Captions & Translations

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Feature Overview

Captions & Translations is the central language management feature in Document Customizer. It provides a shared pool of named caption codes, each with one or more translated text strings for different language codes. These captions are used throughout the app wherever a label needs to appear on a printed document — column headers, header field labels, footer content labels, address captions, title text, total section labels, and address line prefixes all draw from this pool.

A Caption is simply a code (up to 50 characters) linked to one or more Caption Translation records. Each translation record stores the language code and the actual text to display. At print time, the system looks up the caption code, finds the translation for the document's language, and uses that text as the label. If no translation exists for the document's language, it falls back to a blank-language record, then to the Default Language configured in Report Pack Setup.

Beyond per-field captions used in header and column setups, two specialised caption structures exist. Total Caption Templates allow you to rename all the labels in the document totals area (Subtotal, Total Excl. VAT, VAT Amount, Total Incl. VAT, etc.) independently per report template. Report Pack Setup holds the global default language used as the final fallback when no other translation is found.

When you assign a field in Header Setup or Column Setup and the system creates a caption automatically, it generates translations for all globally enabled localisation languages (DAN, ENU, ENG, DEU) using the field's current BC caption as the default text. You can then customise those translations individually.

Key Facts

Where to manage captions All Captions page; Caption Translations page (per caption)
Where to manage total labels Total Caption Templates page; Total Captions page
Where to set default language Report Pack Setup (Default Language field)
Language fallback order Document language → blank language → default language in Report Pack Setup
Auto-creation Captions are automatically created when you assign a field in Header Fields or Column Extended Description Fields
Import/Export Captions and translations can be imported/exported via the Import Captions / Export Captions reports
Scope All Document Customizer documents in the same company share the same caption pool

Getting Started

  1. Open All Captions from Document Customizer (or from the action bar in Header Fields or Column Fields). This shows all caption codes defined in the system.
  2. To add a new caption, create a new record with a Caption Code (a short identifier, e.g. YOUR-REF).
  3. Open Translation for the caption to go to Caption Translations. Add one row per language: enter the Language code (e.g. ENU, DAN, DEU) and the Caption Text to display in that language.
  4. Add a row with Language blank and Caption Text set to your preferred default text — this is the fallback used when no language-specific translation is found.
  5. Assign the caption code to the relevant header field, column field, or section in your setup.
  6. To verify, open Report Pack Setup and confirm the Default Language is set correctly.

Related Features

Captions & Translations is used by every other Document Customizer feature that displays text on a document. Header Setup uses captions for field labels. Column Setup uses captions for column headers and inline field labels. Footer & Sections uses captions within HTML parameter lookups. Address Setup supports captions as prefixes on address lines. Total Caption Templates extend the system specifically for the totals area. The Import/Export feature at the app level can transfer caption data between environments, allowing you to set up captions once in a template company and import them into live environments.


User Stories

US-01: Translate a standard field label into Danish and English

As a Business Manager
I want to have the "Your Reference" field on the invoice header show as "Deres reference" in Danish and "Your Reference" in English, depending on the customer's language
So that documents sent to Danish customers are in Danish and documents to international customers are in English

Setup:

  1. Open All Captions and locate the caption code assigned to the "Your Reference" header field (or create a new one, e.g. YOUR-REF).
  2. Open Translation for that caption.
  3. Add a row for Language DAN with Caption Text Deres reference.
  4. Add a row for Language ENU with Caption Text Your Reference.
  5. Add a row for Language blank with Caption Text Your Reference (fallback for all other languages).
  6. Assign the caption code to the relevant header field in Header Setup.
US-02: Create a new caption from scratch for a custom document field

As a Business Manager
I want to add a custom label "Project Reference" to a header field that shows our internal project number
So that the field appears with a meaningful, professional label rather than the technical BC field name

Setup:

  1. Open All Captions and create a new caption with code PROJ-REF.
  2. Open Translation and add language rows: ENU → "Project Reference", DAN → "Projektreference", blank → "Project Reference".
  3. In Header Fields for the relevant template, assign PROJ-REF to the Caption field of the project number row.
US-03: Set the default fallback language for all caption lookups

As a IT Manager
I want to ensure that when a document is printed for a language that has no specific translation defined, the system falls back to English
So that documents never appear with blank labels or technical caption codes

Setup:

  1. Search for Report Pack Setup in Business Central.
  2. Set Default Language to ENU.
  3. Save. From now on, when the system cannot find a translation for the document's language and there is no blank-language translation, it will use the ENU translation as the final fallback.
US-04: Rename the "Total Incl. VAT" label on invoices to "Total Amount Due"

