Dynamics 365 Business Central: How to set dimension via standard API and Can we do it via Power Automate?

Hi, Readers.
Today I would like to briefly talk about how to set dimension via standard API and can we do it in Power Automate?
Dimensions are values that categorize entries so you can track and analyze them on documents, such as sales orders. Dimensions can, for example, indicate the area or department an entry came from.

Is it possible to manage this value using the API? Yes, Microsoft has prepared a standard API.

dimensionSetLine resource type: Represents a dimension set line in Business Central.

Methods

Method	Return Type	Description
GET dimensionSetLine	dimensionSetLine	Gets a dimension set line object.
DELETE dimensionSetLine	none	Deletes a dimension set line object.
POST dimensionSetLine	dimensionSetLine	Creates a dimension set line object.
PATCH dimensionSetLine	dimensionSetLine	Updates a dimension set line object.

Navigation

Navigation	Return Type	Description
salesInvoice	salesInvoice	Gets the salesinvoice of the dimensionSetLine.
salesInvoiceLine	salesInvoiceLine	Gets the salesinvoiceline of the dimensionSetLine.
dimension	dimension	Gets the dimension of the dimensionSetLine.
customerPayment	customerPayment	Gets the customerpayment of the dimensionSetLine.
journalLine	journalLine	Gets the journalline of the dimensionSetLine.
timeRegistrationEntry	timeRegistrationEntry	Gets the timeregistrationentry of the dimensionSetLine.
generalLedgerEntry	generalLedgerEntry	Gets the generalledgerentry of the dimensionSetLine.
salesOrder	salesOrder	Gets the salesorder of the dimensionSetLine.
salesOrderLine	salesOrderLine	Gets the salesorderline of the dimensionSetLine.
salesQuote	salesQuote	Gets the salesquote of the dimensionSetLine.
salesQuoteLine	salesQuoteLine	Gets the salesquoteline of the dimensionSetLine.
salesCreditMemo	salesCreditMemo	Gets the salescreditmemo of the dimensionSetLine.
salesCreditMemoLine	salesCreditMemoLine	Gets the salescreditmemoline of the dimensionSetLine.
purchaseInvoice	purchaseInvoice	Gets the purchaseinvoice of the dimensionSetLine.
purchaseInvoiceLine	purchaseInvoiceLine	Gets the purchaseinvoiceline of the dimensionSetLine.
vendorPayment	vendorPayment	Gets the vendorpayment of the dimensionSetLine.
salesShipment	salesShipment	Gets the salesshipment of the dimensionSetLine.
salesShipmentLine	salesShipmentLine	Gets the salesshipmentline of the dimensionSetLine.
purchaseReceipt	purchaseReceipt	Gets the purchasereceipt of the dimensionSetLine.
purchaseReceiptLine	purchaseReceiptLine	Gets the purchasereceiptline of the dimensionSetLine.
purchaseOrder	purchaseOrder	Gets the purchaseorder of the dimensionSetLine.
purchaseOrderLine	purchaseOrderLine	Gets the purchaseorderline of the dimensionSetLine.

PS: Dynamics 365 Business Central: How to use filter expressions in API related resource ($expand)

Properties:

Property	Type	Description
id	GUID	The unique ID of the dimension set line. Non-editable.
code	string	The code of the dimension set line.
parentId	GUID	The ID of the parent entity.
parentType	NAV.dimensionSetEntryBufferParentType	The type of the parent document of the dimension set line. It can be ” “, “Journal Line”, “Sales Order”, “Sales Order Line”, “Sales Quote”, “Sales Quote Line”, “Sales Credit Memo”, “Sales Credit Memo Line”, “Sales Invoice”, “Sales Invoice Line”, “Purchase Invoice”, “Purchase Invoice Line”, “General Ledger Entry” or “Time Registration Entry”.
displayName	string	Specifies the dimension set line’s name. This name will appear on all sales documents for the dimension set line.
valueId	GUID	The unique ID of the value of the dimension.
valueCode	string	The code of the value of the dimension.
valueDisplayName	string	The display name of the value of the dimension. Read-Only.

