Freeze for Dynamics 365 BC - en-US

Manual for the administration and use of Freeze for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. With the Freeze Archive integration for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, you can access your audit-proof stored data and documents directly via the tried-and-tested Microsoft interface. Freeze Archive automatically links the documents to their business objects and also offers detailed search options via the index features and the full text of your documents.

• System Requirements
• Supported Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central versions
• Supported FREEZE versions
• Installation
• Licenses
• Obtaining the DEXPRO modules
• Configuration & Administration
• Permission sets
• DEXPRO Core
• Freeze Setup
• Freeze Storage
• Document Class Setup
• User Setup
• OAuth 2.0 Setup
• Additional search queries
• Application / Use
• Archive search of documents
• Archiving of documents
• Freeze Queue Entries
• Extension Development
• Attachment Download

System Requirements

System requirements for using FREEZE for Dynamics 365 BC

Supported Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central versions

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central integration is possible from the following version due to minimum technical requirements:

Supportet Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Versions

The prerequisite for operation is that the respective Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central version is still in regular support. The extended support is excluded.

Supported FREEZE versions

A licensed FREEZE system is required to connect FREEZE to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and for operation.

Installation

Licenses

Microsoft

Information about the Microsoft Business Central licenses.

FREEZE

The DEXPRO FREEZE system that should be connected to Business Central requires a valid customer license.

Obtaining the DEXPRO modules

Detailed Information are here.

OnPrem

For OnPrem installations, an runtime package with the required apps is provided upon request of a registered reseller / partner. These modules are added to the customer license by the partner and then imported into Microsoft Dynamics Business Central. It should be noted that the DEXPRO Core module forms the basis for all DEXPRO modules and must therefore be imported first.

Cloud

For cloud installations, you only need the Microsoft AppSource. This is where the required DEXPRO modules are downloaded.

Configuration & Administration

Permission sets

In order to use the modules, the appropriate authorization set must be assigned to the respective users.

The following are supplied with:

• DXP Core Admin - DEXPRO Core Administrator
• DXP Core User - DEXPRO Core User
• DXP FREEZE Admin - DEXPRO FREEZE Administrator
• DXP FREEZE User - DEXPRO FREEZE User

DEXPRO Core

The DEXPRO Core manages the individual DEXPRO apps and their documents per client.

All documents that have been entered and processed via the various DEXPRO modules in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central are displayed. A global number series, which is used across all DEXPRO apps, is used to track individual documents. This offers the advantage that users only have to work with one number series per document.

Further information can be found here.

Freeze Setup

In the FREEZE setup, both the connection to the Freeze Archive System and the processing within the app are set up.

Menu

Home

Copy Setup

This is used to copy the setup to another company.

Upload Placeholder

This function is used to upload a placeholder for file types that the PDF viewer cannot display.

Navigation

Document Class Setup

This menu item takes you to the setup for the document classes.

OAuth 2.0-Setup

The users and their access tokens for OAuth 2.0 authentication are managed in this menu item.

User Setup

You can access the user assignment to the OAuth users via this menu item.

Additional Search Queries

Setting up additional search queries is particularly useful if you want to display archive folders that have not been archived via Freeze in BC. However, there are also other use cases.

FastTabs

General

You can activate/deactivate the use of this app in this FastTab.

API

The URL of the FREEZE system is specified in this fast tab. The default archive storage and the default authentication are also stored. You can also specify here how many archive data records should be displayed simultaneously during searches.

Archiving

Settings can be made here as to what should be archived automatically.

Automatic archiving after posting a receipt. Printing and archiving in one step. Archiving of emails with attachments if they are sent via the BC Email module.

Freeze Storage

The archive memories of the connected Freeze System are managed here.

Document Class Setup

In the document class setup, the mapping between the respective document class and your export interface is done. Furthermore, the field mapping of each document class is downloaded here, creating a set of standard fields and their usage in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.

The document class setup is cross-app and is managed via the DEXPRO Core.

Process

Download field mapping

This downloads the field structure of the SQUEEZE document class. These are needed for the metadata mapping.

Navigation

Metadata mapping

Via this menu item you reach the metadata mapping. This defines which fields are to be transferred to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and how.

