Simple Object Designer Documentation
Index

Updating SOD

Simple Object Designer receives updates with new features and fixes. This page explains how to update SOD.

How Updates Work

AppSource Updates

SOD updates are delivered through AppSource:

  • Microsoft notifies of available updates
  • Updates appear in Extension Management
  • You choose when to install

Update Frequency

Updates may include:

  • Bug fixes
  • New features
  • BC version compatibility
  • Performance improvements

Checking for Updates

In Extension Management

  1. Open Extension Management
  2. Find Simple Object Designer
  3. Check for update indicator
  4. Or click to view details

Update Notifications

BC may show:

  • Update available badges
  • Notification messages
  • Admin center alerts

Installing Updates

From Extension Management

  1. Open Extension Management
  2. Find Simple Object Designer
  3. Click update action (if available)
  4. Confirm the update
  5. Wait for installation

From the Business Central Admin Center

The Admin Center is the other supported route, and often the more reliable one:

  1. Go to the Business Central Admin Center
  2. Select the environment
  3. Click Apps
  4. Find Simple Object Designer and update it to the latest version

Version numbers follow the pattern 12.0.0.535 — check yours here before reporting an issue, since a great many fixes simply require being current.

AppSource propagation delay

Updates are published to Microsoft AppSource, and a newly released fix is not always visible immediately. Availability typically follows within about an hour, though propagation has taken anywhere from ten minutes to a day.

Refreshing symbols is not how you get a new SOD version. Symbol refresh updates metadata about other extensions; it has no effect on which version of SOD you are running. Updating the SOD extension itself — via the Admin Center or Extension Management — is required. (Refreshing symbols afterwards is still good practice.)

Update Process

  1. BC downloads new version
  2. Validates compatibility
  3. Runs upgrade codeunits
  4. Updates extension

Timing

Consider:

  • Update during low-usage periods
  • Test in sandbox first if possible
  • Plan for any downtime

After Updating

Publish again

Updating SOD does not change the extension already deployed in your environment. The app in Business Central was generated by the old SOD version and stays exactly as it was until you publish again.

This is the single most common reason an update "did not fix anything". Fixes to generated behaviour — the lookup drop-down column population introduced in 12.0.0.495, for example — only appear after you re-publish your existing fields and customizations.

After every SOD update that was meant to fix something: publish again.

Re-download Symbols

After SOD updates, you may need to:

  1. Re-download symbols — from the Setup page, answering Yes to clear the cache
  2. SOD's structure may have changed
  3. Ensures compatibility

Test Functionality

Verify:

  • Existing customizations still work
  • New features function correctly
  • No regressions

Recovering a missing extension after a BC update

After a Business Central platform update, the generated extension can disappear entirely from Extension Management — this happens when a dependency app is removed during the upgrade.

Data is not lost. Recover by refreshing symbols from the SOD Setup page with Yes to clear the cache, then publishing again. See Symbol Troubleshooting.

Review Release Notes

Check what's new:

  • New features to use
  • Changed behaviors
  • Bug fixes applied

Update Considerations

Your Customizations

SOD updates don't affect:

  • Your custom extension (separate)
  • Your configuration
  • Your customizations

Your generated extension is independent of SOD itself.

Compatibility

SOD updates may:

  • Add new capabilities
  • Change UI slightly
  • Improve performance
  • Fix issues

Generally backward compatible.

Update SOD before a Business Central version upgrade

Make this part of your upgrade routine:

  1. Update SOD to the latest version
  2. Publish your app again
  3. Then run or reschedule the BC update

New Business Central versions remove or relocate fields that existing SOD-generated endpoints may reference. Being on the current SOD version means the generated code targets the right objects, and gives you current symbols so you can edit affected endpoints — unselecting a removed field, for example.

See Business Central Updates and Compatibility.

Why an update is sometimes unavoidable

Microsoft periodically changes security settings affecting the OAuth2 device-code authentication SOD uses for symbol download. When that happens, an outdated SOD version produces login and token errors such as AADSTS700016: Application ... was not found in the directory. The only fix is updating SOD. See Symbol Troubleshooting.

Microsoft compatibility notification emails

Extension owners sometimes receive emails from Microsoft stating that an extension published from SOD is not compatible with a newer BC version — an extension published under BC 25.0 flagged as incompatible with 25.2, for instance.

Some of these have been false positives caused by a fault in Microsoft's testing automation, which sent the notification to every extension owner.

Treat such emails with caution rather than acting immediately. Verify against Microsoft's known-issues list (the Power Platform Admin Center "known issues" page) before changing anything, and read Business Central Updates and Compatibility, which separates the known false positives from the genuine warnings.

Forced Updates

AppSource Policy

Microsoft may require updates:

  • Security fixes
  • Critical bugs
  • Compatibility requirements

Handling Forced Updates

If update is required:

  1. Plan update window
  2. Test if time permits
  3. Apply update
  4. Verify functionality

Rollback

If Update Causes Issues

Options:

  1. Report issue to Hougaard support
  2. Wait for fix in next update
  3. Rollback may not be available for AppSource apps

Prevention

  • Test updates in sandbox when possible
  • Monitor after updating
  • Report issues promptly

Update Best Practices

Stay Current

  • Install updates when available
  • Don't fall too far behind
  • Benefit from improvements

Test When Possible

  • Apply to sandbox first
  • Verify no issues
  • Then update production

Document Versions

Track:

  • Current SOD version
  • When updated
  • Any issues encountered