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Copy configuration data between companies or legal entities overview

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Important

Customers using Human Resources, the functionality noted in this article is currently available in both the stand-alone Dynamics 365 Human Resources and the merged Finance infrastructure. Navigation might be different than noted while we make updates. If you need to find a specific page, you can use Search.

There are two options for copying configuration data in finance and operations:

  • To move data between instances, you must first export it from one company, and then import it to another company.
  • To move data from one legal entity to another legal entity in the same instance, you can use the Copy into legal entity feature.

Export a configuration

The Data management workspace is your hub for managing configuration data projects and exporting data packages. To build a configuration, you must define a data project and export the information that is represented by entities.

To create an export configuration data project, follow these steps.

  1. Open the Data management workspace. If you're in Standard view, select Enhanced view.

  2. Select the Export tile.

  3. Select New to create an export configuration data project, and enter an ID and name for the configuration.

  4. Set the operation type for the data project to Export, and set the project category to Configuration.

  5. Add the entities that represent the information that you want to export. You can add entities by using several methods:

    • Add one entity – Enter the first part of the name of the entity until it appears in the lookup.
    • Add multiple entities – Enter any part of the entity name, use the lookup for the module, enter any part of the tag name, or use the lookup for the entity category to show a list of entities. Press Tab to move focus away from the Lookup field and activate the filter. In the grid, select the entities to add.
    • Add a file – Browse to a file that contains a name that matches the name of an entity and a file name extension that matches the file name extension that is in your data sources.
    • Add a template – Select from a list of templates that you loaded in your instance.

  6. Select a target data format. The system stores the last data format that you selected. Alternatively, if you select a file, the system automatically sets the data format to the data source that matches the file name extension.

    Note

    Composite entities require XML format.

  7. Select Add. If you load a template, and the project already includes an entity that matches an entity in the template, the entity in the project is replaced with entity in the template. Some templates are large, and they might take a few seconds to be loaded.

  8. Select Remove entity to remove one or more selected entities.

  9. When you complete the configuration, select Export to start the export. You can monitor the results on the Execution summary page that appears.

Before you export a configuration, you might want to use some more features that can help control the export process:

  • To organize the list, use the Sort by button to reorder the entities by unit, level, and sequence.
  • To change the execution sequence of any of the entities, you can manually edit the unit, level, or sequence. Alternatively, you can use the Resequence button to update any entities that you selected. The Resequence button appears only if you select more than one entity. You can change the unit, level, and sequence individually. Alternatively, you can enable multiple changes and make them all at the same time. If you want the unit, level, or sequence to remain unchanged when you change multiple parts of the sequence, set the increment to 0 (zero).
  • To add filters to the entity, use the Filter button. If you add a filter, the Filter button changes to an Edit button. The data is filtered before it's exported. If you add a template, and the template includes filters, those filters are added to your project. However, you can modify or remove them as you require.
  • If you must change the entity mappings, use the View map button. If you add a template, and the template includes mapping changes, those changes are applied to your project. However, you can modify them as you require.
  • To temporarily prevent the entity from being used when you export a data project, use the check box in the Disable column.
  • To open the contents of the grid in a Microsoft Excel workbook, use the Open in Excel button. Modify the entities as you require, and then use the Publish button to upload the changes back.

When the export is completed, complete the following tasks:

  • Use the Download button on the Export page to download the configuration settings.
  • Use the Download package button in the Data management workspace or on the Execution summary page to download the configuration settings and the data that was exported.

Set up considerations for some entities that are used to export configurations

Currently, several entities require more steps when you build configurations. Follow these recommendations as you build your configurations.

Important

This list is updated as the Copy configuration feature is improved.

Using special-purpose entities

The following entities require special handling when they're used in configurations.