List

Document classes

This overview lists all the document classes that have been set up.

Card

Document class

Here, each document class is set up individually.

General

In this fastab the name of the document class, the next process step, as well as the automatic enrichment of the positions is set up.

Freeze

The standard search mask is defined here.

User Setup

Alternative authentication: If users are to access the archive with alternative authentication, this can be entered here.

Show all results: The additional search queries (just like the full text search) only provide results for users who have been explicitly authorized to do so. This is necessary because archive folders that have not been archived via BC cannot be checked for effective authorizations due to the lack of a table number.

OAuth 2.0 Setup

The OAuth 2.0 / Open Id users and their access tokens are managed here.

Additional search queries

Creation of additional search queries

Below I have created a query that is appended to the system search query when you open Freeze via a record (here: vendor items - table 25). Search queries with the same table number are OR-linked.

Creation of additional search queries

You can access the query lines via Related:

Search by field name - Specifies the value of the field name to be used for the search query. These are the native fields of the archive software, but also data record fields saved in any form:

Search value source (field no.) - Specifies the value to be searched for in combination with the field name.

Fixed search value - The fixed search term is used instead of the search value.

The query lines are AND-linked.

Show the result

If you then open the vendor item Freeze...

...you will get the desired search result:

Do not forget: The additional search queries (just like the full text search) only provide results for users who have been explicitly authorized to do so in the setup. This is necessary because archive folders that have not been archived via BC cannot be checked for effective authorizations due to a lack of table numbers.

Application / Use

Archive search of documents

Freeze Searchmask

The Freeze search mask enables a full-text search as well as a search based on table fields according to the Apache Lucene syntax. It is also possible to display results for specific time periods.

1. Full text search

A free search according to Apache Lucene syntax.

2. Folder type filter

Here you can filter the results by folder type (e.g. invoices). This filter is used in combination with the other search parameters.

3. Date filter

The date filter allows you to narrow down the results by archiving or reference date.

4. Table search mask

At this point, select any table whose structure you would like to use as a search mask. The table number is then part of the search.

Apache Lucene-Syntax

A query is divided into terms and operators. There are two types of terms: Single terms and phrases. A single term is a single word such as “test” or “hello”. A phrase is a group of words surrounded by double quotation marks, such as “hello dolly”.
Multiple terms can be combined with Boolean operators to form a more complex query. The following Boolean operators are supported: AND, OR and NOT. For example, the query “hello AND world” returns documents that contain both the words “hello” and “world”.
The following characters must be escaped in a query: + - && || ! ( ) { } [ ] ^ “ ~ * ? : \ To escape a character, simply place a backslash (\) in front of the character.
Wildcards can be used to search for words that contain a specific character string. The asterisk (*) stands for zero or more characters, while the question mark (?) stands for exactly one character. The query “te?t”, for example, returns documents containing words such as “test”, “text” and “tent”.

Data record-based search

The data record-based search is always executed when you open Freeze via a data record saved in BC (menu item “DEXPRO Freeze” or key combination CTRL+ALT+F). Here is an example of a vendor:

Typical jumping off points:

• customers
• creditors
• items
• Purchasing documents
• Sales documents
• Posted documents
• Financial accounting journals
• Ledger Entries

Archiving of documents

The following can be archived...

• Archiving after posting of purchasing and sales documents, as well as financial accounting journals
• Archiving of outgoing sales documents via standard reports
• Archiving of outgoing e-mails incl. attachments from BC
• Archiving of incoming documents
• Archiving of linked attachments within BC

Freeze Queue Entries

All archiving processes are listed and processed here.

Extension Development

This chapter lists important integration events and examples to help you develop an extension for Freeze for MSDynamics 365 Business Central Important: Adaptations may only be carried out by appropriately trained consultants/developers. Furthermore, these are always outside the standard support provided by DEXPRO.

Attachment Download

The DXP Freeze Result Management codeunit provides two primary methods for downloading archived attachments as ZIP files:

Both methods organize attachments into structured ZIP archives with comprehensive metadata for audit and tracking purposes.

