Document Phases¶

Phases are set up on the Sales Document Phases page (search for "Document Phases" or open it from the Document Phase Management menu). Each line defines one phase of one document type, the conditions under which a document enters the phase and what happens when it does.

Basic Information¶

• Document Type – the document type the phase belongs to (Sales Order, Sales Invoice, Sales Credit Memo, Sales Return Order, Transfer Order, Posted Sales Invoice, Sales Archive). Each document type has its own independent set of phases.
• Code – the unique identifier of the phase. The code also determines the priority of the phase when more phases meet the conditions – see Automatic Phase Changes.
• Description – the internal description of the phase displayed to users in Business Central.
• Public Description – the description of the phase for external services, such as an e-shop or a WMS.
• Type – the type of the phase. Phase types add specific conditions for automatic phase changes and are provided by other extensions; the base extension does not contain any phase types.

Phase Behavior¶

• Default – the phase assigned to newly created documents. Only one default phase can exist for each document type.
• Canceled – the phase can be selected neither automatically by Phase Management nor manually by users. Use it for phases that are no longer used.
• Manual Phase – the phase can be selected manually on the document with the Select Phase action.
• Exclude from Phase Management – the phase is skipped by the Phase Management report, i.e. a document is never moved into it automatically.

Transition Conditions¶

The following fields define when a document can move into the phase. A document moves into the phase only when all filled-in conditions are met. In the filter fields you can combine more values with the | symbol (e.g. B2B|B2C).

• Previous Phase Filter – the phases (codes) the document must be in to move into this phase.
• Reason Code Filter – the reason codes the document must have. For transfer orders, the Reason Code field is added to the header by this extension (the standard transfer order does not have it).
• Payment Method Code Filter – the payment methods the document must have.
• Payment Confirmed – the payment status of the document: blank (not checked), Payment Confirmed or Payment Not Confirmed. The status is determined by the Paid field on the document (sales documents only).
• Interval (Days) – the number of days the document must stay in the previous phase before it moves into this phase, e.g. waiting for a payment before an automatic cancellation. The time the document spends in an error state is not counted.

E-mail Notification¶

• E-mail Notification Layout – the report layout used for the body of the e-mail.
• E-mail Notification Subject – the subject of the e-mail. Use %1 as a placeholder for the document number.
• Assigned Attachments – the number of attachments sent with the notification. Choose the number to open the attachments of the phase (see below).

The notification is sent by the SendEmailNotification action, which must be assigned to the phase.

Descriptions of phases and e-mail subjects can be translated on the Translations of Document Phases page. For each Language Code you enter the Translation of Phase Description and the Translation of E-mail Subject. The customer receives the notification in the language of the document.

Use the Notification Preview action to test the notification of a phase, including its attachments.

Notification Attachments¶

Besides the e-mail body, you can send attachments with each notification. Attachments are set up on the E-mail Notification Attachments page, which opens from the Assigned Attachments field. There are two types of attachments:

• Report – the attachment is generated from a standard Business Central report layout when the notification is sent, e.g. an order confirmation.
• File – a file uploaded to Business Central that is sent unchanged, e.g. terms and conditions. The preview of the file is available in the FactBox.

Fields on the page:

• Type – Report or File. The value cannot be changed after the line is inserted.
• Imported File – a link to download the uploaded file.
• Attachment Name – the name of the attachment in the e-mail.
• Description – a user-defined description.
• Layout Name – the report layout used to generate the attachment. The fields Report ID, Report Name, Layout Description and Layout Type are filled in from the selected layout.

Phase Actions¶

Actions are automated operations that run when a document enters the phase. A phase can have several actions. The Assigned Actions field shows their number; choose it (or use the Actions action) to open the Sales Doc. Phase Actions page:

• Order – the order in which the actions run.
• Action – the action to run.
• Action Description – the description of the action.

The following actions are available in the base extension:

Additional actions can be added by extensions.