ToolBox – Language Overview

A ToolBox program is a single file with global variables, procedures and the main begin end; section for starting the program. The grandfather of AL is Pascal, and the base structure of a ToolBox program is very similar to a classic Pascal program.

AL in the ToolBox is a subset of real AL, there are many things you can do in the ToolBox, but it’s only a fraction of what you can do with the AL language in Visual Studio Code.

The shortest possible ToolBox program looks like this:

begin
    message('Hello World');
end;

Actually, it can be made even shorter, you can omit the begin end; and just do:

message('Hello World');

The following snippet is a skeleton example of a script with globals variables, procedures and a main section:

// Start by declaring global variables
var
    varname: vartype;

// You can declare procedures
procedure proc()
var
   procvar : vartype;
begin
    // Stuff that happens inside proc()
end;
procedure procwithreturn() : returnvartype
begin
    exit(returnvalue);
end;

// Main program entry,
// this is the first code that executes,
// defined by the begin
begin
    // Here is your start code
    message('Hello world');
end;

Statements

ToolBox AL supports the following statements:

begin <statements> end;

for <incrementor> := <start> to <end statement> do

repeat <statements> until <bool expression>;

if <expression> then <statement> [else <statement>]

while <expression> do <statement>

case <expression> of <expression>: <statement> <expression>: <statement> [else <statements>] end;

break;

exit(<returnvalue>);

<variable> := <expression>;

Supported Record.<Function>()

Function	Description
calcfields	Calculate FlowFields
calcsums	Calculate Sift Sums
changecompany	Change Company for the record
get	Get(primary key fields)
locktable	Lock the table
reset	Reset (remove all filters)
isempty	Test if there are no records with the current filters
init	Initialize an empty record
insert	Insert the current record
modify	Modify the current record
delete	Delete the current record
deleteall	Delete all records within the current filters
validate	Validate a field (simulating the field being typed in)
setfilter	Set a filter on a field
setrange	Set a range filter on a field
getfilter	Get the filter from a field as a text
findset	Find a set of records
findfirst	Find the first record
findlast	Find the last record
find	Find with operator
next	Advance the record pointer inside a recordset
count	Returns the record count
countapprox	Returns an approximated record count (faster)
testfield	Test a field for a specific value
modifyall	Modify all records

Supported built-in functions

(lookup Microsoft documentation for details on docs.microsoft.com)

commit	Commit a transaction
createdatetime	Create a DateTime value from a Date and Time
currentdatetime	Return current date and time as a DateTime value
dmy2date	Create a Date value from Day, Month and Year
date2dmy	Splits a Date value into day, month year.
date2dwy	Splits a Date value in to date, week, year
today	Return current date
workdate	Return current WorkDate
time	Return current time
random	Returns a random integer
randomize	Defines the randomization seed
format	Format a value as a Text value
calcdate	Calculate a date from a date formula
clear	Not initializing record fields with InitValue(!)
power	Math power function
abs	Math abs function
round	Round a decimal a specific fraction
strlen	Returns length of a Text value
strpos	Returns the position of a subtext inside a Text
copystr	Copy a substring from a Text
delstr	Delete a substring in a Text
error	Halt execution, roll back the current transaction and show an error
strmenu	Opens a menu when the user can select between different options
confirm	Ask the user a yes/no question
message	Output a text to the console (or show a message dialog)
page.run	Run a page
page.runmodal	Run a page and wait
report.run	Run a report
codeunit.run	Run a codeunit
exset	Sets a value in an Excel sheet (ToolBox only)
exget	Gets a value from an Excel sheet (ToolBox only)
eval	Run code in string parameter (ToolBox only)

Supported Date Types

Date Type
Integer
Decimal
Text
Code
Date
Time
DateTime
Boolean
Record
Option

Known Issues

Issue	Details
not is not supported in boolean expression	Use = false or = true instead.