Method 1: DownloadAttachmentsAsZipWithPagination

Purpose

Downloads all attachments from a search query result set, processing results page by page to handle large datasets efficiently. Each record’s attachments are organized into individual ZIP files within a main ZIP archive.

Overloads Available

1. Basic Usage

procedure DownloadAttachmentsAsZipWithPagination(SearchQuery: Text; var ZipArchive: Codeunit "Data Compression"; var AttachmentCount: Integer): Boolean

2. With Filters

procedure DownloadAttachmentsAsZipWithPagination(SearchQuery: Text; var ZipArchive: Codeunit "Data Compression"; var AttachmentCount: Integer; FilenameFilter: Text; FileExtensionFilter: Text): Boolean

3. Full Control

procedure DownloadAttachmentsAsZipWithPagination(SearchQuery: Text; var ZipArchive: Codeunit "Data Compression"; var AttachmentCount: Integer; FilenameFilter: Text; FileExtensionFilter: Text; StoreApiLink: Text; RecordsPerPage: Integer; SuppressDialog: Boolean): Boolean

4. Pre-populated Records (Advanced)

procedure DownloadAttachmentsAsZipWithPagination(var TempFrzResultQueryHeader: Record "DXP FRZ Query Result Header" temporary; var TempFrzResultRecordHeader: Record "DXP FRZ Record Result Header" temporary; var TempFrzResultRecordField: Record "DXP FRZ Result Record-Field" temporary; var TempFrzAttachmentResult: Record "DXP FRZ Attachment Result" temporary; SearchQuery: Text; var ZipArchive: Codeunit "Data Compression"; var AttachmentCount: Integer; FilenameFilter: Text; FileExtensionFilter: Text; SuppressDialog: Boolean): Boolean

Parameters

Return Value

Example Usage

Basic Download

procedure DownloadSearchResults()
var
    ResultMgt: Codeunit "DXP FRZ Result Mgt.";
    ZipArchive: Codeunit "Data Compression";
    FileMgt: Codeunit "File Management";
    TempBlob: Codeunit "Temp Blob";
    AttachmentCount: Integer;
    InStr: InStream;
    OutStr: OutStream;
    SearchQuery: Text;
begin
    SearchQuery := 'invoice AND 2024';
    
    if ResultMgt.DownloadAttachmentsAsZipWithPagination(SearchQuery, ZipArchive, AttachmentCount) then begin
        // Save ZIP to file
        TempBlob.CreateOutStream(OutStr);
        ZipArchive.SaveZipArchive(OutStr);
        TempBlob.CreateInStream(InStr);
        
        FileMgt.DownloadFromStreamHandler(InStr, '', '', '', 'SearchResults.zip');
        Message('Downloaded %1 attachments successfully.', AttachmentCount);
    end else
        Message('No attachments found for the search query.');
end;

With Filters

procedure DownloadPDFInvoices()
var
    ResultMgt: Codeunit "DXP FRZ Result Mgt.";
    ZipArchive: Codeunit "Data Compression";
    AttachmentCount: Integer;
    SearchQuery: Text;
begin
    SearchQuery := 'type:invoice';
    
    if ResultMgt.DownloadAttachmentsAsZipWithPagination(
        SearchQuery, 
        ZipArchive, 
        AttachmentCount, 
        '*.pdf', // Only PDF files
        'pdf'    // File extension filter
    ) then begin
        // Process the ZIP archive
        ProcessDownloadedFiles(ZipArchive, AttachmentCount);
    end;
end;

Using Pre-populated Records

procedure DownloadFromExistingResults()
var
    ResultMgt: Codeunit "DXP FRZ Result Mgt.";
    TempFrzResultQueryHeader: Record "DXP FRZ Query Result Header" temporary;
    TempFrzResultRecordHeader: Record "DXP FRZ Record Result Header" temporary;
    TempFrzResultRecordField: Record "DXP FRZ Result Record-Field" temporary;
    TempFrzAttachmentResult: Record "DXP FRZ Attachment Result" temporary;
    ZipArchive: Codeunit "Data Compression";
    AttachmentCount: Integer;
begin
    // Assume these records are already populated from a previous search
    PopulateSearchResults(TempFrzResultQueryHeader, TempFrzResultRecordHeader, TempFrzResultRecordField, TempFrzAttachmentResult);
    
