• Create a task recorder file to use as a guide for users or developers
• Upload task recorder to LCS via the BPM user interface
• Download task recorder as Word doc from the BPM user interface
• Play recording as guide
• Use the task recorder file as a security diagnostics tool
• Use the task recorder file as part of the corporate Business Process Modeler library in Lifecycle Services
• Use the task recorder as a help article in D365
• Task recorder as a test case, add and execute in a test plan in Azure DevOps
• Additional functions
  • Save task recorder as Word doc from D365 user interface
    • Use D365FO-DevTools free browser plugin to capture screenshots of recordings
  • Upload task recorder to LCS via the D365 user interface
  • Use development placeholder to add notes, look up values and custom descriptions.
    • The development placeholder
    • The task recorder context menu ‘Validate’ option
    • Edit mode on steps

The task recorder is a tool that will record all your clicks in the D365 Finance and Supply Chain user interface, it is a very useful tool that is often overlooked, in this article I will describe the multiple uses it has and how to get most out of it.

Before you start it, it is recommended that you navigate to the Home page in D365. Once there, you can follow these steps to get started.

Click on Task recorder.

Click on Create recording.

To name recorder consider that business process methodologies favor the use of verbs in infinitive forms to describe the action to perform, for example:

• Create general journal.
• Create and post free text invoice.
• Pay vendor invoice.

This is particularly important if you plan to use the Lifecycle Services Business Process Modeler to document your business processes.

Once all the steps are recorded, a best practice is to go back to Home and Stop the recording.

At that point you will be asked to save the file, and you will have the following options:

1. Save to this PC. This will create a .AXTR file that can be used as:
   • An upload for LCS to use in the BPM library. This is the only file type that can be uploaded to LCS.
   • A recording security diagnostics tool.
   • An instruction file for a user or developer to use the Play recording as guide function.
2. Save to Lifecycle Services. If you have a Lifecycle Services Business Process Modeler library created, this will give you the option to save to that library.
3. Export as Word document. Will allow you download an unformatted Word document with the steps.
4. Save as developer recording. This will create and XML file that can be used as:
   • A recording security diagnostics tool.
   • An instruction file for a user or developer to use the Play recording as guide function.

WARNING: Once you click Return to main menu the recording will disappear and you will not be able to recover it, my recommendation is to always Save to this PC first, as this allows you to use all the other options. I will describe how to get a Word document from LCS later in this article.

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Before uploading the file, you will need to have a business process library created in LCS. You can have many libraries for different purposes such as Testing, Training, Standard operating procedures, etc.

Once you open the desired library:

1. Create a new process, add a name and save. You can upload multiple processes at the same time via Excel, but only when creating a new library.
2. You can add Keywords, that will used as tags in Azure DevOps. Tags are useful for filtering, I will show you how to use them later on.

It is highly recommended to setup the VSTS sync before starting to create processes and upload task recorder files, the sync is what enables the integration between LCS and Azure DevOps.

1. For this integration to work, both the VSTS sync and Sync test cases options need to be enabled.
2. Once enabled do not uncheck the options, if you reenable them the sync will re-create any test cases with status Closed in DevOps.

Once saved, the work item will be created in Azure DevOps.

1. The Azure DevOps task is created when you create the new process, at this point we still don’t have the AXTR, so no test case exists in LCS yet.
2. The tiny diagram symbol next to the process name on the grid will be shown once you upload an AXTR file or save a Task Recorder file from the D365 user interface, at that point the Test case ID section will show the work item ID from Azure DevOps too.

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Once you have the task recorder file (.AXTR) uploaded to the LCS BPM library, you can then download a formatted Word document that will contain a coversheet, security roles that can execute the task and the steps to execute it.

1. Click on the Word Doc icon to download

The file will look like this:

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Once you have saved the file, to can open the task recording, either from you PC or from LCS.

In this example, I will open the task recording from LCS:

1. From the Task recorder menu, select Open task recorder as guide.

2. Select the Open from Lifecycle Services option.
3. Click on Select the Lifecycle Services Library

4. Once you select the library, you will need to find the business process task and click OK.

5. Once the task recorder file is loaded, click Open task guide.

6. The steps will open on the right pane, but you can also use Start task guide at the bottom which will enable navigation aids.

7. In this view, the system will guide you step by step and will add a checkmark for every completed step:

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Task recorders are also useful to troubleshoot security, especially when customizations are involved. Since most people working on configuring the system will use the System administrator role or a role different than the end user, it’s often difficult to asses what modifications the end user needs to execute a specific task. By using the task recorder file, you can make it easier for system admins to determine what security changes are needed for a role.

Once you have recorded the file:

1. Go to System administration > Security > Security diagnostics for task recordings

2. You can open a local copy of your AXTR file, or you can use the LCS BPM library.

3. Once you load the file, you’ll have the option to select a specific user to assess its security based on the recording’s menu items.
4. The system will show you if the user is missing permissions.

