Modeling variables (form)

Article
05/05/2014

Applies To: Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Feature Pack, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012

Click Product information management > Setup > Product builder > Modeling variables.

Use this form to create different types of modeling variables for later use in the product models. The available variable types are the basic data types Text, Integer, Real, Enumerated text and Boolean. Also, the Table variables that let the user select values from one of the many Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 tables.

Note

This information applies only to Product builder.

Note

We recommend that you do not use this form, because it is being officially deprecated and may be removed, and may not be available in future versions of Microsoft Dynamics AX.

Task that use this form

Create modeling variables

Navigating the form

The following links and tables provide descriptions for the controls in this form.

Tabs

Tab	Description
General tab	View and define variable-specific settings, write the help text to be displayed in the user dialog box.

Buttons

Button	Description
Translations	Create language texts for your modeling variables so that they can be presented to the user in different languages.
Outcomes	Specify the list of allowed outcomes for the modeling variables of the Enumerated text type. This button is available only for variables of this type.
User profiles	Add user profiles for a modeling variable to control user access to this particular variable in the product model user dialog box.
Range	Delimit the set of table values that are presented to the user in the product model user dialog box. This button is available only for modeling variables of the Table type.
Copy	Copy the whole setup of another modeling variable to the currently selected variable. Note This function overwrites all settings previously defined for the destination modeling variable. For more information, see Copy variable setup (class form).
Validation	Create validation rules.

Fields

Field	Description
Variable	Type the unique name of the modeling variable. Note You cannot use special characters, such as asterisks (*), ampersands (&), spaces, or quotation marks ("), in variable names. Whenever you enter a variable name here, the system checks that it contains no illegal characters. If there are illegal characters you receive an error message. The variable name also cannot begin with a number.
Data type	Select the variable type. The following types of variables are available: Text - Containing any kind of text, characters, or text strings. Integer - Containing whole numbers. Real - Containing decimal numbers. Enumerated text - Fixed-text that is variables with a predefined list of possible outcomes. Click Outcomes to open the Outcomes form where you can define the outcomes. Table - Referring to Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 tables. The purpose of Table variables is to let the user select from a set of values stored in an Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 table. Click Range to limit the range of choices to a subset of the values in the table. Boolean - Logical TRUE or FALSE represented to the user as check boxes. Note When using variables of this type in logical expressions, specify values for them by using 1 and 0.
Description	Description of the variable that will be used in reports. The variable description is also used as a variable prompt in the user dialog box, unless a language text in the appropriate language exists. To create such language texts, click Translations, select the language, and write the variable description in the Text field.
Notes field	Select to make the variable shown in the user dialog box a multiline field instead of just a single line of text. Note This field is only available when a Variable with a Data type of Text is selected.
Number of decimals	Specify the number of decimals that are shown in the user dialog box for Real (that is, decimal number) variables. Note This field is only available when a Variable with a Data type of Real is selected.
Table	Specify the name of the Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 table that provides data to be selected by the user during item configuration. The field from which data will be fetched is specified in the Field name field. Note This field is only available when a Variable with a Data type of Table is selected. Note Do not use tables that contain more than 255 values for the field you are going to use.
Field name	Select one of the fields from the table specified in Table. This field will provide data to be selected by the user during item configuration. Note This field is only available when a Variable with a Data type of Table is selected.
Additional field	Select one of the fields from the table specified in Table to be shown in the Table variable's drop-down list, for information purposes only, during item configuration, when the user has to select one of the values from the table field specified in the Field name field. Note This field is only available when a Variable with a Data type of Table is selected.
Help text	Enter the help text to be shown in the status bar when the variable has focus in the user dialog box. Help texts can also be created in different languages, to make the variable sensitive to the language setup of a product modeling session. To create such language texts, click Translations, select the language, and write the help text in the Help text field.