AL Navigator

Simplify your AL development workflow:
Create variables and parameters like a pro. Automatically select/insert startup object IDs in your launch.json file. Effortlessly navigate through AL files with intuitive shortcuts. Translate fields on hover and streamline report copying – all in one powerful extension.

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🚀 Features

🔥 New: Smart Variable Ordering

Variables are now automatically inserted in the correct position according to Microsoft's AL Language specification:

Automatic Type-Based Sorting:

• Complex object types are listed first: Record, Report, Codeunit, XmlPort, Page, Query
• System types follow: Notification, BigText, DateFormula, RecordId, RecordRef, FieldRef, FilterPageBuilder
• Simple types (Integer, Text, Boolean, etc.) appear after sorted types
• Maintains clean, standards-compliant code structure

Key Benefits:

• 📋 Standards Compliance: Follows Microsoft's official AL coding guidelines
• 🎯 Better Readability: Variables grouped by type are easier to scan and understand
• ✨ Zero Effort: Automatic sorting - no manual reorganization needed
• 🔧 Works Everywhere: Applies to both global and local variable sections

Example: When you add an Integer variable to a section that already contains a Record, the Integer is correctly placed after the Record, not at the end of all variables. This ensures your code always follows AL best practices.

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🔥 New: Analyze and Optimize Reports

Analyze and optimize your reports and report extensions from both AL and RDL/RDLC files with a unified, intelligent analyzer:

One command, multiple analyses:

• 📊 Analyze All: Run all checks at once for a comprehensive report health check
• 🔤 Font Analysis: Find non-Segoe UI fonts (intelligently preserves barcode fonts)
• ⚠️ Expression Analysis: Detect irregular RDL expressions (e.g., Code.GetData without parameters)
• 🗃️ Dataset Analysis:
  • Find unused columns in AL dataset (not used in layout)
  • Identify missing fields (referenced in layout but not defined in AL)
  • View complete usage statistics

Smart File Detection:

• Run from AL report files and report extensions: Automatically finds and analyzes associated layout files
• Run from RDL/RDLC files: Automatically locates corresponding AL file for dataset analysis
• Handles reports with multiple layout files
• For report extensions: Checks the base report to determine if it's processing-only

Auto-Fix Capabilities:

• Fix fonts with one click (replace with Segoe UI)
• Correct irregular expressions automatically
• Remove unused variables from AL dataset
• Multi-select which fixes to apply

Processing-Only Report Detection:

• Automatically detects processing-only reports (reports without visual layouts)
• For report extensions, checks the base report to determine processing-only status
• Shows informative message when layout analysis is not available

Example Workflow:

1. Open an AL report file, report extension, or RDL/RDLC layout file
2. Run command: AL Navigator: Analyze and Optimize Report
3. Select analysis type (All, Fonts, Expressions, or Dataset)
4. Review detailed results in the output panel
5. Choose which issues to auto-fix

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🔥 New: Select Startup Object with Status Bar & Recently Used

Instantly switch startup objects with a single click from the status bar!

Status Bar Button:

• 🚀 Rocket icon shows your current startup object with name (e.g., "🚀 Page 9305: Sales Order List")
• Click to open the unified startup object selection
• Displays full object information: type, ID, and name
• Object name is cached in launch.json for fast loading
• Automatically updates after switching

Selection Options (in one unified command):

1. 📄 Current Object: Instantly use the currently open Page or Report

   • Only shown when a Page or Report is currently active
   • No searching needed - just one click

2. 📜 Recently Used (New!): Your 10 most recently used startup objects

   • Sorted by most recent first
   • Shows time ago (e.g., "5m ago", "2h ago", "3d ago")
   • Perfect for switching between objects you're actively developing
   • Automatically tracked with every selection

3. ⭐ Popular Objects: Quick access to 35 commonly used Business Central pages

   • Sales: Quote, Order, Invoice, Credit Memo (Lists & Cards), Customer List/Card
   • Purchase: Quote, Order, Invoice, Credit Memo (Lists & Cards), Vendor List/Card
   • Inventory: Item List/Card
   • Finance: G/L Entries, General Journal, Chart of Accounts
   • Administration: Company Information, User Setup, Job Queue Entries

4. 📋 All Objects: Browse all pages and reports from your workspace and .app files

Additional Features:

• Persistent tracking across VS Code sessions
• Select multiple launch.json files to update at once
• Finds launch.json in nested folder structures
• Status bar updates automatically after switching

Example Workflows:

1. Ultra-Quick: Click 🚀 → "Recently Used" → Select → Done!
2. Current Object: Open a Page/Report → Click 🚀 → "Current Object" → Done!
3. Command Palette: AL Navigator: Select Startup Object ID → Choose source → Select

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⚡ Shortcuts for Quick Navigation

Save time with keyboard shortcuts for essential navigation commands:

Shortcut	Command Name	Description
Ctrl+Alt+g	AL Navigator: End of global variables	Moves cursor to the end of your global variables.
Ctrl+Alt+l	AL Navigator: End of local variables	Moves cursor to the end of your local variables.
Ctrl+Alt+k	AL Navigator: Keys	Moves cursor to the keys in your .al table file.
Ctrl+Alt+a	AL Navigator: Next Action	Moves cursor to next action in a page .al file.
Ctrl+Alt+d	AL Navigator: Next DataItem (starting from top)	Moves cursor through data items in your .al report file.
Shift+Alt+d	AL Navigator: Next DataItem (starting from bottom)	Moves cursor through data items in your .al report file.