    // Download using existing results without re-executing search
    if ResultMgt.DownloadAttachmentsAsZipWithPagination(
        TempFrzResultQueryHeader,
        TempFrzResultRecordHeader,
        TempFrzResultRecordField,
        TempFrzAttachmentResult,
        'invoice search', // SearchQuery - if empty, will re-execute search
        ZipArchive,
        AttachmentCount,
        '',     // No filename filter
        '',     // No extension filter
        true    // Suppress dialog
    ) then begin
        ProcessDownloadedFiles(ZipArchive, AttachmentCount);
    end;
end;

ZIP Structure (Pagination)

SearchResults.zip
├── export-metadata.json
├── Invoice_001_V1_20241201_1430.zip
│   ├── {GUID}_invoice.pdf
│   └── {GUID}_supporting_doc.docx
├── PurchaseOrder_002_V2_20241202_0900.zip
│   └── {GUID}_po_document.pdf
└── Contract_003_V1_20241203_1200.zip
    ├── {GUID}_contract.pdf
    └── {GUID}_amendment.pdf

Method 2: DownloadAttachmentsAsZipFromRecord

Purpose

Downloads attachments from specific Business Central records. Each selected record’s attachments are organized into individual ZIP files within a main ZIP archive.

Overloads Available

1. Basic Usage

procedure DownloadAttachmentsAsZipFromRecord(var SelectedRecord: RecordRef; var ZipArchive: Codeunit "Data Compression"): Boolean

2. With Filters

procedure DownloadAttachmentsAsZipFromRecord(var SelectedRecord: RecordRef; var ZipArchive: Codeunit "Data Compression"; FilenameFilter: Text; FileExtensionFilter: Text): Boolean

Parameters

Return Value

Example Usage

Download from Sales Invoices

procedure DownloadInvoiceAttachments()
var
    SalesInvoiceHeader: Record "Sales Invoice Header";
    ResultMgt: Codeunit "DXP FRZ Result Mgt.";
    ZipArchive: Codeunit "Data Compression";
    RecordRef: RecordRef;
    HasAttachments: Boolean;
begin
    // Select specific invoices
    SalesInvoiceHeader.SetRange("Posting Date", DMY2Date(1, 1, 2024), DMY2Date(31, 12, 2024));
    SalesInvoiceHeader.SetFilter("Sell-to Customer No.", '10000|20000');
    
    if SalesInvoiceHeader.FindSet() then begin
        RecordRef.GetTable(SalesInvoiceHeader);
        
        HasAttachments := ResultMgt.DownloadAttachmentsAsZipFromRecord(RecordRef, ZipArchive);
        
        if HasAttachments then
            SaveZipFile(ZipArchive, 'InvoiceAttachments.zip')
        else
            Message('No attachments found for the selected invoices.');
    end;
end;

Download with Filters from Page

// In a page extension
action(DownloadAttachmentsFiltered)
{
    Caption = 'Download Filtered Attachments';
    Image = ExportFile;
    
    trigger OnAction()
    var
        ResultMgt: Codeunit "DXP FRZ Result Mgt.";
        ZipArchive: Codeunit "Data Compression";
        RecordRef: RecordRef;
        FilenameFilter: Text;
        FileExtensionFilter: Text;
    begin
        // Show filter dialog
        if ShowFilterDialog(FilenameFilter, FileExtensionFilter) then begin
            CurrPage.SetSelectionFilter(Rec);
            RecordRef.GetTable(Rec);
            
            if ResultMgt.DownloadAttachmentsAsZipFromRecord(
                RecordRef, 
                ZipArchive, 
                FilenameFilter, 
                FileExtensionFilter
            ) then
                DownloadZipFile(ZipArchive, 'FilteredAttachments.zip');
        end;
    end;
}

ZIP Structure (Records)

