In Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009, the RoleTailored client is the new, rich client and pages are the new way to view, insert, modify, and delete data in the RoleTailored client. The RoleTailored client provides an intuitive and customizable user interface (UI) that you can modify to support the job functions of different work roles in your organization. For more information about pages in the RoleTailored client, see Pages Overview. For more information about the RoleTailored architecture, see RoleTailored Architecture in the Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009 Installation and Configuring Help.

The RoleTailored client cannot run forms. You must transform your existing forms into pages. By transforming your forms into pages, you can reuse the business layout and logic of your forms. To transform your forms into pages you must use the transformation tool. The topics in this section describe form transformation, the principles behind form transformation, the different methods that you can use to accomplish the transformation from forms to pages, and an overview of the tool that you use to perform form transformation. For more information, see the following:

The Transformation Process

The following illustration shows the process of transforming forms to pages.

The topics in the Preparing to Transform Forms to Pages section describe the steps you must take before you run the transformation tool. The topics in the Transforming Forms section describe how to use the tool and explain the transformation process in detail.

Additional Steps to Upgrade to Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2009

Before you move to the three-tier architecture, in addition to transforming your forms, you must also do the following:

  • Evaluate your files that reside on the client to determine whether you need to use different functions to upload or download those files. For more information, see Evaluating Client Files and Automation.

  • Evaluate your automation components to determine whether you need to use different functions, change code, or redesign. For more information, see Evaluating Client Files and Automation.

Finally, you may want to redesign your reports to take advantage of the client report definition (RDLC) report layout. You can choose to view your existing Classic report layouts from the RoleTailored client or create new RDLC report layouts. For more information about redesigning reports, see Redesigning Classic Reports with Visual Studio Report Designer.