Area Entity Action
System setup Global address book The entity no longer exports the records that are created automatically when a company is created. The import no longer accepts those records.
GL Shared Account structures active group This composite entity exports and imports only the active account structures. If you use any other account structure entities, the status of the active account structures is changed to Draft, and you must activate them before they can be used.
Advanced rule structures active group This composite entity is used in combination with the account structures active group entity. It exports and imports only the active advanced rule structures. If you use any other advanced rule structure entities, the status of the advanced rule structures are changed to Draft, and you must activate them before they can be used.
Financial dimension values All dimension values are exported, even values that are based on system-defined entities such as projects or customers. Remove the system-defined values before you import them. If you leave the system-defined values in the package, they aren't imported. However, they're filled as you import the data that backs the system-defined dimension.
Workflow Workflow version Change the owner for every record in the package data to Admin, unless the users in the workflow are already imported.
Workflow expression Some workflow expressions might be too long for an Excel cell. Use XML instead of Excel as the export format.
Tax Sales tax parameters The default value for the marginal base calculations method is Total for sales tax parameters. The Ledger Parameters entity doesn't set that value. However, the marginal base that some tax codes use, Line, fails validation. A new entity that is named the Sales tax parameters preset entity was created so that you can import the marginal base calculation method first. You can then import tax codes.
Accounts receivable Customers The Customers entity is designed to use with OData scenarios. For configurations, use the Customer definitions entity and the Customer details entity. The Customer definitions entities let you import the basic information about a customer. In this way, you enable entities that require a customer has that information earlier in the import process. The Customer details entity contains more information about a customer that you can add after parameters and reference data it's set up.
Inventory management Warehouse locations Some warehouse locations require a location profile ID. Location profile IDs require a location format. Currently, the location format information must be manually added before the warehouse location. The entities for the location format and location profile were added in version 7.2.3 (App update 3 of the July 2017 release).
Product information management Products The Products and Released Products entities should be used for configurations. The Product master and Released product master entities should be used for OData scenarios.
Product document attachments For attachments to product documents released product documents, you must never skip staging, because more steps are performed in the staging environment. You must use a data package for export and import, because the export file must be accompanied by a resources folder that contains the attachments. The entities support images, documents, notes, and links. When you export, you see an image file that has a name that resembles a globally unique identifier (GUID). This file is a valid data package that is required in order to complete the import.
Product attribute values Product attribute values are assigned only when a user opens the Attribute values page from the Products details page. Currently, you can't import the values unless this step was performed in the golden build.
Procurement Vendor catalog See the "Vendor catalogs import" section of Vendor catalogs in Dynamics AX on the Supply Chain Management blog.
Project Shared category The Shared category entity now exposes the following fields: CATEGORYID, CATEGORYNAME, EXPENSETYPE, USINEXPENSE, USINPRODUCTION, and USEINPROJECT. If you change the value of the USEINEXPENSE field to yes, the EXPENSETYPE should be set to one of the valid values that are available in the Expense type field on the Shared category page.

Remove the mapping and apply filters for specific entity fields

In a golden build, customer-specific fields might not be set up. To help guarantee that the import works, you should unmap those fields. For example, workers are stored in many tables, but they might not be set up in a golden build. Filters might also be required for some fields in an entity.

The following entities might have to be unmapped or filtered.

