ApplicationArea = All;
}
}Have questions about pages and page extensions? Drop them in the comments below!
