Modifying a Report Workflow

Use this general workflow as a guideline for how to add and modify and then select a custom report layout for use in Multi-Entity Management. The custom report layout is a standard Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central feature. For more information, see the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central documentation.

• Managing Report and Document Layouts

Add a Custom Report Layout

To add a MEM report, follow these steps: 

Add MEM Fields to a Word Report Layout

For more information about customizing a Word report layout, see Add Fields to a Word Report Layout in the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central documentation.

To add MEM fields to a custom report layout, follow these steps: 

1. If the custom report layout does exist, add a custom report layout.
2. From the Custom Reports layouts list, select the layout, and then select Layout > Export Layout.

The layout is exported to where you have set up your download location.

3. Open the custom report layout in Microsoft Word.

If the Developer tab is not available, open the Word Options to customize the ribbon.



4. In the Developer tab, select XML Mapping pane and in Custom XML Part, select the custom XML part for ADD INCLUDE report, which is typically last in the list.



5. Expand Header to see all the custom XML parts that you can add.

Tip: MEM fields start with BssiEntity.

6. Put the cursor at the place you want to add the field in the report, right-click the XML part you want to add, and select Insert Content Control > Plain Text.

Note: To add the logo, right-click BssiEntityPicture and select Insert Content Control > Picture.

7. Save the changes.
8. Back on the Custom Reports layouts list, in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, import (Layout > Import Layout) and then update (Layout > Update Layout) the layout.

Add MEM Fields to a RDLC Report Layout

For more information about customizing a RDLC report layout, see Designing RDLC Report Layouts in the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central documentation.

To add MEM fields to a custom report layout, follow these steps: 

1. If the custom report layout does exist, add a custom report layout.
2. From the Custom Reports layouts list, select the layout, and then select Layout > Export Layout.

The layout is exported to where you have set up your download location.

3. Open the RDLC layout in SQL Server Report builder.
4. Expand the Datasets folder to get all fields in that are in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central plus the additional MEM fields.

Tip: MEM fields start with BssiEntity.

5. Drag the MEM fields to the report as needed save the changes.

To add a logo, select BssiEntityPicture.

6. Back on the Custom Reports layouts list, in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, import (Layout > Import Layout) and then update (Layout > Update Layout) the layout.

Adding Entity Information to the Customer Statements by Entity Report

For the Customer Statement by Entity report to display the correct entities and their information on the report header, you must customize the report in Report Designer for Visual Studio or Report Builder for SQL Server.

To add your entity information to a report layout, do the following:

1. In your MEM environment, go to the Report Layouts card. Search for the Customer Statements By Entity report.
   1. The Customer Statements By Entity report ID is: 70210966.
2. Select the report and then select Layout > Export layout to download the report to your computer.
3. The layout is exported to where you have set up your download location.
4. Find the report on your computer and remove .rdlc from the file extension.
5. Open the RDLC layout in SQL Server Report builder.
6. Expand the Datasets folder to get all fields that are in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central plus the additional MEM fields.
   1. Tip: MEM fields start with BssiEntity.
7. On the left side of the report layout, you can delete the following expression field: CompanyAddress8.
8. On the left side of the report layout, replace the following CompanyAddress expressions with BssIMEMEntityInfo in the expression value fields.
   1. To edit the following expressions, select the expression in the report layout and right-click. In the options, select Expression.
   2. In the Expression editor, replace CompanyAddresses text with BssIMEMEntityInfo. Edit the following expressions so they have BssIMEMEntityInfo in them. Refer to the image below to see what the edited value looks like.
      1. CompanyAddress1
      2. CompanyAddress2
      3. CompanyAddress3
      4. CompanyAddress4
      5. CompanyAddress5

      

   3. Note: When you edit the expressions so they will show MEM fields, the MEM fields that are displayed are based on the first number of each expression. For example, the first expression has the following value:
      1. =Cstr(Choose(1,Split(Cstr(ReportItem!BssiMEMEntityInfo.Value),Chr(177))))
   4. The 1 in the expression corresponds to the Entity Legal Name. See the MEM field expressions table to see which expressions correspond to which MEM fields.
9. Then, on the report layout, select the BssiEntityLogo. Increase the height of the logo by dragging the logo box down. Refer to the image below to see how the logo is expanded.



10. Save your report layout.

MEM field expressions

Field	Description
Expression 1	Entity's Legal Name
Expression 2	Entity's Billing Address
Expression 3	Entity's Billing Address 2
Expression 4	Entity's Billing City
Expression 5	Entity's Billing State
Expression 6	Entity's Billing Zip Code
Expression 7	Entity's Billing Country

To use the report layout in Business Central, do the following:

1. Go to the Report Layouts card.
2. Select the Customer Statements By Entity report, and open the More options, with three dots, menu.
3. Select Edit Info and confirm that you want to edit a copy of the layout.
4. Enter a name and description for your report layout.
5. Select the report layout that you just created, and then, on Action tab, select Replace Layout.
6. Replace the that layout with the file of the one that you edited and saved.
7. Run the report to make sure that the entity information has been added correctly to the report layout.

