Opening an object store
Prism for C/AL reads C/AL objects exported as text. The objects you open together are an object store: one object text file (a file store), a directory of object text files (a directory store), or a mirror of a NAV database (a mirror store). Each object store opens in its own Workspace window.
Prism for C/AL does not read .fob files, and it does not read objects straight from a database: a
mirror exports them to text first.
Every store you open is added to the recent stores on the Home page and to File › Recent in the control panel. Opening a store that is already open brings its workspace window to the front.
Open a file store
A file store is one object text file (.txt) exported from the Dynamics NAV development environment.
Use it when you have an export of some or all objects in one file.
- Select Open file… on the Home page, or File › Open › Object Text File… in the control panel.
- In the Open Object Text File dialog, select the file and select Open.
Prism shows its progress while it loads the objects, then opens the workspace window.
Open a directory store
A directory store is a folder of object text files, one object per file, such as the working folder of a version control repository. Prism reads three layouts, each with its own command under File › Open in the control panel.
| # | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Object Text Directory (Unstructured *.txt)… | Opens a folder of object text files in any layout. |
| 2 | Object Text Directory (Default Structure)… | Opens a folder in the Prism layout. |
| 3 | Object Text Directory (ReVision Structure)… | Opens a folder in the ReVision layout. |
| 4 | Layout tooltip | Hover over the Default or ReVision command to see the folder layout it expects. |
| Layout | Files | Open it with |
|---|---|---|
| Unstructured | Any *.txt files in the folder and its subfolders, named as you like. |
Open folder… on the Home page, or File › Open › Object Text Directory (Unstructured *.txt)… |
| Prism (default structure) | One subfolder per object type, one file per object id: table\18.txt, codeunit\1.txt. |
Open Prism folder… on the Home page, or File › Open › Object Text Directory (Default Structure)… |
| ReVision | One subfolder per object type, files named by type and padded id: Table\Table 0000000018.txt, Codeunit\Codeunit 0000000001.txt. |
File › Open › Object Text Directory (ReVision Structure)… only. The Home page has no button for it. |
- Choose the command for your layout from the table. If you are unsure, use the unstructured layout: it reads any folder of object text files.
- Select the folder and confirm.
For an unstructured directory, you choose which files and folders Prism reads under Unstructured Directory Store on the Settings page. This helps when the folder also holds files that are not objects.
| Setting | Effect |
|---|---|
| File name inclusion filter | Only files whose names match are read, for example table*.txt. |
| File name exclusion filter | Files whose names match are skipped. |
| Directory name exclusion filter | Folders whose names match are skipped, for example .git or temp_*|tmp_*. |
A filter is one or more patterns separated by |. In a pattern, * stands for any run of
characters and ? for one character. An empty filter filters nothing.
Open a mirror
A mirror is a local copy of the objects of a NAV database. Prism exports the objects as text through the
development environment (finsql.exe) and keeps the copy in sync in the background. You define
mirrors, including their service tier, on the Mirrors.
| # | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Status dot | Green when the last synchronization succeeded, red when it failed, grey when the mirror has not been synchronized. |
| 2 | Mirror Name | The name you gave the mirror. |
| 3 | Server Name | The SQL Server of the database. |
| 4 | Database Name | The NAV database. |
| 5 | NAV Adapter | The NAV version family the mirror is set up for, NAV 2013 or NAV 2015 and later, which decides how Prism talks to its database. Change it on the Mirrors page. See NAV adapter. |
| 6 | Sync. | Sync on when Prism synchronizes the mirror in the background; a mirror with Sync off keeps the objects of its last synchronization. |
| 7 | OK | Opens the selected mirror. |
| 8 | Cancel | Closes the dialog. |
- Select Open mirror… on the Home page. Or choose the mirror under File › Open › Mirror in the control panel, or select Open mirror on the Mirrors page; Prism then opens it straight away.
- In the Open Database Mirror dialog, select a mirror and select OK, or double-click it.
When no mirror is defined yet, Open mirror… takes you to the Mirrors page instead. A mirror opens only once it has been synchronized; otherwise Prism says Mirror has not been synchronized, yet. While a mirror synchronizes, the workspace window's status bar and the Solution page show it.
Save a store as a directory store
Use this to split a file store into one file per object, for example to put the objects under version control.
- In the workspace window, choose File › Save As › Object Text Directory (Default Structure)… for the Prism layout, or File › Save As › Object Text Directory (ReVision Structure)… for the ReVision layout.
- Select an empty folder. For a folder that is not empty, Prism says Error saving store: "Directory is not empty. Please select an empty directory." and writes nothing; choose the command again and select an empty folder.
Prism writes one file per object. Open the folder later as a directory store with the same layout.
Object encoding
Prism reads object files with the Default object encoding from the Settings page. When the setting is empty, Prism uses the OEM code page of Windows. A mirror can override the encoding in its own settings. The Source card on the Solution page shows the encoding a file store was read with.
Loading an object store
While Prism loads an object store, it shows a progress window.
| # | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heading | Opening and the name of the store. |
| 2 | Path | Where the store is. |
| 3 | Progress bar | Runs without a value while Prism looks for files, then fills up as Prism parses and indexes the objects. |
| 4 | Scanned | How many objects Prism has found in the store so far. Parsing starts before the search ends, so the other counts rise alongside it. |
| 5 | Parsed | How many objects Prism has read and parsed so far. An object that fails counts here and under Failed. |
| 6 | Indexed | How many parsed objects Prism has added to its index of the store. An object that failed is added too, so it still appears in the object list. |
| 7 | Failed | Objects that could not be parsed. You find them on the Solution page and in the Object Errors window. |
| 8 | Cancel | Stops loading. The button reads Cancelling until Prism has stopped. Closing the window does the same. |
When loading fails, the progress window closes and Prism says Open Store: "<path> could not be loaded." with the reason below. See An object store cannot be loaded.
Reload an object store
Prism reads a file or directory store once, when it opens it. Reload the store when the files change on disk, for example after you pull from version control. A mirror downloads new and changed objects from NAV while it is open; reload it to read them.
- Select Reload in the navigation rail, or Reload workspace on the Solution page.
- If Confirm closing object store is on, on the Settings page, select Yes in Reload workspace?.
For a mirror, Reload in the rail is available once the mirror has downloaded new or changed objects. It is then accented and pulses, and its tooltip reads “Reload - new or changed objects have been downloaded from NAV”. Until then it reads “Reload - the mirror has no new or changed objects”.
Prism closes the store and opens it again with the same encoding. Open tabs and view state are lost. You can also close the workspace window and, in the control panel, press Ctrl+1 to Ctrl+9 to open the first to ninth store in File › Recent.