Information Codes

As a Business Manager
I want to create an Information Code for a product attribute such as "Colour"
So that all users enter colour information in a consistent, structured way across all item records

Setup:

1. Open Information Code List and choose New.
2. Enter a Code (e.g. COLOUR) and a Description (e.g. Colour).
3. Set Subtype to Specification.
4. Set Table to Item if this code should only appear on items.
5. Open the Information Values action and add the allowed colours (e.g. RED, BLUE, GREEN).
6. Save and close.

As a Business Manager
I want to ensure that the "Fabric Content" Information Code only appears when working with items
So that the code does not clutter the specification page for customers or vendors

Setup:

1. Open the Information Code Card for the relevant code.
2. Set the Table field to Item.
3. Save. The code will no longer appear in the Information Setup for other entity types.

As a Business Manager
I want to let users type a free numeric value for "Weight (kg)" rather than selecting from a list
So that each item can have its exact weight recorded without needing a value per weight

Setup:

1. Open the Information Code Card for the relevant code.
2. Set Subtype to Specification.
3. Set Validation Datatype to Decimal to enforce numeric input.
4. Enable Allow Users to Add Information Values — this allows users to type a value directly.
5. Optionally enable Delete Zero Values so that entering 0 removes the record rather than saving a zero.
6. Save.

As a IT Manager
I want to enforce that the "Last Inspection Date" attribute only accepts valid dates
So that the data quality is maintained and downstream processes can rely on the values

Setup:

1. Open the Information Code Card for the relevant code.
2. Set Validation Datatype to Date.
3. Save. Business Central will now validate any value entered against this code and reject non-date input.

As a IT Manager
I want to protect the "Product Category" Information Code from being deleted
So that users cannot accidentally remove a code that is used across thousands of item records

Setup:

1. Open the Information Code Card for the relevant code.
2. Enable Delete is not Allowed.
3. Save. Any attempt to delete this code will now result in an error.

As a Business Manager
I want to ensure that the most important attributes appear at the top of the specification page
So that users see and fill in the critical fields first

Setup:

1. Open the Information Code Card for each relevant code.
2. Set Sorting Level to a numeric value — lower numbers appear first (e.g. set the most important code to 10, the next to 20, etc.).
3. Save each code. The order on the Information Setup page and in Master Data on Documents will update accordingly.

As a Business Manager
I want to create an Information Code specifically for longer product marketing text
So that this text is kept separate from structured specifications and can be formatted using the Extended Texts editor

Setup:

1. Open Information Code List and choose New.
2. Enter a Code (e.g. MKTG-TEXT) and a Description (e.g. Marketing Description).
3. Set Subtype to Text.
4. Save. Users can now open the Extended Texts action on any item's specification page to write rich text for this code.

As a Business Manager
I want to create an Information Code used specifically to attach product images
So that images are stored consistently alongside other specifications

Setup:

1. Open Information Code List and choose New.
2. Enter a Code (e.g. PROD-IMAGE) and a Description (e.g. Product Image).
3. Set Subtype to File.
4. Save. Users can now attach image files to this code from the item's specification page.

As a Business Manager
I want to include the "Brand" and "Model" codes in the automatically generated Long Description
So that the Long Description field on item records is always up to date without manual editing

Setup:

1. Open the Information Code Card for the BRAND code.
2. In the Merge Descriptions group, set Long Description to a Description Setup code (e.g. IV).
3. Set Long Description Order to control where this code appears in the merged result (e.g. 10).
4. Repeat for the MODEL code with order 20.
5. Use the Update Merge Descriptions action to regenerate all existing Long Descriptions.

Note: The Description Setup code controls how the value is formatted — whether to include the code description, the value, or the information value. See the Merge Descriptions article for details.

As a Business Manager
I want to mark the "Material Type" code as a driver for Logical Dependencies
So that selecting "Metal" automatically restricts the available values on the "Surface Treatment" code

Setup:

1. Open the Information Code Card for MATERIAL-TYPE.
2. In the Logical Dependencies group, enable Logical Dependencies.
3. Open the Logical Dependencies action and define the rules between Information Codes and their values.

Note: See the Logical Dependencies article for full setup instructions.

As a IT Manager
I want to convert an existing standard field (e.g. Item Category Code) into an Information Code
So that historical data from that field is automatically migrated into the specification framework

Setup:

1. From the Information Code Card, use the Create Specification from Field action.
2. Select the source table and field.
3. Define the new Information Code name, description, and subtype.
4. The system reads all existing values from that field and creates Information Values and entries automatically.

Note: This action creates Information Codes and entries in bulk — review the result after running it.

As a Business Manager
I want to include the "Material" code in the Specification Search index
So that sales users can find items by searching for material values

Setup:

1. Open the Information Code Card for the relevant code.
2. In the Specification Search group, enable Include in Specification Search.
3. Save. This code's values will now be included when the Specification Search string is calculated.

Note: The Specification Search feature must be enabled in Master Data Information Setup.

As a Business Manager
I want to roll up the "Certification" value from child items to their parent in the hierarchy
So that the parent level automatically reflects the certifications held by its components

Setup:

1. Open the Information Code Card for the CERTIFICATION code.
2. In the Master Data Hierarchy group, enable Roll up Hierarchy.
3. Ensure the Master Data Hierarchy is set up and refreshed.

Note: See the Hierarchies article for instructions on setting up and refreshing the hierarchy.

As a IT Manager
I want to mark the "Colour" Information Code as exportable to the webshop and configure how its value is represented in the export
So that the webshop integration picks up the correct attribute data in the correct format

Setup:

1. Open the Information Code Card for COLOUR.
2. In the Web Shop group, enable Export to webshop.
3. Enable Filter on Web if this attribute should be available as a filter facet in the webshop.
4. Set Web value option to the field combination that the webshop integration expects — for example Information Value (the code), Description (the label), or a combined format.
5. The Web Name field is auto-populated from the Code when the code is created; adjust it if the webshop integration requires a different identifier.
6. Save.

Note: These fields are consumed by webshop integrations that read from the Master Data Information data model. The exact behaviour depends on the webshop connector in use.