Area Entity Action
System setup Operating unit Unmap Manager personnel number unless workers are imported.
User information Apply a filter where ID isn't equal to Admin. Unmap Person name, and use the User to person relationship entity to map system users to directory users.
Accounts payable Vendors Unmap Purchase site (DefaultPurchaseSite) and Warehouse (DefaultProcurementWarehouseID) unless they're set up. Unmap the vendor bank account ID. The Vendor bank account entity sets up the link to the bank account when it's imported.
Accounts receivable Customer details Unmap Employee responsible number unless workers are imported. Unmap Collections contact person (CollectionsContactPersonID) unless workers and their contact information have been imported. Unmap the site (SiteID) and warehouse (WarehouseID) unless they have already been imported.
Inventory management Warehouse current postal address Unmap Picking store area and Input store area unless Commerce information has been imported.
Product information management Products Unmap NMFCCode and STCCCode unless you're adding the transportation management template to your data project.
Released products Unmap the project category, default product color, default configuration, default product size, and default product style. This entity is self-referencing and hasn't updated to load these fields in a single pass.
Period template The Period template entity is a shared entity. Although it can be filtered by legal entity, the Period template lines entity doesn't have a Legal entity field. To import a single legal entity, you can filter the period template. However, you must currently remove the period template lines that aren't related to that legal entity.
Item coverage group Unmap Period template ID unless it was added manually.
Procurement Vendors Unmap Purchase site (DefaultPurchaseSite) and Warehouse (DefaultProcurementWarehouseID) unless they're set up. Unmap the vendor bank account ID. The Vendor bank account entity sets up the link to the bank account when imported.
Sales and marketing Leads Unmap LeadOpeningPersonnelNumber, LeadClosingPersonnelNumber, and LeadResponsiblePersonnelNumber unless workers are imported.
Sales type document entry policies Unmap IsAtpGenrallyIncludingPlannedOrders. The default for Master planning was changed to be Yes for Disable all planning processes when a legal entity is created.
Project management Projects Unmap WorkerArchitectPersonelNumber, WorkerRespFinancialPersonelNumber, WorkerResponsiblePersonnelNumber, and WorkerRespSalesPersonelNumber unless workers are imported.
Retail POS visual profiles Unmap Pallet because no entity is available at this time. The POS visual profiles entity was added to the Retail template in version 7.2.3 (App update 3 of the July 2017 release).
Retail channel Unmap Channel profile name (ChannelProfileName) and Live database connection profile name (LiveDatabaseConnectionProfileName) because no entity is available at this time. The Retail channel entity was added to the Retail template in version 7.2.3 (App update 3 of the July 2017 release).

The templates can be used to export data from any company in your golden build. When you export both shared data and company data, the templates first export the shared data for all legal entities. They then export the data for the legal entity that you're currently using. You can then switch companies and export the company data for more legal entities by using projects that don't include the shared entities.

If you're exporting from a golden build that contains multiple legal entities, but you want to import the data from only one of those legal entities, you must apply a filter on the legal entity fields, so that only the data that you require for that legal entity is exported. This filter must remove all data for all legal entities except the legal entity that you want. In some cases, you must complete more steps to clean up the exported data.

Most of the changes that are listed in the following table occur in the System setup and General ledger areas. If you export a golden build that uses a single legal entity, you shouldn't require these filters.

The following entities require filters or special handling when you export the data.

Area Entity Action
System setup Legal entities Apply a filter to Company.
Number sequence code The number sequence codes can be shared, or they can be specific to a legal entity. To import all number sequences, you must have the legal entities set up for the number sequences that are stored for a specific legal entity. If you want only shared number sequences, apply a filter to remove the number sequences that are specific to a legal entity. If you want the number sequences only for a specific legal entity, apply a filter to Company.

Number sequences can also have scope. You must delete number sequences when the following conditions are met:

