Intercompany (Master) Data Management

Intercompany (Master) Data Management enables Companies to publish and receive data from each other. Data is published via Topics and received via Subscriptions. A Company that is setup to work with IDM is known as a Party.

You can configure what data to be published and received in IDM on each Topic and Subscription.

To See
Publish data to other Parties. Topic
Receive data from other Parties. Subscription

Topic

Data is published to other Parties via Topics. A Party that receives data from a Topic is known as a Subscriber. When data is published it is first serialized and saved as a Topic Message. For more information, see Topic Message.

A Topic does not send data directly to Subscribers but rather performs the following two processes, whereafter Subscribers can pull new Topic Messages.

Process See
Create new Topic Messages from Changelog. Changelog
Notify Subscribers about new Messages. Topic Register

The Status on Topic controls whether Processing should be performed.

Status Description
On Hold Topic Processing is not performed and no Topic Messages will be returned when Subscribers requests new data.
Ready Topic Processing is performed and new Topic Messages will be returned when Subscribers requests new data.
Updating Messages from Changelog Topic is currently creating new Topic Messages based on data records from Changelog.

Topics also include underlying entities which is used for the following journeys.

To See
Define Tables from which data will be published. Topic Table
View Topic consumption by other Parties. Topic Register
View Data records that has been published. Topic Record
View Serialized data currently published. Topic Message

Topic Table

Data from a Topic Table will be published in a Topic.

Topic Register

When a Topic sends notification about new data to a Subscriber a Topic Register is created.

After a Subscriber has received new data from a Topic then it is also common for the Subscriber to register its consumption on the Topic Register.

Topic Record

When data records are published via a Topic then a Topic Record is created.

Topic Message

Data is serialized and saved as Topic Message when it is published via a Topic. This allows for data to be transferred to Subscribers.

Changelog

Data changes from Topic Tables is registered in Changelog Entries (IDM). Topics will then create new Topic Messages based on these Changelog Entries if Topic Status is set to Ready.

Topic Update from Changelog is performed as background tasks and scheduled by each user whenever they perform data changes to Topic Tables. When a Topic performs Update from Changelog then its Status is changed to Updating Messages from Changelog to ensure consistency in Topic Messages.

To set up Topic

  1. Choose the light, enter Topics (IDM), and then choose the related link.
  2. Press the New action. Topic Card page will open.
  3. Fill in the fields as necessary. Hover over a field to read a short description.
  4. Press the Topic Tables action under Related, fill in Tables to be included and close Topic Tables. For more info, see To set up Topic Table.

To set up Topic Table

  1. Choose the light, enter Topics (IDM), and then choose the related link.
  2. Select your Topic and press the Topic Tables action. Topic Tables page will open.
  3. Fill in the fields as necessary. Hover over a field to read a short description.

Enable Topic

  1. Choose the light, enter Topics (IDM), and then choose the related link.
  2. Select your Topic and press the Set Status to Ready action.

Disable Topic

  1. Choose the light, enter Topics (IDM), and then choose the related link.
  2. Select your Topic and press the Set Status to Ready action.

Run Topic Processing

  1. Choose the light, enter Topics (IDM), and then choose the related link.
  2. Select your Topic and press the Run Topic action.

Notify Subscribers

  1. Choose the light, enter Topics (IDM), and then choose the related link.
  2. Select your Topic and press the Notify Subscribers action.

Subscription

Data is received via Subscriptions from Topics in other Parties. A Party that publishes a Topic is known as a Publisher. A Subscription relates to a specific Topic from a Publisher.

A Subscription will typically receive notification from the Topic when new data is available, whereafter Subscription processing will be run and consists of the following.

Process See
Pull new data from Topic and save as Subscription Message. Subscription Message
Register consumption in the Publisher Topic Register. Subscription Register
Process Subscription Message. Subscription Message

Subscriptions also include underlying entities which is used for the following journeys.

To See
Define Tables to which data will be processed to. Subscription Table
Define Table Fields to which data will be processed to. Subscription Field
View consumption of Topic. Subscription Register
View Data records that has been published. Subscription Record
View Serialized data currently published. Subscription Message

Subscription Table

Subscription Tables are used for defining where data should be processed to.

On Subscription Tables the term Source refers to the Publisher while Target refers to where data should be processed to. Data received from a Publisher will matched with Source Table on Subscription Tables and a Subscription Message will be saved per matching Subscription Table.

Subscription Field

Subscription Fields are used for defining where data should be processed to on a field level and relates to Subscription Table.

Subscription Register

When a Subscription requests and receives data from a Publisher then it is registered as Subscription Register.

Subscription Record

Whenever a data record is received from a Publisher a Subscription Record is created.

If a Subscription Message is processed to a Target (local) data record then that information is also saved on Subscription Record.

Subscription Message

Topic Messages from Publishers are saved as Subscription Messages per matching Subscription Table.

Message Processing is performed on Subscription Messages where data a deserialized and processed to Target Tables.

To set up Subscription

  1. Choose the light, enter Subscriptions (IDM), and then choose the related link.
  2. Fill in the fields as necessary. Hover over a field to read a short description.
  3. Press the Subscription Tables action under Related, fill in Target- and Source Tables to be included and close Subscription Tables. For more info, see To set up Subscription Table.

To set up Subscription Table

  1. Choose the light, enter Subscriptions (IDM), and then choose the related link.
  2. Select your Subscription and press the Subscription Tables action. Subscription Tables page will open.
  3. Fill in the fields as necessary. Hover over a field to read a short description.

Run Subscription Processing

  1. Choose the light, enter Subscription (IDM), and then choose the related link.
  2. Select your Subscription and press the Run Subscription action.

Run Subscription Message Processing

  1. Choose the light, enter Subscription (IDM), and then choose the related link.
  2. Select your Subscription and press the Subscription Messages action. Subscription Message page will open.
  3. Select your Subscription Message and press the Process Message action.

Party

A Party is a Business Central company that can share data with other companies.

Topics and Subscriptions can both be setup in a single Party, meaning a Party can both send and receive data.

Party Group

Party Group represents a subset of Parties and can be used on Topics to restrict which Subscribers that are allowed to receive data from a Topic.

Party Set

All Topic Messages are explicitly published to a set of Subscribers and Party Set is used for defining the subset of Subscribers with a single reference. Party Sets are automatically maintained by the system so no user actions are required.

To set up Party

  1. Choose the light, enter Parties (IDM), and then choose the related link.
  2. Fill in the fields as necessary. Hover over a field to read a short description.

To set up Party Group

  1. Choose the light, enter Party Groups (IDM), and then choose the related link.
  2. Fill in the fields as necessary. Hover over a field to read a short description.
  3. Add the Codes of Parties that should be related under the Parties subpage.

See also

Design Details: Intercompany (Master) Data Management

Walkthroughs: Intercompany (Master) Data Management