RecordAttachments.zip
├── export-metadata.json
├── Sales_Invoice_Header_Company_SI-001.zip
│   ├── {GUID}_invoice.pdf
│   └── {GUID}_terms.pdf
├── Sales_Invoice_Header_Company_SI-002.zip
│   └── {GUID}_invoice.pdf
└── Sales_Invoice_Header_Company_SI-003.zip
    ├── {GUID}_invoice.pdf
    ├── {GUID}_delivery_note.pdf
    └── {GUID}_receipt.jpg

Metadata Structure

Both methods generate comprehensive metadata in export-metadata.json:

Pagination Export Metadata

{
  "exportInfo": {
    "exportTimestamp": "2024-12-19T10:13:52.248Z",
    "exportedBy": "USER001",
    "searchQuery": "type:invoice AND year:2024",
    "totalRecordsFound": 150,
    "totalPages": 15,
    "exportType": "paginated-search",
    "description": "Freeze Search Query Export"
  },
  "appliedFilters": {
    "filenameFilter": "*.pdf",
    "fileExtensionFilter": "pdf"
  },
  "statistics": {
    "pagesProcessed": 15,
    "totalRecordsProcessed": 150,
    "recordsWithAttachments": 120,
    "recordsWithoutAttachments": 30,
    "totalAttachments": 245,
    "exportCompletedAt": "2024-12-19T10:15:33.021Z"
  },
  "records": [
    {
      "recordId": "{GUID}",
      "title": "Invoice INV-2024-001",
      "version": 1,
      "archivedAt": "2024-12-01T09:30:00Z",
      "archivedBy": "SYSTEM",
      "type": "Sales Invoice",
      "masterId": "{GUID}",
      "attachmentCount": 3,
      "hasAttachments": true,
      "zipFile": "Invoice_INV-2024-001_V1_20241201_0930.zip"
    }
  ]
}

Record Export Metadata

{
  "exportTimestamp": "2024-12-19T14:30:00Z",
  "exportedBy": "USER001",
  "totalRecordsProcessed": 25,
  "description": "DXP Freeze Attachments Export",
  "sourceTable": {
    "tableNumber": 112,
    "tableName": "Sales Invoice Header",
    "tableCaption": "Posted Sales Invoice"
  },
  "appliedFilters": {
    "filenameFilter": "*.pdf",
    "fileExtensionFilter": "pdf"
  },
  "statistics": {
    "totalAttachments": 45,
    "recordsWithAttachments": 20,
    "recordsWithoutAttachments": 5,
    "totalZipFiles": 20
  },
  "records": [
    {
      "recordId": "Sales Invoice Header: Company, SI-001",
      "systemId": "{GUID}",
      "primaryKey": {
        "fields": [
          {
            "fieldName": "No.",
            "fieldValue": "SI-001",
            "fieldType": "Code"
          }
        ]
      },
      "hasAttachments": true,
      "attachmentCount": 2,
      "zipFile": "Sales_Invoice_Header_Company_SI-001.zip"
    }
  ]
}

Performance Considerations

Pagination Method

Record Method

Error Handling

Both methods include comprehensive error handling:

Common Scenarios

Best Practices

// Always check return value
if not ResultMgt.DownloadAttachmentsAsZipWithPagination(SearchQuery, ZipArchive, AttachmentCount) then begin
    Message('No attachments found or download failed.');
    exit;
end;

// Validate attachment count
if AttachmentCount = 0 then begin
    Message('Search completed but no attachments matched the criteria.');
    exit;
end;

// Handle large downloads
if AttachmentCount > 1000 then
    if not Confirm('This will download %1 attachments. Continue?', false, AttachmentCount) then
        exit;

Integration Events

Both methods support integration events for customization:

Available Events

Example Integration

[EventSubscriber(ObjectType::Codeunit, Codeunit::"DXP FRZ Result Mgt.", 'OnBeforeProcessAttachmentForZip', '', false, false)]
local procedure OnBeforeProcessAttachmentForZip(var TempFrzAttachmentResult: Record "DXP FRZ Attachment Result" temporary; var IsHandled: Boolean)
begin
    // Skip attachments larger than 10MB
    if TempFrzAttachmentResult.Filesize > 10485760 then
        IsHandled := true;
end;

File Naming Conventions

Automatic Sanitization

All filenames are automatically sanitized using the SanitizeFileName method:

Unique Naming