  • The SCOPETYPE value is DataArea, and the SCOPEVALUE value either isn't equal to the legal entity or is blank.
  • The SCOPETYPE value is LegalEntity, and the SCOPEVALUE value isn't equal to the legal entity.
  • The SCOPETYPE value is DataAreaFiscalCalendar, and the SCOPEVALUE value isn't equal to the legal entity.
Number sequence references Number sequence references can also have scope. You must delete the number sequence references when the following conditions are met:
  • The SCOPETYPE value is equal to DataArea, DataAreaFiscalCalendar, or LegalEntity.
  • The SCOPEVALUE value either isn't equal to the legal entity that you want in the data or is blank.
Organization hierarchies There isn't a legal entity filter. Manually remove any references to the other legal entities that you aren't importing. For example, if you set up centralized payments, but you're loading only one legal entity, you must not import the Centralized payments hierarchy.
Global address book Multiple entities The global address book contains data for all legal entities. All legal entities are created when you import the data, unless you remove the data for the legal entities that you don't want to load. To help guarantee that other legal entities aren't created, delete all records for those other legal entities. Alternatively, apply a filter to the Legal entity data area (<> blank). You must also remove global address book records that are used in the other legal entities.
Party postal addresses Address records for legal entities other than the legal entity that you're importing must be manually deleted before import.
Party contacts Contact records for legal entities other than the legal entity that you're importing must be manually deleted before import.
Workflow Apply a filter on DataAreaID. Many of the workflow entities can't be filtered for legal entity. Therefore, import failures might occur if you don't remove the data in all workflow entities that are related to legal entities that you don't want. We recommend that you manually set up workflows for this scenario.
General ledger Ledger Apply a filter to Company.
Ledger fiscal calendar year Apply a filter to Ledger name.
Ledger fiscal calendar period Apply a filter to Ledger name.
Main account legal entity overrides Apply a filter to Company.
Financial dimension value legal entity Apply a filter to Legal entity.
Financial dimension values Apply a filter to Legal entity. However, you can't filter out system-defined dimension values. Therefore, you must delete them. Those system-defined dimension values are restored when you import data for the tables that back the system-defined dimensions.
Journal names Apply a filter to Voucher series company ID.
Ledger allocation basis source Apply a filter to Legal entity.
Ledger allocation rule destination Apply a filter to Company.
Accounts receivable Customer write-off reason code Apply a filter to Company.
Budget Budget control configuration Apply a filter to Legal entity.
Budget control configuration activation Apply a filter to Legal entity.
Budget control cycle model Apply a filter to Legal entity.
Budget control dimension attribute Apply a filter to Legal entity.
Budget control documents and journals Apply a filter to Legal entity.
Budget control group Apply a filter to Legal entity.
Budget control group criteria Apply a filter to Legal entity.
Budget control message level Apply a filter to Legal entity.
Budget control over budget permissions Apply a filter to Legal entity.
Budget control rule Apply a filter to Legal entity.
Budget control rule criteria Apply a filter to Legal entity.
Budget cost elements Apply a filter to Cost element data area ID.
Budget dimensions Apply a filter to Legal entity.
Budget plan allocation schedule Apply a filter to Ledger.
Budget plan process Apply a filter to Ledger.
Budget plan stage rule If you applied a filter to Budget plan process, errors might occur when you import stage rules. Because the entity doesn't currently contain a ledger name that can be filtered, it contains all companies.
Budget plan priority constraint You experience the same issue that is described for the Budget plan stage rule entity.
Budget plan process administration You experience the same issue that is described for the Budget plan stage rule entity.
Budget transfer rules Apply a filter to Legal entity.
Inventory management Warehouse current postal address Apply a filter to Company.
Site current postal address Apply a filter to Company.
Tracking number groups The entity automatically filters the Number sequence scope data area by the legal entity. Therefore, you don't require a filter. However, if you must change the legal entity, the legal entity is stored in the table.
Retail POS registers Apply a filter to Legal entity. This entity was added to the Retail template version 7.2.3 (App update 3 of the July 2017 release).
Retail store address book There isn't a legal entity filter for this entity so the export includes records for all legal entities. This entity was added to the Retail template inversion 7.2.3 (App update 3 of the July 2017 release).
Retail locator group member There isn't a legal entity filter for this entity so the export includes records for all legal entities. This entity was added to the Retail template in version 7.2.3 (App update 3 of the July 2017 release).
Retail locator group owner There isn't a legal entity filter for this entity so the export includes records for all legal entities. This entity was added to the Retail template in version 7.2.3 (App update 3 of the July 2017 release).
Retail devices There isn't a legal entity filter for this entity so the export includes records for all legal entities. This entity was added to the Retail template in version 7.2.3 (App update 3 of the July 2017 release).

If you want to change the legal entity ID to another value, the value of all fields that resemble the fields that were listed earlier must be changed to the value of the new legal entity. For example, for Legal entities, change Company from the exported value to a new value in the exported file.

The legal entity ID is stored in many places. Therefore, it can be difficult to make this change, and you might cause errors if you try.

Note

When you set up a data project to copy into a legal entity, a legal entity filter for the source legal entity is automatically added to any entity field that is determined to be a legal entity field.

To export a single legal entity, you can create a Copy into legal entity data project and specify the legal entity to copy as the source legal entity. When you add entities or load templates, that type of project automatically adds legal entity filters. You can then download the package or create a template from it on the Templates page. The package or template can then be added to an export project and used to export the legal entity.

Import a configuration

The Data management workspace is also your hub for importing configuration data projects. You can build a configuration project from an existing data project that you exported. Alternatively, you can build a configuration project from individual files that contain data that is formatted correctly for import.

To import a configuration, follow these steps.

