How to add new fields to pages using “Create new Specification”

If you work with master data in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, you can add new fields to items, customers, vendors, serial numbers, and lot numbers without any development work. The Create New Specification wizard lets you define a new field, give it a dropdown of values, and decide where it should appear, all in a few clicks.

You start the wizard directly from the relevant card, such as the item card or customer card. You name the field, choose whether it should use information values for a dropdown, and select whether it appears on sales documents, purchase documents, and on the page itself.

You can include the new field in the specification search so it becomes searchable on sales and purchase order lines. You can also merge the field value into the item description, long description, and report description.

There is a limit to how many replicated fields you can show on a specific page. The wizard only offers the option to display a field on the page if you still have room for it.

For serial numbers and lot numbers, you create the specification directly from the serial number information list or lot number information list in standard Business Central.

Adding new fields to master data without development

In Business Central you can extend your master data with custom fields on items, customers, vendors, and more. The example here uses the item card, where bike type and gender have already been added as fields. The goal is to add a new field for color that does not exist today.

You do this with the Create New Specification wizard. It applies to master data on documents, master data on pages, specification search, and similar functionality. The same wizard works for customers, vendors, lot number information cards, and serial number information cards.

How to create a new field with the Create New Specification wizard

When you start the wizard, it explains exactly what it is going to do. You begin by giving the field a name. In this example the field is called Color.

Next you decide whether the field should use an information value. If you select information value, the master data on documents and on the page defaults to an information value instead of a plain value. This is what gives you a dropdown of predefined options.

For the color field you can create a dropdown of values. You only need to create one value to define it as an information value, and you can add or change the values later.

Choosing where the new field appears

The wizard then asks a series of questions about where the field should show up:

• Show on sales documents: If you check this, the field is set up as master data on documents. When you create a sales order with an item that carries the specification, the field shows on the sales order line.
• Show on purchase documents: The same option applies to purchase orders through master data on documents.
• Display as a new specification on the page: This shows the field directly on the card, for example the item card or the customer card. The wizard only offers this option if you have field slots remaining, because there is a limited number of replicated fields you can show on a specific page.
• Merge into the item description: The merge functionality writes the value into the long description, item description, report description, and so on.
• Include in specification search: If you use the specification search to find items quickly on sales and purchase orders through the number field, you can check this box to make the new field part of that search.

Once you have made your selections, you click Next and the field is created.

The result on the item card and on orders

After running the wizard, the color field appears on the item card as a replicated field. You can pick a color from the dropdown you created. In the information code list you can find the color you just made, and you can confirm it is set up with the matching functionality and has a check mark in the Include in Specification Search field.

When you add the item to a sales order, the color specification is already attached to the line automatically. The same approach works on customers and vendors, where you run the same Create New Specification template directly from the card.

Where the wizard is available

You can use this functionality to set up new fields on customers, items, vendors, serial numbers, and lot numbers. For serial numbers and lot numbers, the create option sits on the serial number information list and the lot number information list in standard Business Central. In all cases you go directly to the relevant card to find the Create New Specification functionality.

This gives you a quick way to add new fields to Business Central and decide whether they should be part of the search functionality and master data on documents, both of which are covered in separate videos.

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