Customizing RDLC Report with Entity Logo

By default, reports show the company logo. If needed, reports can be customized to show the logo for the entities instead of the company logo. However, an issue occurs when customizing the logo on the page header to use the logo for the entity instead of the company logo:

• To print an individual report, you can select the one report and print it. The logo that appears on the page header is the logo for the entity of the individual report. The logo that is in the header appears as expected.
• To print several reports in a single action for different entities, you can select multiple reports and print them. In this case, the logo that appears on the page header for all selected reports is the logo for the entity from the first report. Because each selected report is a different entity with a different logo, it is expected that each report shows the logo for the entity of the report. Currently, this method to print several reports does not work as expected.

As a workaround and best practice for this issue, do not add the entity logo to the page header. As a best practice, add the entity logo to the body of the report, and do the following: 

1. In the area you want to add the logo field, right-click and select Insert>Image.
2. Open the Image Properties dialog and in the General tab, use the following settings: 
   • Select the image source = Database
   • Use this MIME type = image/{image file type}
     where the {image file type} must be the same as the image you selected (e.g., jpg, png); if you do not know what the image file type is, you can select image/bmp.
3. For Use this field, select the expression button, and in the Expression dialog, copy the following expression in the Set expression for: Value box: 
   • =System.Convert.ToBase64String(Fields!BssiEntityPicture.Value)
4. Select OK until you return to the main template page.
5. Save the changes to the template.

Adding the Entity Logo to the Header and Footer of a Report

Note: These steps are only needed if you are adding the logo to the header or footer of the check layouts.

You do not have to do these steps if you are adding a logo to the header or footer of a Sales Invoice or a Purchase Order.

Adding the entity logo to the footer of a MEM report requires the following additional steps. These steps work for any MEM report where the entity log can be added.  

1. In the report builder, select Property Pages to open the Report Properties dialog, and select the Code tab.
2. Scroll to the end of the custom code box, and paste the following code.
Copy

Custom code for Report Properties:

Shared PictureData as Object

Public Function GetPicture() as Object
    Return PictureData
End Function

Public Function SetPicture(NewData as Object)
    if NewData>""
        PictureData = NewData
end if
End Function 

3. On the report body, add a hidden text box field CompanyPicture with the following BssiEntityPicture value expression:
Copy

BssiEntityPicture value expression

=Convert.ToBase64String(Last(Fields!BssiEntityPicture.Value))

Note: This text box must be set as visible. The size of the textbox can be reduced so that it does not display on the report. If you are modifying a Check report then the field must be part of the existing Tablix in the body of the report.

4. On both the report header or footer, add a hidden text box field with the following expression to set the company picture.
Copy

Set company picture expression

=Code.SetPicture(ReportItems!CompanyPicture.Value)

Note: This text box must be set as visible. The size of the textbox can be reduced so that it does not display on the report.

5. Immediately below the hidden text box with the set company picture expression, add an image box and apply the following settings to the General tab of the Image Properties dialog.
   Important: The image box must always be put below the hidden text box with the set company picture expression.
   1. Set Select the image source to Database.
   2. In Use this field, specify the following expression.
   Copy

   Image box expression

   =Convert.FromBase64String(Code.GetPicture())

   3. Set Use this MIME type to image/bmp.
6. Save the report.

When the report is run, the logo should appear as expected.

Select the Custom Report Layout to Use

After you have modified a report layout, you must select your custom report layout in the Report Layout Selection. If you do not select the modified report, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central continues to use the default report that is available in the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.  

1. Back on the Report Layout Selection page, for the report line, change the Selected Layout to Custom Layout.
2. On the Custom Report Layouts dialog, select the custom layout that you want to use, and select OK.

The line is updated with the layout. If needed, you can update the Custom Layout Description.

Tip: Make note of the report ID that you want to use.

3. Select Search and type, report selection. From the results, select the Report Selection page for the specific type you want. For example, you can select sales, purchase, or bank.



4. On the Edit Report Selection page of your choice, select the Usage option you want. The usage option is available for sales, purchase, or bank.
5. In the lines, change the Report ID to the Multi-Entity Management report ID that you want to use for the report.
   If you had noted the report ID, specify the report ID. Or you can search for the report you want.

Using MICR Fonts on Checks

Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) fonts are the style of font usually used for bank information at the bottom of checks.

• In Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central update 15.3 and newer, the MICR fonts are installed and available to use.
• Both the E-13B and the CMC-7 standards are supported.

For more information about MICR fonts, review the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central documentation: 

• Select a Check Layout
• Using MICR and Security Fonts
• Available Fonts

To be able to use the MICR fonts, the fonts must be installed on your computer and on your Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central environment. All MICR fonts start with IDAutomation. If you are missing the MICR fonts or cannot access them, contact your administrator for assistance.

With Multi-Entity Management, you can use the MICR fonts on the MEM Check (Report/Object ID 70210888). The following steps focus on using the MICR fonts on the bank account for the entity.

1. If you currently do not have a custom copy of the MEM Check layout, add a custom report layout.
2. If you are editing the Word format, add a text box for the bank account information (BssiEntityBankAccountNo) and review the font.
   The bank account for the entity is set up on the MEM Entity Setup page.
   1. In the Home tab, Font group, change the Font to a MICR font.
3. If you are editing the RDLC format, add text box for the bank account information (BssiEntityBankAccountNo) and review the properties.
   1. In the Properties pane, go to the Font property and set the FontFamily to a MICR font.
4. In Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, select the report layout that you just edited.