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Task recorder files can be saved to LCS BPM libraries right after creating or by uploading them after the fact from an AXTR file saved to your PC. It is always recommended to save to your PC first, since network or authentication issues may cause you to lose your task recorder file.

Once the file is uploaded to LCS you will notice the diagram icon will appear right next to the business process you uploaded it to.

Once the task recorder is in the LCS BPM library, it will be usable as:

• A guide in the D365 FSC user interface.
• A security diagnostics for task recordings file.
• A test case in Azure DevOps – requires enabling VSTS integration in LCS

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Another benefit of the task recorder is to have an easily accessible help article that works in the context of the form you are in D365.

To enable this function:

1. Go to System administration > Setup > System parameters.
2. The first time you open this, you will be asked to authorize connection to LCS.
3. Select the corresponding project under Lifecycle Services help configuration
4. Select the library you want to use for your help files in the Libraries section

To use the help articles:

1. Navigate to the form where you wish to review the available task guides.
2. Click on the Question mark and then select About.

3. Once the *About section, click on the Question mark on the top right corner.

4. Click on Task guides, the list of available task guide based on the form context will appear.

5. Click on the desired task guide to see the steps.

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Managing test plans and test cases is always a difficult task, for some companies it can be very difficult to automate testing right away and at the same time managing the plan in Excel is suboptimal. Luckily, the integration of LCS and Azure DevOps allows us to leverage the Task recorder files to create test cases. Once you have the VSTS sync enabled and your task recorder files uploaded to LCS, the sync will create the test cases and by using query based test suites, you can automatically organize your test plans.

1. VSTS and test cases sync enabled.

2. Task recorder uploaded, the sync creates a work item id and a test case in Azure DevOps.

3. The test case is created in Azure DevOps.
   • Labels added as Keywords in LCS will show in the test case, we can use these labels to build our test plans.

4. Create a new test plan in Azure DevOps.

5. Add a Query based suite to your plan.

6. In the query, add the following filters:
   • Add a filter to use the LCS:TestPlan1 I used as keyword to tag the test case in the LCS BPM library.
   • Add a filter to only show work item type Microsoft.TestCaseCategory .
   • Run query to validate.
   • Click on Create Suite.

7. The test case is now in your Test Suite and Test Plan, any following test case that is tagged with the same LCS:TestPlan1 tag will be automatically added to the suite.

8. Once you have the test case create you can run it as many times as you want, and reuse it in other test plans, the execution history will be saved in Azure DevOps.

9. Running for web application will open a pop up window that users can have to follow along during testing, they can add notes, screenshots and create bugs directly from that pop up.

10. Outcomes can be saved from the header or from each step.

11. As execution gets underway, you can monitor outcomes in the Progress report.

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Right after you finish creating a task recording, on Export as Word document.

The system will generate a Word file and it will still allow you to select other option to save. It is recommended to save the AXTR and the Word file, especially if you have the D365FO-DevTools plugin that adds screenshots to the file automatically.

The output will be a plain Word document (with screenshots if you have the plugin described below)

This method only works when saving your task recorder file directly after creating to a Word document. You must install the plugin in Chrome or Edge from https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/d365fo-devtools/klpaihnmefppdfjmodipinghakkemlkg

This will enable the Capture screenshots option

I do not recommend using this option for 2 reasons:

1. Connection to the LCS BPM library can be very slow.
2. If your network drops or there’s a timeout, you will lose your recording.

Nevertheless, if you prefer to use this method, this is how you can save the file to the LCS BPM library directly from D365.

1. Click save to Lifecycle services.

2. Select your Business process library.

3. Select the process you want to save your task on. This business process node, needs to be previously created in the LCS BPM library.

4. Once done, you will receive a notification that it has saved.

As your go through your recording process, you can use the following tools to add context, comments, change and specify values in the steps:

You can add a development placeholder after any task:

The field Name will actually show in the test case steps in Azure DevOps, the comment will not, but it will still be saved in the XML and Word Document format file.

While recording, you can right click in any field to display the Task recorder context menu.

From here you can drill down to the Validate > Current value option which will add a step, specifying the current value of the field. This is useful when you want this explicitly called out in the task recorder file.

In some steps, you can also modify the standard description to a custom one, by clicking on the pencil icon to right of the step name.

In this example, the word Page is changed to Form:

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Session time out

Depending on your session settings, if you timeout you will lose your task recording, so be sure to complete it and save it while your session is active.

Truncated descriptions

When using the developer placeholder option, the test case will truncate the Name field, which is the description of the step to 32 characters when syncing to Azure DevOps, so try to keep those descriptions brief, you can also add many placeholders if you need a longer description.

Size of task recordings

As a rule of thumb, task recorders under 30 steps are better as they’re easier to record and manage, if you make a mistake that would need for you start over you will lose less work. Some mistakes can be fixed while you are recording, such as deleting steps for misclicks, but if you encounter a system error during the recording you will need to start over.