X++ Web UI Framework in Enterprise Portal will be Discontinued
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The X++ based Web UI Framework in Enterprise Portal will be Discontinued in Future Releases of Microsoft Dynamics AX
Effective with general availability of the next version of Microsoft Dynamics AX, Microsoft will discontinue the X++ based Web User Interface in Enterprise Portal. The current release, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009, is the last that will include the X++ based Web User Interface. In future versions, only the Enterprise Portal ASP.NET Web User Interface Framework will be included.
Background
The Enterprise Portal X++ Web User Interface Framework is a development and runtime component of Enterprise Portal for building and rendering the Web user interface.
The Enterprise Portal X++ Web User Interface Framework first shipped with Navision-Damgaard Axapta 2.5. It includes a set of nodes in the AOT, such as Web Forms, Web Reports, and Weblets, for defining the Web user interface components. It also includes a set of X++ kernel classes for reading and generating HTML from these elements and renders them as Web pages. In addition, it includes a set of Microsoft Dynamics AX Web Parts (Web Forms Web Part, Web Reports Web Part, Web Menu Web Part, and the Generic Web Part) and a set of out-of-the box application pages in Enterprise Portal that use these Web Parts.
With Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009, a new Web User Interface Framework based on ASP.NET, with managed APIs, Visual Studio-based development tools, and out-of-the-box application pages in Enterprise Portal built with this new Web User Interface Framework. For backward compatibility, the X++ Web User Interface Framework shipped along with the new ASP.NET Web User Interface Framework in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009
Since Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 contains no dependencies on the Enterprise Portal X++ Web User Interface Framework, and future investment is focused on technologies built on the ASP.NET Framework-based Web User Interface, the Enterprise Portal X++ Web User Interface Framework will not ship in future Microsoft Dynamics AX releases.
Take Action
Customers, partners and ISVs using solutions based on the Enterprise Portal X++ Web User Interface Framework should plan to migrate those solutions to the Enterprise Portal ASP.NET Web User Interface Framework. For documentation about creating user controls with the Enterprise Portal ASP.NET Web User Interface Framework, go to http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc595764.aspx.
To learn more about the Microsoft Business Solutions Support Lifecycle, go to http://support.microsoft.com. You can also call Microsoft Business Solutions at 1-888-477-7877 with additional questions.
My thoughts:
1. This is a good move as developers with C# and VB.Net can be more productive in designing the web objects for AX. They need not depend on X++ Application Developers
2. Developing and Deploying web-based portals/webparts will be much more easier and rapid and also one can start using the new Web 3.0 framework as well as the power of Silverlight, AJAX etc.