  1. Open the Data management workspace. If you're in Standard view, select Enhanced view.

  2. Select the Import tile.

  3. Select New to create a configuration data project, and enter an ID and name for the configuration.

  4. Set the operation type for the data project to Import, and set the project category to Configuration.

  5. Add the entities that represent the information that you want to copy. You can add entities by using several methods:

    • Add one entity – Enter the first part of the name of the entity until it appears in the lookup.
    • Add multiple entities – Enter any part of the entity name, use the lookup for the module, enter any part of the tag name, or use the lookup for the entity category to show a list of entities. Press Tab to move focus away from the Lookup field and activate the filter. In the grid, select the entities to add.
    • Add a file – Browse to a file that contains a name that matches the name of an entity and a file name extension that matches the file name extension that is in your data sources, and the source data format is set automatically. If you haven't set up the default file name extensions, you must select a source data format before you select the file.
    • Add a template – Select from a list of templates that you loaded in your instance.

    When you load a package, the Import page first reads the list of entities from the package. A progress indicator shows how much of the package has been read. After the list of entities is read, the Import page starts to load the data in the package. This process can take some time.

  6. Select Remove entity to remove any selected entities, as required.

  7. After you've completed the configuration, select Import to start the import. You can monitor the results on the Execution details page that appears.

Before you import a configuration, you might want to use some more features that can help control the import process:

  • To organize the list, use the Sort by button to reorder the entities by unit, level, or sequence.
  • To change the execution sequence of any of the entities, you can manually edit the unit, level, or sequence. Alternatively, you can use the Resequence button to update any entities that you selected.
  • If you must change the entity mappings, use the View map button.
  • To temporarily prevent the entity from being used when you export a data project, use the check box in the Disable column.

The Data management workspace is also your hub for copying configuration information from one legal entity to another. The process resembles an export and import that occur in one step. As in an import, if information that exists in the source legal entity doesn't exist in the destination legal entity, the copy process adds it. If information already exists in the destination legal entity, the copy process updates it.

Note

Make sure that change tracking is enabled for the entity. This is required to ensure that only an incremental push, and not a full push, occurs.

To copy a configuration from one legal entity to another legal entity in the same instance, follow these steps.

  1. Open the Data management workspace. If you're in Standard view, select Enhanced view.

  2. Select the Copy into legal entity tile.

  3. Select New to create a configuration data project, and enter an ID and name for the configuration.

  4. Set the operation type for the data project to Copy into legal entity, and set the project category to Configuration.

  5. Select the legal entity that should be the source of the data to copy. By default, the legal entity that you're currently using is selected.

  6. On the Legal entities FastTab, you can select existing legal entities as a destination, or you can create new legal entities:

    • Select – Select one or more legal entities in the list, and then select Add selected. The legal entities are added to the list of destination legal entities.
    • Create – Enter the legal entity ID, the legal entity name, and the region that the legal entity belongs in. Then select Create legal entity. The legal entity is created and added to the list of destination legal entities.

    Note

    The functionality for creating destination legal entities is available in finance and operations 7.2.3.

  7. After you add the destination legal entities, select Yes if the number sequences should be copied. The entities that are required in order to copy the number sequence codes and number sequence references is added to the project. The execution unit, level, and sequence number for these entities are set to the numbers in the default System and Shared templates. If you aren't using the default templates, adjust the entity sequences so that they're first in the list.

  8. If you selected Yes for number sequences, select Yes or No to specify whether those number sequences should be reset to the smallest value.

  9. Add the entities that represent the information that you want to copy. You can add entities by using several methods:

    • Add one entity – Enter the first part of the name of the entity until it appears in the lookup.
    • Add multiple entities – Enter any part of the entity name, use the lookup for the module, enter any part of the tag name, or use the lookup for the entity category to show a list of entities. Press Tab to move focus away from the Lookup field and activate the filter. In the grid, select the entities to add.
    • Add a file – Browse to a file that contains a name that matches the name of an entity and a file name extension that matches the file name extension that is in your data sources.
    • Add a template – Select from a list of templates that you loaded in your instance.