Source code: page 30022 “APIV2 – Dimension Set Lines”

Let’s look at some simple examples.

Get:

salesOrders -> dimensionSetLines

https://api.businesscentral.dynamics.com/v2.0/c8558e71-6ad8-4fcd-9f29-3ca165b41bbe/Sandbox223/api/v2.0/companies(554f4f15-9c8e-ee11-be3e-6045bde96b9a)/salesOrders(28ac0679-16b4-ee11-a56a-000d3accbc4a)/dimensionSetLines

Response:

        {
            "@odata.etag": "W/\"JzE5OzMyMDgxNjE2NDkzMjc2NTM1MDcxOzAwOyc=\"",
            "id": "14be2193-90ab-ee11-a56a-6045bd686202",
            "code": "AREA",
            "consolidationCode": "",
            "parentId": "28ac0679-16b4-ee11-a56a-000d3accbc4a",
            "parentType": "Sales_x0020_Order",
            "displayName": "Area",
            "valueId": "77fb0da5-90ab-ee11-a56a-6045bd686202",
            "valueCode": "40",
            "valueConsolidationCode": "",
            "valueDisplayName": "Europe North (Non EU)"
        }

PS: In BC

Another example:
purchaseInvoices -> dimensionSetLines

https://api.businesscentral.dynamics.com/v2.0/c8558e71-6ad8-4fcd-9f29-3ca165b41bbe/Sandbox223/api/v2.0/companies(554f4f15-9c8e-ee11-be3e-6045bde96b9a)/purchaseInvoices(3ca0d8f6-fdb3-ee11-a56a-000d3accbc4a)/dimensionSetLines

Post:

https://api.businesscentral.dynamics.com/v2.0/c8558e71-6ad8-4fcd-9f29-3ca165b41bbe/Sandbox223/api/v2.0/companies(554f4f15-9c8e-ee11-be3e-6045bde96b9a)/salesOrders(28ac0679-16b4-ee11-a56a-000d3accbc4a)/dimensionSetLines

Header:

Body:

{
    "parentId": "28ac0679-16b4-ee11-a56a-000d3accbc4a",
    "code": "BUSINESSGROUP",
    "valueCode": "Home"
}

Patch:

https://api.businesscentral.dynamics.com/v2.0/c8558e71-6ad8-4fcd-9f29-3ca165b41bbe/Sandbox223/api/v2.0/companies(554f4f15-9c8e-ee11-be3e-6045bde96b9a)/salesOrders(28ac0679-16b4-ee11-a56a-000d3accbc4a)/dimensionSetLines(15be2193-90ab-ee11-a56a-6045bd686202)

Header:

Body:

This is not difficult. So the next question is, is this possible via Power Automate? Unfortunately, as of now, this cannot be done via the standard API. Although this standard API can be selected in the Power Automate trigger.

But it will prompt the following error. (Parent Id is already set)

ErrorCode: Application_DialogException
You must get to the parent first to create a dimension set line.

Why? AJ gave a detailed explanation. More details: Link

There is a difference between Power Automate and Postman. In Power Automate, the URL becomes this:
POST /api/v2.0/dimensionSetLines
while in Postman the URL is this:
POST /api/v2.0/salesOrders(id)/dimensionSetLines
With the URL in Postman, there is a filter applied to dimensionSetLines from the salesOrders API page. That’s because dimensonSetLines is a subpage of salesOrder. The Business Central connector in Power Automate doesn’t support this. Instead, it calls directly dimensionSetLines, without any filter. A filter can’t be specified, if you try that, then the BC connector will simply fail.
It’s impossible to achieve this from Power Automate with the standard BC connector. Even a deep insert (lines + dimensions) is failing. The only option would be to create a custom API or use the standard HTTP connector.

PS:
1. Using OAuth 2.0 to connect Business Central APIs and Web Services in Power Automate – OAuth in HTTP action (standard HTTP action in Power Automate)

2. For the default dimensions of master data, please use the standard API below.
defaultDimension resource type: Represents a default dimensions in Business Central.

END

Hope this will help.

Thanks for reading.

ZHU