On April 1, 2022, there will be a major release of Dynamics 365 F&O. This is the start of the Dynamics 365: 2022 release wave 1 plan. One of the announced features is a new form pattern for vertically scrolling workspaces. What is the difference between the old and the new form patterns and how can you align your custom workspaces with the new vertically scrolling patterns? Continue to read this post to get the answers.
Vertically scrolling workspaces
When you read about the details for the vertically scrolling workspaces, the patterns have been changed to have better usability of the workspaces. The old pattern was based on the Metro interface from Windows 8. Based on feedback and research, people are more used to scrolling vertically to find all information instead of horizontal scrolling.
All standard workspaces do have updated form patterns. If you are an ISV vendor or if as a customer you have custom workspaces, they also need to be updated to the latest version of the form patterns. Without changes, your own workspaces will still have the old layout; having the horizontal structure.
To learn more about the differences, the new collapse option, and how to get your workspaces on the new vertically scrolling pattern, you can watch the next video.
Microsoft Docs
On Microsoft Docs, you can also find information about manually updating a form and mass update forms to follow the latest pattern. In case you want to use the command line option, I will share the example I used in my demonstration in the above-shared video.
K:\AosService\PackagesLocalDirectory\bin\xppbp.exe -m=K:\AOSService\PackagesLocalDirectory -mu=<module name> -me=<model name> -rules=BPUpgradeMetadataFormPatternVersionNotActive -x=C:\Users\Admin922cdd6507\Downloads\bplog.txt form:* -packagesRoot=K:\AOSService\PackagesLocalDirectory -runfixers
ISV solutions
When you are using ISV solutions, it might be the case that the vendors will have their own timelines for delivering updated workspaces. To be able to support backward compatibility, some ISV vendors might decide to wait for some versions as the deployable package will be created from a build environment that is some versions behind. The new workspace patterns can only be applied using development and build environments which are on version 10.0.25. When creating deployable packages using version 10.0.25, it is not possible to install them on e.g. 10.0.23. However, when a deployable package is created from a 10.0.23 version, it can be installed on higher versions, like 10.0.25.
If you have questions about the timelines and release policies related to the vertically scrolling workspaces, contact the vendor of your ISV solutions. Using form extensions it is not possible to update the pattern version yourself.
I do hope you liked this post and will add value for you in your daily work as a professional. If you have related questions or feedback, don’t hesitate to use the Comment feature below.
That’s all for now. Till next time!
by Geralt on Pixabay 
Thanks for sharing this video André.
Just a quick question…
Do we have to execute the mass update for the out-of-box workspaces or will version 10.0.25 automatically apply the vertical scroll on the standard workspaces
Thanks,
Sunil
Hi Sunil,
Thanks for your question. The standard workspaces delivered out of the box are updated by Microsoft. You don’t have to worry about them. It is not possible to extend workspaces and change the pattern version.
Thank you Andre for sharing. We are about to do the update to V25, this article will help a lot.
Hi André,
Thank you for sharing this info & also making this video!
I would like to share an observation. When I run the script, it also changed the PatternVersion for forms linked to Workspace.
Example – I have a part which displays the Customer info in tab section of the workspace , so the script along with workspace also updates the pattern version for part .
This saves time ! changing the PatternVersion for objects linked to workspace.
Thanks again, Happy Daxing!
Regards,
Puja.
Hi Puja,
Thanks for sharing your comment and observation. The command is indeed checking all objects for the active form pattern versions.
Hi André.
How do we change the ‘Workspace Tabbed’ pattern? I removed and re-allocated the pattern but it stays on verion 1.0
Thx
Wayne
Hi Wayne,
Ensure your development environment is on version 10.0.25 or higher. Can you confirm that?