Virtual Entities

The BC–Dataverse Integrator supports Dataverse Virtual Entities, enabling data stored in Business Central to be surfaced in Dataverse without physically replicating the data into Dataverse tables.

This approach allows users to view and interact with Business Central data from within Dataverse while maintaining a single source of truth.

Prerequisites

Dataverse Prerequisites

The following solutions must be installed in the target Dataverse environment:

• Bluefort Integration VE Infrastructure
• Bluefort Integration Virtual Entities
• Bluefort Integration Foundation

Environment Variables

When importing the Bluefort Integration VE Infrastructure solution, the following Environment Variables must be configured:

Environment Variable	Description
BC Client ID	The Client ID of the App Registration used to access Business Central.
BC Client Secret	The Client Secret of the App Registration used to access Business Central.
BC Tenant ID	The Microsoft Entra tenant ID where Business Central is hosted.

Business Central Prerequisites

The Bluefort BC–Dataverse Integrator must be installed and fully configured.

Creating Virtual Entities in Dataverse

Virtual Entities should be created using the standard Dataverse Virtual Entity creation process. We recommend creating these entities within your own solution.

When creating a Virtual Entity, set the Data Source to: IntFoundationVirtualEntitiesDataSource

We strongly recommend including a field that stores the Business Central record’s System ID, as this provides a unique identifier for each record.

Configuring Virtual Entities in Business Central

The Virtual Entities Setup page in Business Central is the central location for configuring Virtual Entity integrations.

Prerequisites

You will require the Client ID and Client Secret of an App Registration with access to Business Central.

Configuration Steps

1. Navigate to Integration Foundation Setup.
2. Select Virtual Entities from the menu and then choose Virtual Entities Setup.

3. Complete the fields as follows:

Field	Value
OAuth Authority URL	https://login.microsoftonline.com/<tenantid>/oauth2/v2.0/token
Scope	https://api.businesscentral.dynamics.com/.default
Tenant ID	<your Business Central tenant ID>
Use same BC and Dataverse Auth	Enable only if both Business Central and Dataverse reside in the same Microsoft Entra tenant

If Use Same BC and Dataverse Auth is enabled, no additional authentication setup is required and you can skip to the next section in this document.

If Use Same BC and Dataverse Auth is not enabled

1. Select Set Client ID and enter the Client ID of the Business Central App Registration.
2. Select Set Client Secret and enter the corresponding Client Secret.
3. Select Refresh BC Token to verify that authentication is successful.

Configuring Virtual Entity Fields

Business Central must be configured to expose the fields that Dataverse Virtual Entities will retrieve.

Setup Steps

1. Open the Virtual Entity Setup page.
2. Select Virtual Entity Fields.
3. Create a record for each field that should be returned to Dataverse.

Field	Description
Table No.	The Business Central table number from which data will be retrieved.
BC Field No.	The Business Central field number to include in the response returned to Dataverse.

Configuring Virtual Entities in Dataverse

The model-driven app Bluefort Integration Virtual Entities serves as the primary configuration area within Dataverse.

BC Entity Configurations

BC Entity Configurations define the relationship between a Dataverse Virtual Entity and a Business Central table.

Setup Steps

1. Create a new record.
2. Populate the fields as follows:

Field	Description
Entity Logical Name	Logical name of the Dataverse Virtual Entity.
BC Table No.	Business Central table number from which data will be retrieved.
Company ID	Business Central company from which data will be retrieved.
Primary ID Attribute	Logical name of the Virtual Entity’s primary identifier field.
Primary ID JSON Path	JSON property containing the unique identifier returned by Business Central. Using the Business Central System ID is recommended. See Retrieve BC JSON Response Sample.
Primary ID Type	Data type of the primary identifier. String is recommended.
Service Base URL	https://api.businesscentral.dynamics.com/v2.0/<tenantid>/<environment>/ODataV4/BFTIFVirtualEntities_getbusinesscentraldata?Company='<CompanyName>’
Record Service Base URL	https://api.businesscentral.dynamics.com/v2.0/<tenantid>/<environment>/ODataV4/BFTIFVirtualEntities_getbusinesscentralrecord?Company='<CompanyName>’

3. Repeat for each Virtual Entity required.

BC Field Mappings

BC Field Mappings define how fields returned from Business Central are mapped to fields in the Dataverse Virtual Entity.

Setup Steps

1. Create a new record.
2. Populate the fields as follows:

Field	Description
Name	Descriptive name for the mapping.
Parent Config	The BC Entity Configuration this mapping belongs to.
Field Type	Data type of the field being mapped.
BC JSON Path	JSON property name returned by Business Central. See Retrieve BC JSON Response Sample.
DV Attribute	Logical name of the corresponding field in the Dataverse Virtual Entity.

3. Repeat for all required fields.

BC Field Filters

BC Field Filters allow the data returned from Business Central to be filtered before being surfaced through the Virtual Entity.

Setup Steps

1. Create a new record.
2. Populate the fields as follows:

Field	Description
Parent Config	The BC Entity Configuration this filter belongs to.
Name	Descriptive name for the filter.
Filter Type	Select Static for fixed Business Central filters, or Relationship when filtering based on related Dataverse records.
Mapping BC Table No.	Business Central table number used to retrieve the related record for relationship filters.
BC Param Name	Business Central field number used as a filter parameter.
BC Filter Field No.	Business Central field number to filter against.
Static Value	Value used for static filters.
DV Source Entity	Logical name of the Dataverse entity containing the related record.
DV Attribute	Logical name of the Dataverse field used to link the Dataverse record with the Business Central record. This is typically the entity’s unique identifier.

3. Repeat for all required fields.

Retrieve a Business Central JSON Response Sample

When configuring mappings, users may not know the JSON property names returned by Business Central.

To assist with configuration, a sample JSON response can be generated directly from Business Central.

Generate a Sample Response

1. Navigate to Virtual Entity Setup.
2. Open Virtual Entity Fields.
3. Select a field record belonging to the table for which you want to generate a sample.
4. Select Generate JSON Response from the action menu.
5. Save and open the downloaded file.

The sample response can be used to identify the JSON property names required for:

• Primary ID JSON Path
• BC JSON Path values in Field Mappings
• Filter configuration