    To help guarantee that the correct order is maintained, we recommend that you use the default templates. Then add and remove entities to match the data that you want to copy. You can remove the entities that you don't want to copy.

    Note

    • If an entity has a field that represents the legal entity, a filter is applied to that entity, so that only the data for the source legal entity is included. The value for that field is changed to the destination legal entity.
    • Document, transaction, and composite entities aren't available when you copy to a legal entity.

  10. Select Remove entity to remove any selected entities, as required.

  11. After you've completed the configuration, select Copy into legal entity to start the import. The copy process exports the data from the source legal entity into the destination legal entity. Each destination legal entity has its own import data project. You can monitor the results on the Execution summary page that appears. All import projects that are related to the Copy into legal entity project appears in a list on the left of the page.

Any errors that occur are shown on the Execution summary page, just as they're for an import project. You can edit the errors in the staging tables and resubmit the values for each data project.

When you copy into a legal entity, you have the same validation that occurs when you import a file. It's important that you test your copy in a test environment, so that you can identify any dependencies that cause failures. If dependent information isn't included in your list of entities to copy, the entity shows errors when it tries to copy into the legal entity. For example, if a customer has a default site or warehouse, you must use one of these approaches:

  • Import the sites and warehouses as part of the copy.
  • Manually load the sites and warehouses before you copy the legal entity.
  • Unmap the site and warehouse fields before you copy the information.

You might also experience import errors if you copy from one region to another region. For example, you can have 1099 fields in a legal entity in the US region. However, if you try to import those values into a legal entity in a German region, you see errors on the import. If a template that you load has entities that are incorrect for a region, you receive an error message that states that the incorrect entity wasn't loaded. However, the rest of the template continues to be loaded. You should copy only information that is appropriate for the destination region.

The following entities require special handling when they're used to copy into a legal entity.

Area Entity Action
System setup Number sequences If you use a number sequence for vendors and customers on the parameters forms and then you copy customers and vendors, you need to make sure that the "Allow user to change to a lower number" settings on the number sequences to Yes. The "No" settings cause the import to reject vendor and customer numbers since they were created before using numbers lower than the next available number sequence. If you use the Reset to smallest feature, you need to change the "Allow user to change to a higher number" since the vendor and customer numbers are higher than the next available number sequence.
System setup Workflow Workflow requires more changes before it can be copied. Workflow copies aren't supported at this time.
Accounts payable Vendors Vendors have many settings that are dependent on the values that come from other entities. For example, if you update the matching settings to require three-way matching but you have vendors set for two-way matching, the vendor fails validation. If you use auto sequencing for new vendor, you need to unmap the vendor account before you do the copy into legal entity. In addition, if an autosequenced vendor has an invoice account, that vendor account isn't transformed and may fail. You may see similar issues in other areas such as vendors in posting accounts and approved vendor list by products.
Accounts receivable Customers Customers have many settings that are dependent on the values that come from other entities. For example, if you have a default warehouse and site for a customer, you must add sites and warehouses first or the customer fails validation. The collections contact also fails if the contact isn't available in the new company. If you use auto sequencing for new customers, you need to unmap the customer account before you do the copy into legal entity. In addition, if an autosequenced customer has an invoice account, that invoice account isn't transformed and may fail. You may see similar issues in other areas such as customers in posting accounts.
Budget Budget cost elements There's an issue when importing budget cost elements when using an annual amount and there are budget cost elements in the Earnings basis tab. The issue will be addressed in a future release.
Fixed assets Fixed assets depreciation profile manual schedule The fixed asset depreciation profile must be processed first. Change the sequence on your data project for fixed asset depreciation profile to 15 (instead of 10). We'll update the default templates in the monthly application release 4 to this value.
General ledger Intercompany accounting The copy into legal entity feature doesn't support intercompany accounting at this time. The issue will be addressed in a future release.
General ledger Journal names Only the journal names for the source legal entity is copied to the destination companies. If you select the lookup in the journal names form, you only see the number sequences that are available for that legal entity. However, if you choose to enter a number sequence manually that isn't on that list, it isn't included in the copy process.
General ledger Ledger allocation rules destination If you're running a version earlier than version 7.3, if you have cross company allocation rules, you won't see the destination rules for legal entities that don't match the source legal entity. The copy into legal entity feature only copies the destination records when the destination is equal to the source. The issue has been resolved in version 7.3.
General ledger Ledger fiscal calendar year/period The process is currently exporting all of the legal entities instead of just the source legal entity. The copy process works correctly. The issue has been resolved in version 7.3.
General ledger Ledger parameters If you check for continuous number sequences but you have number sequences that are used on journal names and aren't continuous, the import fails. You should temporarily turn off that setting in the ledger parameters. In addition, the ledger parameters must be processed first. Change the sequence on your data project for ledger parameters to 15 (instead of 40). We'll update the default templates in the monthly application release 3 to this value.
Inventory management Inventory dimension parameters There's an issue where an error on import is shown but the correct number of parameters are imported. The issue will be addressed in a future release.
Inventory management Warehouse locations Some warehouse locations require a location profile ID. Location profile IDs require a location format. Currently, the location format information must be manually added before the warehouse location. The entities for the location format and location profile were added in version 7.2.3 (App update 3 of the July 2017 release).
Master planning Intercompany master plan associations The copy into legal entity feature doesn't support intercompany master plan associations at this time. The issue will be addressed in a future release.
Retail POS registers This entity is global and can't be copied to another legal entity.
Retail Retail channel This entity is global and can't be copied to another legal entity.
Retail Retail store address book This entity has a dependency on Retail channel so it can't be used.
Sales and marketing Intercompany trading partnerships The copy into legal entity feature doesn't support intercompany trading partnerships at this time. The issue will be addressed in a future release.

