Extended text in Business Central lets you attach standard text to your master data and have it flow automatically onto your sales and purchase documents. You can maintain the text on three levels: directly on the information code, on the information value, and on the specific record such as a customer, vendor or item.
You maintain text on the information code level once, and it applies everywhere that code is used. The information value level lets you give different text to different values, for example a different note for each contact. The specific record level lets you attach text to one customer, vendor, item or serial number.
You control which text flows to your documents through the document setup in the Master Data app. When you print using the Document Customizer app, the extended text appears directly on sales orders, purchase orders and transfer orders.
Three levels of extended text in Business Central master data
Extended text can be applied to all three levels of master data in Business Central.
The top level is the information code itself, which equals a field. You add the text once and maintain it in one place only. For example, on a complaints code you might write standard wording for your sales documents, such as “Claims must be done within 14 days” or a reminder to inform the customer number.
The middle level is the information value. Here you can give a separate text to each value behind a code. If you have a contact information code, you can add one text for Susan and a different text for Simon. The text for Susan might read “If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Susan,” while Simon gets his own wording.
The bottom level is the specific instance, such as an individual customer, vendor or item. On customer 20,000 you might create an information code called “note” and add a delivery instruction like “If they’re not home, leave it behind the building, underneath the roof.” The same approach works for vendors, items and serial numbers.
How extended text flows to documents
The texts are designed to flow through to documents in Business Central. You control what comes through in the document setup, which determines which data flows to your open documents.
When you create a sales order for a customer and add an item, the Master Data app carries the relevant text onto the document lines. In one example, the document picked up two lines from the complaints information code, which was maintained in only one place, two lines from the contact, which is maintained per contact, and six lines from the specific customer. The customer text included extra empty lines because some spacing was wanted.
The same works for items. You can add extended text on an item and have it carried to the lines of any document that uses that item.
Printing extended text with the Document Customizer app
The extended text is meant to be shown when you print the document. If you use the Document Customizer app, the information appears directly on the printed sales orders, purchase orders and transfer orders.
You can also control whether empty lines are shown on the print. In the example, the setup was configured not to show the empty spaces, so only the meaningful text appears on the document.
Q&A
On which levels can you add extended text in Business Central?
You can add extended text on three levels of master data: the information code (top level), the information value (middle level), and the specific record such as a customer, vendor, item or serial number (bottom level).
Where do you control which extended text flows to a document?
You control it in the document setup in the Master Data app, which determines which data flows through to your open documents.
How do you get extended text to appear on a printed document?
Use the Document Customizer app. When you print, the extended text appears directly on sales orders, purchase orders and transfer orders. You can also configure the setup to hide empty lines.
If you maintain text on the information code level, how often do you have to update it?
Only once. Text maintained on the information code level is kept in a single place and applies everywhere that code is used.