Mohana's D365 Business Central & NAV Blog: Business Central Error Dialog for Enhanced User Support

The AL language boasts a wealth of error handling features, empowering you to navigate unexpected situations that may arise during code execution. 🧩

When an error surfaces, Business Central's client steps in, displaying an error dialog to provide users with crucial information. 🖥️

In our latest article, we dive deep into the various components of this error dialog. 📚✨ Understanding them can significantly enhance your ability to assist users in resolving any challenges they may face. 💪

Beginning with version 22, the error dialog in Business Central has been structured into four distinct parts:

v Title (Optional):

Ø This is the first part of the error dialog and is optional. It typically provides a concise and descriptive title for the error message to give users a quick idea of the issue at hand.

v Message Directed to the User:

Ø This is where the main error message is displayed, providing information about the problem or issue that has occurred. It's directed towards the user and aims to communicate the nature of the error in a clear and user-friendly manner.

v Copy Details Action:

Ø This part includes an action called "Copy Details." When clicked, this action allows users to copy additional technical details related to the error. These details can be valuable when reporting the issue to support teams or developers for troubleshooting.

v Yes or No Question on Message Helpfulness:

Ø The final part of the error dialog asks the user a question, typically in a yes or no format, regarding whether the message was helpful. This feedback mechanism helps gauge the effectiveness of the error message in assisting users.

This structured approach to error dialogs enhances user experience by providing clear and informative error messages while also collecting user feedback on message effectiveness. Users can copy technical details for further analysis or reporting, contributing to more efficient issue resolution.

The following figure shows an example of a “Testfield” error in the 2023 release wave 1 and earlier.

We currently lack the 'Copy Details' option to provide developers or the support team with error-specific information.

In the event that we need to undo a change or clear an error, our recourse is to use the 'Refresh' action located at the top of the page.

Microsoft is in the process of making certain adjustments to the error message formula associated with "TestField" and “Table Relation” (and possibly implementing other improvements). These changes are aimed at achieving the above two key objectives.

The following figures show an example of a “Testfield” property validation error in the 2023 release wave 2