Technological platform

The Sage technological platform allows you to develop extensions for Sage X3. When developing solutions for this software, it is important to:

• Understand the capabilities of the platform

• Use a common vocabulary

Developments are stored and insulated in three different layers:

• Standard: Developed and maintained exclusively by Sage.
• Vertical: Developed and maintained by business partners. Sage partners can develop assets and business add-ons using the platform in the vertical layer. They can be packaged and shared. Sage provides on-demand a unique identifier to every partner for business add-ons (to avoid naming conflict). Assets and Business add-on categories:
  • Industry-specific: Functionality based on a strong business process expertise for a single industry.
  • Industry-wide: Generic functionality that applies to all industries.
  • Local markets: Functionality that ensures compliance with local market needs.
• Specific: Bespoke developments created for a given customer that are not shared with other customers. They can be developed by a partner or the customer.

Developments in the standard and vertical layers can be shared and installed in several locations. Specific developments are usually not shared and only installed on a single customer location. They can be on several folders, depending on the deployment.

You can use the platform to insulate and patch any development. Use activity codes to tag added or modified elements to:

• Protect them from standard patching

• Retrieve them easily

• Disable them on some folders

The platform makes it easier for partners to develop extensions while adding new functions or customizing existing ones:

• The platform manages source code separately and uses predefined entry points when they interact with standard data.

• You can use dedicated actions separated from the standard layer.

• A set of parameters is available to customize the application easily:

  • Transactions for the most relevant objects

  • An authoring feature for end-users to easily customize the layout and fit specific needs

  • Functional settings and options for creating a folder that meets the customer’s needs

• The platform includes language and documentation management.

• Patch management is available for insulating and protecting customizations.

• Web services are available to interoperate with the application.

Sage designed the add-on development rules to avoid installation or patching conflicts between several add-ons on a single customer folder. But the application of these rules cannot guarantee that several add-ons working together on the same object interact properly.

Functional conflicts between two add-ons need to be managed by the implementation project team.

The add-on development rules are intended to evolve over time to enrich co-development possibilities and consider platform improvements.

This document describes concepts introduced in the Version 7 data model. It details the administration features stored in the MongoDB database and the add-on development capabilities offered by Sage X3's latest versions.

The most interesting features for extensions development are:

From Version 7

• Codification extension
• Authoring capabilities
• Program development control
• New modelization capabilities: classes and representations

From Update 8

• Automatic switch program for objects and entry points
• Factory ID
• License tool for add-ons

Since Version 7, codification extensions offer a dedicated codification range for each add-on. This range avoids naming conflicts.

Elements	V6	As of V7
Object code	3 characters	8 characters
Table abbreviation	3 characters	7 characters
Mask abbreviation	4 characters	8 characters
Data type	3 characters	8 characters
Inquiry code	3 characters	5 characters
Local menus	10,000 menus	32,000 menus
Miscellaneous tables	10,000 tables	32,000 tables

New elements stored in the MongoDB database are defined with no codification size limit.

Reserved codifications, reinforced development rules, control programs, and enhanced patching capabilities help you develop add-ons safely.