Finding pages and reports with the role explorer

Article
04/02/2024

You can get an overview of all the business features that are available for your role, and for other roles if you go a step further. This article refers to the feature overview as the role explorer.

Each element on the role explorer is an action that opens a page or report. Accordingly, you can also use the role explorer as a means to navigate in Business Central.

Tip

Take free e-learning content about the Business Central user interface in Microsoft training.

Open the role explorer

You can open the role explorer from the role center and all list pages and from the Tell Me window.

On your role center or any list page, choose the button to the right of the navigation bar, or select Shift+F12.
In the Tell Me window, choose the exploring action at the bottom.

When you first open the role center, it shows links to most features available for your role.

Open the role explorer filtered to show reports

You can open the role explorer in a view that's filtered to show reports from the role center and all list pages and from the Tell Me window:

On your Role Center or any list page, choose the All Reports link to the right of the navigation bar.
In the Tell Me window, choose the exploring reports action at the bottom.

Navigate features

The actions that open pages or reports are organized under nodes named after the features or application areas. You can collapse or expand each node individually, or all nodes together.

To expand/collapse an individual node, choose the node. This applies to top-level nodes and sub nodes.
To expand/collapse all top-level nodes on the page, but leave the sub-nodes as they are, choose ... at the top, then choose Expand or Collapse.
To expand/collapse all top-levels node and all sub nodes under it, choose ... at the top, then choose the Expand All or Collapse All action.

Search for features

To quickly locate features, select Find, then enter a word or phrase for the feature your trying to find. The role center highlights any matching text. If a feature is hidden in a collapsed node, the collapsed node is marked with a dot.

Explore other roles

To explore roles other than your own, select Explore more roles. The role center displays each role under its own heading, with links to its features. You can find and go to features just like you do when exploring your role.

Note

You'll only access roles that are set up to show in the role explorer. If a role isn't available, it's probably not set up for it. For more information, see Manage Profiles.

When exploring other roles, you can also narrow down the exploration by using the Report & Analysis and Administration actions at the top of the role center.

Report & Analysis shows only those features that are categorized as reports and analysis features.
Administration shows only those features that are categorized as administration features.

Tip

For developers, you categorize pages and reports by setting the UsageCategory property in the object's AL code.

Expand and collapse nodes on the role explorer

The actions that open pages are organized under nodes named after the features or application areas. Each node can be collapsed or expanded individually and you can collapse/expand all nodes together.

To expand/collapse a node, choose the node. This applies to top-level nodes and sub nodes.
To expand/collapse all top-level nodes on the page, choose the Expand or Collapse action in the top-right corner.
To expand/collapse all top-levels node and all sub nodes under it, do one of the following steps:
- Select the Ctrl+Shift keys while you choose the Expand or Collapse action in the top-right corner.
- Choose ... in the top-right corner, then choose the Expand All or Collapse All action.

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