Understanding the Main Menu
The Simple Object Designer main menu organizes all features into logical groups. This page explains the menu structure and helps you find the right feature for your task.
Menu Overview
The main menu is divided into five main groups:
- Tasks - Create and configure customizations
- Expose Data - Create APIs and queries
- Report Layouts - Design report layouts and manage report layout sets
- Inspect and Customize Objects - Browse and modify existing objects
- Information - Administration and help resources
A Statistics action in the action bar opens a page with counts of your customizations.
Tasks Group
The Tasks group contains the primary customization features:
Create New Fields on Existing Tables
Opens the Add Fields page where you can:
- Define new fields to add to existing tables
- Specify field types, sizes, and properties
- Configure field captions and tooltips
Use this when you need to track additional data that Business Central doesn't capture by default.
Add Existing Fields to Pages and Reports
Opens the Existing Fields page where you can:
- Browse all fields from all tables
- Place fields on pages where they're not currently visible
- Add fields to report datasets
Use this when you want to surface hidden fields or add existing fields to new locations.
Mark Fields as Mandatory on Actions
Opens the Global Page Action List where you can:
- Define rules that require field values before actions execute
- Set up validation conditions
- Configure which actions trigger validation
Use this to enforce data quality rules without writing code.
Page Calculated Fields
Opens the Calculated Fields page where you can:
- Create computed fields on pages
- Write expressions that calculate values
- Display derived data without storing it
Use this for showing totals, concatenations, or conditional values.
Report Calculated Fields
Opens the Report Calculated Fields page where you can:
- Add computed columns to report datasets
- Write expressions for report-specific calculations
- Enhance reports with derived data
Use this when you need calculated values in report layouts.
Create New Features
Opens the Feature List where you can:
- Create entirely new tables with associated pages
- Use templates for common patterns (Data, Related, Document, Role Center)
- Build complete mini-applications
Use this when you need to track completely new types of data.
Translations
Opens the Translation Sources page where you can manage translations for captions, tooltips and other user-facing strings in your generated extension.
Expose Data Group
The Expose Data group contains API and query features:
Data Queries
Opens the Query List where you can:
- Create query objects that join multiple tables
- Define aggregations and groupings
- Expose queries as API endpoints
Use this for complex reporting or multi-table API access.
Expose Data as Web Service APIs
Opens the API Endpoints page where you can:
- Select tables to expose as OData APIs
- Configure entity names and field selection
- Group APIs for organization
Use this to make Business Central data available to Power BI, Power Apps, or other external systems.
Expose Business Logic as APIs
Opens the Business Logic API page where you can:
- Browse available codeunit methods
- Select methods to expose as API endpoints
- Configure API parameters
Use this when external systems need to trigger Business Central processes.
Report Layouts Group
The Report Layouts group contains the report layout design features:
Report Layouts
Opens the Simple Object Designer Report Layouts list where you can:
- Create custom PDF report layouts with the visual layout designer
- Edit, duplicate, export, and import layouts
- Test print layouts with live data
Use this to design print-perfect report layouts without Word, RDLC, or external tools. See Report Layout Designer Overview.
Report Layout Sets
Opens the Report Sets list where you can:
- Group reports that should share one visual style
- Manage shared fonts and images
- Learn a visual style from one layout and apply it to all reports in the set with the AI
Use this to give all your customer-facing documents a consistent look. See Report Sets.
Inspect and Customize Objects Group
This group lets you browse and modify existing objects:
Tables
Opens the Existing Tables page where you can:
- Browse all tables in the system
- See which tables have customizations
- Open table customization cards
Pages
Opens the Existing Pages page where you can:
- Browse all pages in the system
- See which pages have field placements
- Open page customization cards
Reports
Opens the Existing Reports page where you can:
- Browse all reports in the system
- See which reports have customizations
- Open report customization cards
Extending a report's dataset — the whole workflow:
- Inspect > Reports, find the report, click Customize Report
- Add fields to the dataset through Report Placements. The field's table must be one of the report's data items.
- Optionally add Report Calculated Fields for computed values
- Publish the extension
- Export the report layout (Word/RDLC), add the new fields to the layout, and import it back
SOD only adds fields to the report dataset. The layout must still be updated separately for the fields to actually appear on the printed output — and the layout must be exported after publishing, or the new fields will not be in it. See Add Fields to Reports.
Information Group
The Information group provides administrative functions:
Check Deployment Status
Opens the deployment status page showing:
- Current extension deployment state
- Any deployment errors
- Publishing history
Extension Management
Opens the standard Business Central Extension Management page where you can:
- View installed extensions
- Install or uninstall extensions
- Manage extension updates
Documentation
Links to the online documentation at hougaard.com.
Support
Links to the support forum at hougaard.com.
Buy/Register the Object Designer
Opens the registration page where you can:
- Enter your license key
- View license status
- Access purchasing information
Release Notes
Links to the release notes on GitHub.
Upgrade to the Latest Version
Links to upgrade guidance video.
Statistics
The Statistics page shows counts of your customizations:
| Statistic | Description | Drill-Down Target |
|---|---|---|
| New fields added | Number of custom fields created | Add Fields page |
| Fields placed on pages | Number of field placements | Existing Pages |
| Fields added to reports | Number of report field placements | Existing Reports |
| Field transfers | Number of field transfer configurations | Add Fields page |
| APIs | Number of table API endpoints | API Endpoints |
| Business Logic APIs | Number of business logic APIs | Business Logic API |
| Features | Number of feature tables | Feature Group List |
| Mandatory Field Conditions | Number of mandatory field rules | Global Page Action List |
| Calculated Fields | Number of page calculated fields | Global Page Action List |
| Report Calculated Fields | Number of report calculated fields | Global Page Action List |
| Queries | Number of query objects | Query List |
Click any statistic to drill down to the related page.
Action Bar
The main menu action bar provides quick access to:
Setup
Opens the Simple Object Designer Setup page for configuring SOD.
Publish
Generates the customization extension and asks whether to publish it to the current environment or just download the .app file.
Publish to GitHub
Pushes the generated AL source code to your configured GitHub repository. This action is only visible when GitHub integration is configured.
Statistics
Opens the Statistics page described above.
Navigation Tips
- Use the Statistics page for quick navigation to specific features
- The Inspect and Customize groups are useful for exploring what's already customized
- Start with Tasks for new customizations
- Use Expose Data when you need external system integration