You use Object Designer to create a new codeunit, and you use the C/AL Editor to modify an existing codeunit.
For more information about how to create a codeunit, see How to: Create a Codeunit. For more information about how to modify a codeunit, see How to: Modify an Existing Codeunit.
Working in the C/AL Editor
When you work in the C/AL Editor, you can use the C/AL Symbol Menu window, which helps you use C/AL functions that are available. From the C/AL Symbol Menu window, you can get Help about all C/AL functions. To view Help for a function, select the C/AL function name in the rightmost column, and then press F1.
You can open multiple codeunits. Each time that you create a new codeunit or open an existing one, the codeunit is displayed in a separate window. You can then use standard functions to find code or move and paste lines of code among the codeunits. In the development environment, you can use the Edit menu or the buttons on the toolbar to access the editing functions. On the Edit menu, you can collapse the triggers to hide the code or expand them to show the code.
 Note |
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| To collapse or expand a trigger, select the + or - icon next to the trigger and press the Spacebar. |
You can also use the following keyboard shortcuts.
| Keyboard shortcut | Description |
|---|---|
Ctrl+Z | Cancels the last edit. |
Ctrl+X | Deletes the selected text and puts it in the Clipboard. |
Ctrl+C | Copies the selected text to the Clipboard. |
Ctrl+V | Pastes the text from the Clipboard to the codeunit at the cursor position. |
Ctrl+A | Selects all text in the current row. |
Ctrl+F | Opens the Find window to search for text. |
Ctrl+H | Opens the Replace window to search for text and replace it with other text. |
Ctrl+M | Toggles between expanding and collapsing the triggers. |
Shift+Ctrl+M | Collapses all the triggers and hides all the code. |
F3 | Inserts a new line. |
F4 | Deletes a line. |
Defining Variables, Text Constants, and Functions
After you create a new codeunit, then you must define the global variables, text constants, and functions that you need in the codeunit. To define these elements, in the C/AL Editor, on the View menu, choose C/AL Globals. In the C/AL Globals window, you must choose whether to add a global variable, a text constant, or a function. For more information, see the following topics:
Using the C/AL Symbol Menu Window
When you write C/AL code in the C/AL Editor, you can use the C/AL Symbol Menu window to get an overview of the following:
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All variables that are defined in the codeunit.
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All available C/AL functions.
The C/AL Symbol Menu window is divided into the following columns:
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The first column lists the names of the variables, if you have defined any, and the function categories.
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The second column lists the subcategories, such as Functions, Properties, Fields, Keys, and Options.
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The third column lists the items in the subcategory that you selected.
For example, if you select a record variable in the first column and select Keys in the second column, then the third column displays the keys for the table that the record is from.
You can see the syntax and other information, such as the Caption property, that corresponds to the field name that you have selected, in the lower-left corner of the window.
In some cases, such as when a control on a page is a subpage or when a field is a BLOB field, there are more than three columns in the C/AL Symbol Menu window.
In the C/AL Symbol Menu window, choose the OK button or the Apply button to paste the syntax description into the C/AL Editor. If you choose the OK button, then the C/AL Symbol Menu window is closed automatically. If you choose the Apply button, then the window stays open.
For more information, see C/AL Functions.
Compiling and Saving Codeunits
Before you can run the functions in a codeunit, you must save and compile the code. When you compile the code, the syntax of the statements are checked. If the compiler finds any errors in the code it displays an error message. For more information about how to compile the code in a codeunit, see How to: Compile the Code in a Codeunit. For more information about how to save a codeunit, see How to: Save a Codeunit.