Prerequisite Knowledge in Interfaces

Prerequisite Knowledge in Interfaces : To interface Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013 with other applications, use Component Object Model (COM) technologies in the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Development Environment to extend the functionality of Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013. Also use external files to exchange information between Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013 and third-party applications or devices.

Component Object Model (COM) Technologies

Use Component Object Model (COM) technologies in the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Development Environment to extend the functionality of Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013. In the development environment, you can use two types of COM technologies: automation and custom controls (OCX).

Automation

Automation is a client/server infrastructure that enables one application to access and communicate with another application. By using automation, an application, such as Microsoft Office Word, exposes its internal functions and routines as automation objects. Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013 accesses these objects through an automation client that runs in the Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013 client for Windows. The application that exposes the automation object, such as Word, acts as the automation server, and the automation client acts as the client.

Automation enables tasks that run manually to run automatically instead. For example, you can write a script to extract data from a database, put the data into a Microsoft Office Excel workbook, and then display the data graphically.

Custom Controls (OCX)

Custom controls are OLE Control Extensions (OCX) or ActiveX controls. These are specific types of Automation objects. OCX and ActiveX controls are generally small programs or application objects that you start from the Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013 application to perform a specific function or task. Use custom controls for various types of tasks.

By default, there are several available custom controls in Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013 on the Tools menu in the development environment. To develop custom controls, you can use tools such as Microsoft Visual C++ or Microsoft Visual Basic. Both products use wizards that make it easy to develop COM objects. You can also develop functional controls without understanding the complex details of COM.

Only nonvisual controls are supported. You cannot use a control to add graphical elements to a Microsoft Dynamics NAV object. For example, you cannot add a third-party control to a page. However, the control can display information and interact with the user in its own window.