Rename Columns (Variables) in AL and RDLC Files

Effortlessly rename column variables in your AL report files and synchronize changes in associated RDLC files:

• Renames columns (variables) both in the AL file and their corresponding definitions in the RDLC file.
• Ensures consistency across Field Name and DataField in RDLC datasets.

Example Workflow:

1. Place your cursor on a variable inside a column definition within a dataitem block in a report.
2. Trigger the rename functionality via the Command Palette (AL Navigator: Rename report dataitem column).
3. Watch as the variable is renamed in both the AL file and the associated RDLC file.

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Insert Translations into XLIFF Files

Effortlessly insert translations directly into XLIFF files:

• Automatically matches translation values with note tags.
• Updates the target element for the corresponding source only if the translation exists.
• Supports 10 common Business Central languages.

This feature helps you maintain consistency across multilingual projects without altering the structure of your XLIFF documents.

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🌐 Hover Translations

Translate field names and table names effortlessly:

• Hover over symbols (field names, table names, etc.) to see translations.
• Switch between English ↔ Target Language with a click.

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📑 Copy Reports Including Layout

Duplicate reports and layouts in seconds:

• Copy an entire report, including its layout.
• Create report extensions with layouts pre-integrated.
• 🔥 New: Intelligent folder detection - automatically finds and offers reportextension folders when creating report extensions
• 🔥 New: Support for processing-only reports - successfully copy reports without layout files (e.g., batch processing reports)
• Works with both layout-based reports and processing-only reports

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🤖 Intelligent Variable and Parameter Creation

Add variables and parameters with a few keystrokes:

• Ctrl + . triggers a quick fix lamp for AL0118 errors.
• Automatically generate local/global variables or parameters with suggested names.

Examples:

• Create local variables:
  

• Create global variables:
  

• Create parameters:
  

💡 Tips for Using This Feature

Tip	Example
Variables are automatically sorted by type according to AL Language specification (Record, Report, Codeunit, etc. first, then simple types).	A new Integer variable is placed after Records but before the end of the var section.
Use Microsoft’s naming conventions for object names.	"Vendor" is recognized as Record "Vendor".
Use the Temp prefix to create temporary record variables.	"TempItem" is recognized as a temporary Record "Item".
Use Microsoft's suggested abbreviations.	"GLSetup" is recognized as Record "General Ledger Setup".
Replace placeholders like "x" with automatically generated variable names.	Replace "x" with "SalesLine" when "Sales Line" is the selected record.
Customize ignored prefixes and suffixes for variable names in settings.	Set "alNavigator.ignoreALPrefix": "EX". For a table named "EX Test Table," the variable "TestTable" will be automatically recognized.

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📜 Full Functionality List

Command	Description
AL Navigator: Analyze and Optimize Report	Comprehensive report and report extension analysis: fonts, expressions, and dataset variables (works from both AL and RDL/RDLC files, with processing-only report detection).
AL Navigator: Insert translation from comment into xlf file	Inserts the comment with the translation in the target elements in XLIFF files.
AL Navigator: Select Startup Object ID in launch.json (Enhanced!)	🚀 Status bar button + unified selection: Current Object, Recently Used, Popular Objects & All Objects. Tracks usage history.
AL Navigator: Rename report dataitem column	Rename variables in AL files and their corresponding RDLC files.
AL Navigator: Next DataItem (starting from top)	Navigate to the next DataItem in your AL report file, starting from the top.
AL Navigator: Next DataItem (starting from bottom)	Navigate to the next DataItem in your AL report file, starting from the bottom.
AL Navigator: Keys	Quickly move to the keys section in your .al table file.
AL Navigator: Next Action	Navigate to the next action in your AL page file.
AL Navigator: End of local variables	Jump directly to the end of the local variables section in your file.
AL Navigator: End of global variables	Jump directly to the end of the global variables section in your file.
AL Navigator: Show Microsoft Translation (English -> Target Language)	Display the translation of a field or symbol from English to the target language.
AL Navigator: Show Microsoft Translation (Target Language -> English)	Display the translation of a field or symbol from the target language to English.
AL Navigator: Show translation and copy to clipboard (English -> Target Language)	Display the translation and copy it directly to your clipboard.
AL Navigator: Create a new report	Easily create new reports, including layouts and necessary definitions.

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⚙️ Settings

Setting	Description
alNavigator.ignoreALPrefix	Removes prefixes from suggested variable names.
alNavigator.ignoreALSuffix	Removes suffixes from suggested variable names.
alNavigator.translationTargetLanguage	Defines the target language for translation functionalities.
alNavigator.maxNoOfShownTranslations	Sets the maximum number of translations displayed.
alNavigator.enableHoverProviders	Enables hover translations for target languages on symbols (field names, etc.). Requires a reload.

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📋 Requirements

Extension
AL Language
AZ AL Dev Tools/AL Code Outline

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💖 Thanks to

• David Feldhoff for his contributions and feedback.
• Andrzej Zwierzchowski for providing an awesome API in the AZ AL Dev Tools/AL Code Outline extension.

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🔗 Resources

• GitHub Repository
• VS Code Marketplace
• Detailed Blog Documentation

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📸 Picture Attribution

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