{"id":4033,"date":"2020-04-02T06:28:52","date_gmt":"2020-04-02T06:28:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dynamics.folio3.com\/blog\/?p=4033"},"modified":"2020-04-02T09:27:36","modified_gmt":"2020-04-02T09:27:36","slug":"working-with-macros-in-x","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dynamics.folio3.com\/blog\/working-with-macros-in-x\/","title":{"rendered":"Working with Macros in X++ – Development Tips and Tricks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Macros are really underappreciated in Dynamics AX. But once you realize how powerful they can be when used efficiently, you\u2019ll be glad to know they exist.
\nI am sure you may know what a macro is from other programming languages, but in the context of Dynamics AX according to MSDN<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cA macro is a variable known to the precompiler. The variable can have a value that is a sequence of characters, but it is not required to have a value.\u201d<\/p>\n

A macro can be defined at any location within a class by giving the name of the macro with a \u2018#\u2019 character and \u2018define\u2019 directive added as a prefix.<\/p>\n

\"Working<\/p>\n

NOTE: It is important to note that you don\u2019t need a statement terminator when defining macros and no commas when defining multiple macros one after the other.<\/b><\/p>\n

A macro can easily be used in a class (assuming you have already defined the macro within the class) by giving the name of the macro with a \u2018#\u2019 character added as a prefix.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"development<\/p>\n

Now the above example was a simple use case where you define a macro, assign it a value and use it. In most cases not very different from a variable.<\/span><\/p>\n

What really sets macros apart is that you can use macros to store queries. That\u2019s right a macro can easily store queries and can even take parameters as well. This opens up quite a few exciting ways you can use macros to handle your queries, especially in cases where you need to use a somewhat similar query with minor changes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Query macros are defined a little differently as compared to a basic macro. We use the \u2018localmacro\u2019 directive with a \u2018#\u2019 prefix along with a macro name and once the macro ends we use \u2018endmacro\u2019 directive with a \u2018#\u2019 prefix to end that macro.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"macros\"<\/p>\n

Consider this example where we reuse a where clause with multiple tables. The code is written inside a simple Runnable class (Job).<\/span><\/p>\n

\"macros<\/p>\n

NOTE: The code posted in the blog was tested on a Dynamics 365 for Finance and Operations<\/a> server but should work with other versions as well.<\/b><\/p>\n

This was just a simple example of how you can use macros. It can help you organize queries if they are being used multiple times or with slight variations. You can make it more dynamic by using \u2018FieldId\u2019 and \u2018TableId\u2019 but perhaps we can leave that for another blog post.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hopefully this little trick will help you out in your coding adventures. Until next time, happy coding!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Macros are really underappreciated in Dynamics AX. But once you realize how powerful they can be when used efficiently, you\u2019ll be glad to know they exist. I am sure you may know what a macro is from other programming languages, but in the context of Dynamics AX according to MSDN: \u201cA macro is a variable […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4042,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ax"],"yoast_head":"\nWorking with Macros in X++ - Development Tips and Tricks<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In this tutorial guide, we will help you how to code macros in x++. 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