What the heck is happening?
We add new customers to Business Central by typing them in manually. I just got a call from the shipping manager to tell me that I should not be setting the Shipping Time on the customer card. Well, guess what? I am not setting Shipping Time on customer cards. I don’t even know what or where that is.
Has something similar happened to you? Values are obviously being set somehow when adding new records, but you can’t figure out how.
Check the template
Are you using Customer Templates to set this value?
Here are 2 reasons you may be answering this question incorrectly if you answered “No.”
- Just because you don’t select a template from a list when you add a new record doesn’t mean a template isn’t being used.
- Just because you don’t see a field on a template doesn’t mean it’s not there.
Not selecting a template doesn’t mean you aren’t using one
If only one master data template is enabled, then that template is automatically applied when a new record is added to the system. The user has no need to make a selection is only one template is available. For this reason, many organizations may be using master data templates and not even know that they are.
To determine if you are using a template when new records are created, go to the record’s master template list, for example Customer Templates. If one template exists, then that template is being applied automatically when a new record is created. If more than one template exists, users are prompted to select a template when adding a new record.
Not seeing a field on a template doesn’t mean it’s not there
Open the template from the list. Go through the fields on the template looking for the field in question. In our example, look for Shipping Time. Did you find it under Shipping FastTab? I didn’t. So where is the value coming from if not from this template.
Don’t be so quick to decide it is not coming from the template. It turns out there are many fields that may be used in the template that are not showing on the page by default. And to make matters worse, if the template was created from an existing record, those fields and values may be defined based on what was set on the source record and not relevant for all future records. Use Page Inspection to see all the data associated with the template record that will be saved to new records when created.
Personalize the template card
The only way I know of to be certain that data I want and only data I want is included in my master data templates is to make all the fields possible visible on the template card. Yep, you heard me correctly, all the fields visible. Sure, you can use Page Inspection to review all the data, but from my perspective, the best approach would be to see the field in the correct FastTab on the page.
Alternatively, you could create all your templates from scratch (assign values manually, only adding fields when needed) disallowing users from creating new templates from existing records. But if you do this, you lose one of the best benefits in creating templates and that just doesn’t make sense.
Customize vs. Personalize
One better? To make using templates easier on everyone, rather than personalizing only your page, use Profile/Role Customization to add the fields to the templates for everyone. Yes, this will take some time, but once the work is done, you will be grateful you did it. Especially if using templates is a big part of your standard operating procedure.
You don’t need to personalize or customize the template pages to add all the fields. Just don’t forget that just because you don’t see it on the card doesn’t mean a value has not been assigned in the template. If it is important to see the value, add the field to the template at the time you uncover it is being used so it is easy to find by the next person.
Just because you don’t see it, doesn’t mean it’s not there
So, remember, if a field value is being set when master data is added and it is not something controlled in module setup, or by a configuration package or integration, it just may be a template. And just because you don’t select a template on adding a new record doesn’t mean one is not being used. And finally, just because you don’t see the field in question on the template card, doesn’t mean it’s not there and set with a default value.