As a Business Manager
I want to change the label "Total Incl. VAT" in the invoice totals section to "Total Amount Due" in English, to use more customer-friendly terminology
So that invoices are clearer for customers who are not familiar with tax terminology

Setup:

  1. Open Total Caption Templates and locate or create a template (e.g. INVOICE-TOTALS).
  2. Open Total Captions for that template. Find the Total Incl. VAT Caption field and assign a caption code (e.g. TOTAL-DUE).
  3. Open All Captions, locate or create TOTAL-DUE, and open Translation. Add ENU → "Total Amount Due", DAN → "I alt til betaling", blank → "Total Amount Due".
  4. In Document Customizer Content, set Total Caption Template to INVOICE-TOTALS for the Sales Invoice row.
US-05: Rename all totals labels together using a Total Caption Template

As a Business Manager
I want to create a custom set of totals labels for our purchase orders where all standard BC labels (Subtotal, Line Amount, etc.) are replaced with our preferred terminology
So that all purchase order printouts use consistent, company-approved terminology throughout the totals section

Setup:

  1. Open Total Caption Templates and create a new template, e.g. PO-TOTALS.
  2. Open Total Captions for the template. For each of the 11 caption fields (Subtotal, Total, Invoice Disc. Amount, Line Amount, VAT %, VAT Amount, Total Incl. VAT, Total Excl. VAT, Payment Disc. on VAT, Interest Amount), assign caption codes with your preferred translations.
  3. In Document Customizer Content, assign PO-TOTALS to the Total Caption Template field for the Purchase Order row.
US-06: Copy a Total Caption Template for a credit memo variant

As a Business Manager
I want to use the same total labels structure as the invoice but with "Credit Amount" instead of "Total Amount Due"
So that credit memo totals use contextually appropriate labels without redefining all other captions

Setup:

  1. Open Total Caption Templates and select the invoice template.
  2. Use the action Copy to new and enter a new code, e.g. CR-MEMO-TOTALS.
  3. On the new template, open Total Captions and modify only the Total Incl. VAT Caption to a caption code for "Credit Amount".
  4. Assign CR-MEMO-TOTALS to the Sales Credit Memo in Document Customizer Content.
US-07: Import captions from another environment to avoid re-entering translations

As a IT Manager
I want to import the complete caption and translation setup from a template company into a new live company
So that the new environment is immediately ready with all the correct multilingual labels without manual re-entry

Setup:

  1. In the source environment, run the Export Captions report from Document Customizer to export all captions and translations to a file.
  2. In the target environment, run the Import Captions report and import the exported file.
  3. Verify the captions are now available in All Captions in the target environment.

Note: Caption import/export covers the Captions and Caption Translations tables. It does not transfer Header or Column template assignments — those must be set up or imported separately via the Document Customizer setup export.

US-08: View and edit all captions across the entire app in one place

As a IT Manager
I want to review all caption codes and their translations in a single list to audit and correct any inconsistencies before going live
So that I can ensure every label in every document is correctly translated before the system is released to users

Setup:

  1. Open All Captions from Document Customizer.
  2. Browse or filter the list by caption code or label.
  3. Open Translation for any caption to edit its language-specific texts.
  4. Changes take effect immediately on the next report printout — no rebuild or publishing is required.

Field Reference

Field Where to find it What it does Default
Caption Code All Captions Unique identifier for a caption; referenced by header fields, columns, sections
Label All Captions Optional short descriptive label for internal reference only
Language Caption Translations BC language code (e.g. ENU, DAN, DEU); blank = fallback for all languages
Caption Text Caption Translations The actual text displayed on the document for this language
Default Language Report Pack Setup The language used as the final fallback when no other translation is found
Total Caption Template Code Total Caption Templates Unique code for a set of totals labels
Description Total Caption Templates Description of the total caption template
Subtotal Caption Total Captions Caption code for the subtotal line label
Total Caption Total Captions Caption code for the total line label
Invoice Disc. Amount Caption Total Captions Caption code for the invoice discount amount label
Line Amount Caption Total Captions Caption code for the line amount label
VAT % Caption Total Captions Caption code for the VAT percentage label
VAT Amount Caption Total Captions Caption code for the VAT amount label
Total Inc. VAT Caption Total Captions Caption code for the total including VAT label
Total Excl. VAT Caption Total Captions Caption code for the total excluding VAT label
Payment Disc. on VAT Caption Total Captions Caption code for the payment discount on VAT label
Interest Amount Caption Total Captions Caption code for the interest amount label
Total Caption Template Document Customizer Content Assigns a Total Caption Template to a specific document Blank