Rules

The Copy into legal entity feature supports rules, which let you modify data before it's added to the import staging table. For example, rules are used to change the target legal entity to the destination legal entity and modify number sequences. You can extend rules.

Rule extensions require three changes:

  1. Add the name of the rule to the extensible DMFRulesType enumeration (enum).
  2. For each project definition group, insert the enum that you just created (for example, DMFRulesType::NewRule) into the DMFRules table. Use your source legal entity, your rule type, and the definition group name. If you require that more data be stored, such as various options for your rule, you can create your own table and extend the DMFRules table.
  3. Create your own class to handle the data that the rule acts on. For the DMFRules framework to instantiate the rule, you must decorate the class with the [DMFRulesBaseFactoryAttribute(DMFRulesType::NewRule)] attribute.

The class must also extend the DMFRulesBase class. This extension requires an implementation of the DMFRulesBase.runRule(Common_staging) method. The _staging record is the buffer of the staging record that the rule is applied to.

More information about entities

Obsolete entities

As the application is updated, the functionality of an entity might have to be updated. A new entity might be created that has a different name. In this case, the original entity is marked as obsolete. You won't be able to add obsolete entities to a new data project or template.

If you load a data package that contains an obsolete entity, you receive a warning about the existence of obsolete entities. However, you're able to import your data. You can find the obsolete entity by selecting the Obsolete column and filtering on Yes.

Self-referencing entities

Some entities represent tables that have references to themselves. For example, when you create a cash discount, you can refer to a related cash discount that creates a tiered discount calculation. To import data, you must sequence the data so that the cash discount that is referred to in the Next cash discount field is imported before the cash discount that uses that cash discount.

A new DMFImportExportSequencer class sequences the data in self-referencing entities and enables the data to be loaded in a single pass. In the Cash Discount entity (CashDiscountEntity), you can view the code that is required in order to update entities.

The class has been added to several self-referencing entities. It will be added to more entities as required. Here are some other examples of self-referencing entities:

  • Customers
  • Customer definitions
  • Customer details
  • Tax codes
  • Budget control groups
  • Projects
  • Product categories
  • Warehouses
  • Budget plan workflow stage
  • Sales units

Adding entities in the appropriate country/region context

When you add entities, the mappings are created in the context of the country or region of the company that is currently active. If there are any issues with the mappings, a red X appears in the View map column. Select the red X, and repair the mappings as required.

Note

By default, the DAT company doesn't have a country/region context. Some entities, such as the entities that are used for transaction codes and 1099 fields, won't be mapped correctly if they're added to a data project for the DAT company, because a country/region context is expected.