Monthly Archives: November 2019

Hotkey Highlight – Ctrl+/

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Navigation Search – Ctrl+/

Ctrl+/ is the hotkey to enter the D365 navigation search located at the top of the page (This used to be the magnifying glass to the right of the legal entity, but in a recent design change the box is not top-center).

The navigation search is helpful if you know the exact name of the form you are looking for. The search functionality here still has room for improvement, so when I’m uncertain about the exact name of the menu item I’m looking for, I tend to favor using browser search (Ctrl+F) to open the desired module and search for the desired menu item.

Navigation Search Power User Tip

The navigation search matches based on the initial letters of each word typed.

Instead of typing “project invoice proposals” to return the Project invoice proposals form, the value “pro inv pro” is sufficent to return the same result. Typing “p i pr” would be an even more efficient way to return this result.

With some experimenting, you should discover a series of truncated search phrases to use in combination with Ctrl+/ that will resolve to your commonly used forms. Your own personal hotkeys!

Hotkey Highlight – Ctrl+F

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Browser Search – Ctrl+F

One of the great things about D365 being browser based is that you can also use the browser’s hotkeys. In both Chrome and Edge, Ctrl+F can be used to search a website. I find this is especially useful when searching for menu items buried deep in a module.

Browser Search Power User Tips

  • Crtrl+F to find menu items (or other text on page)
  • Enter toggles to next record
  • Shift+Enter toggles to previous record
  • Ctrl+Enter (in Chrome) clicks link
  • **update** the Ctrl+Enter shortcut also now works in the new Edge browser

Hotkey Highlights – Introduction

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View Shortcuts

On any D365 form, users have the ability to right-click and “View shortcuts”. This brings up a display of all the shortcuts available for that given form, as well as a link to the full list of D365 Keyboard shortcuts.

It’s faster to navigate computer systems with a keyboard than with a mouse. But while the point-and-click of a mouse is intuitive, keyboard navigation has to be memorized and internalized.

I’ve heard stories of managers ripping out the mouses of new investment bankers, forcing them to learn model building completely through excel hotkeys. But there’s no need to boil the ocean. Picking up a tip here and there can, like compounding interest, lead to significant improvement in the user experience over time. Also like compounding interest, we probably underestimate the cumulative value of all these small improvements.

With that in mind, I’m starting Hotkey Highlights* a series of blog posts on simple keyboard tricks that can improve the D365 navigation experience. I hope you enjoy! Subscribe if that’s content you’re interested in – and let me know you have any favorite navigation tips of your own.

*After some research, I realize that “hotkeys” are actually a very specific type of keyboard shortcut, and most of these shortcut tips will not in fact be “hotkeys” in that sense. I briefly considered renaming this series “Shortcut Showcase”, but after some soul-searching decided I did not love that alliteration as much. If this technicality somehow offends you, feel free to reach out and I will happily refund your blog subscription.

Saved Views

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One of the preview features I’m most excited about in Platform update 29 is saved views.

Saved Views – What are they?

In D365, personalizations enable users to Hide, Add, or Move fields on a given form. A Saved View can best be thought of as a set of personalizations, and saved views allow users to toggle between multiple sets of personalizations.

New users of D365 are frequently overwhelmed by the volume of fields and buttons available on every form. Saved views provide a way for users to pare the number of fields displayed in their day-to-day tasks, while still giving them access to the extra functionality should the need arise.

Saved Views – How are they enabled?

As a preview feature, there is a line of SQL code needs to be run to enable their flighting. More information can be found here:

Saved Views – How do they work?

When enabled, all forms now start in a standard “Classic view”:

If a form is modified through a personalization, the Classic view gains a Barry-Bonds-like asterisk. The asterisk indicate the form has been enhanced:

By clicking on the view button, the user now has the ability to save this as a new view:

The user can now name this new view, as well as decide whether to make this the default view every time the form is accessed.

Clicking the view button, this new view is now a new option the user can select for how the form is presented. The user always has the option of clicking back to the Classic view to see the standard presentation of the form.

That’s Great! What Else?

Saved views can be used for personalizations (adding, moving, hiding fields). Saved views can also be used for the sorting/filtering of columns. This is a huge extension of the form personalization capabilities.

Additionally, saved views can be published and shared at the role level bringing the management of personalizations much more in light with security management. I’d like to do another post on the sharing of views, as well as a video digging deeper into applications for shared views, but those will have to wait for another day.