When you have developed a Microsoft Dynamics NAV extension, the next step is to wrap your new .TXT and .DELTA files into a .NAVX file, the packaging format for extensions. The package includes the application objects and metadata that describes your extension, such as name and version.

To create the extension manifest

  • The extension manifest describes characteristics about your extension. All characteristics have a parameter in the Windows PowerShell cmdlet that you use to create the manifest, . The following table describes the data in the manifest:

    Data Description

    Name

    Specifies the name of the extension.

    Publisher

    Specifies the publisher of the extension, such as your company name.

    Version

    Specifies the version of the extension. The version is a string in the format of Major.Minor.Build.Revision, with a default value of 1.0.0.0. You must increment the value for each new version of the extension that you publish.

    Description

    Specifies the description for the extension.

    Id

    Specifies the unique identifier for the extension. A unique identifier will be generated if a value is not provided. The same unique identifier should be used for each new version of the extension.

    CompatibilityId

    Specifies the compatibility ID of the extension. The compatibility ID is a version string in the format of Major.Minor.Build.Revision, with a default value of 1.0.0.0. The value is used to indicate whether there are compatibility related code changes between different versions of the extension. If a new version of the extension does not break compatibility, leave the compatibility ID the same as the previous version.

    Dependencies

    Specifies the path to a package file (.navx) for another extension that this extension depends on. Use a comma (,) to separate the paths to multiple .navx files., such as in the following example: C:\Proseware\SmartAppBase.navx, C:\Proseware\ProsewareBase.navx

    Prequisites

    Specifies the objects that must exist in order to deploy the extension to a Microsoft Dynamics NAV Server instance. The prerequisites is a string in the format of type=ID, where type can be any object type such as Table, CodeUnit, or Page. Use a comma (,) to separate the prerequisites, such as in the following example: Table=397, CodeUnit=78.

    For more information, see Manifest Overview.

    The New-NAVAppManifest cmdlet creates an in-memory Manifest object.

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    New-NAVAppManifest -Name "Proseware SmartStuff" -Publisher "Proseware, Inc." -Version "1.5.0.12"

    You can either persist this object to a file and then check it in to source control by using New-NAVAppManifestFile, or you can pass it directly to as described in the next step.

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    New-NAVAppManifest -Name "Proseware SmartStuff" -Publisher "Proseware, Inc." -Version "1.5.0.12" | New-NavAppManifestFile -Path proseware.xml

    Related cmdlets are and . For more information, use the Get-Help command in the Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2016 Development Shell.

    Tip
    For any Windows PowerShell cmdlet, you can get help and sample usages, such as the following command:

    Get-Help Set-NAVAppManifest -Examples

Next, you can choose to include permission sets in your package. This is optional, but at a minimum, an extension must include one permission set that grants permission to use the objects contained in the extension. An administrator must map users this permission set ID once it has been imported.

To retrieve permission sets for the extension

  • Use the cmdlet to export any permission sets that you have created for the extension as shown in the following example.

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    Export-NAVAppPermissionSet -ServerInstance DynamicsNAVServer -Path ProsewarePerm.xml -PermissionSetId 12
    Caution
    If you do not include a permission set with your extension, only users with the SUPER permission set will be able to use the app.

Once you have the DELTA and TXT files for your app created you can now complete the final step and build the extension package file. Extension packages require a manifest and access to the application objects you created.

To build the extension package

  • Use the New-NAVAppManifest and New-NAVAppPackage cmdlets to build the manifest and package file.

    The following is an example on how to create a new extension .NAVX package file with a new manifest.

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    New-NAVAppManifest -Name "Proseware SmartStuff" -Publisher "Proseware, Inc." -Version "1.5.0.12" | New-NAVAppPackage -Path MyExtension.navx -SourcePath DELTA

    Alternatively, if you created a NAV App manifest file, you can use directly from that file:

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    Get-NAVAppManifest -Path '.\Manifest-Proseware SmartStuff.xml' | New-NAVAppPackage -Path MyExtension.navx -SourcePath DELTA

    You have packaged your extension so it is ready to be published and installed on a target server.

    Note
    The packaging process adds a description of the extension to the manifest, such as whether it changes pages or adds tables. While not explicitly being enforced currently, this can be used to determine whether to install an extension, or not. Use Get-NAVAppManifest -Path to see capabilities.

Finally, you can choose to get your extension package signed to help validate its authenticity. Code signing is a common practice for many applications. For more information, see Authenticode in the MSDN Library.

See Also