Call an Azure Function from X++ in Dynamics 365 Finance / SCM

Create an Azure Function

Azure Functions are simple way to pack and provide business logic as web service without worrying about hosting a web server. Azure Functions can be implemented in different programming languages like C#, JavaScript, PHP, Java, etc. and can be hosted on Linux and Windows with different runtime environments that feed your need.

In the Azure Portal click + Create a resource and search for Function App:

In the next screen choose a subscription and create a resource group (or use an existing one if you like). Provide a useful name and choose code as Publish method. Select .NET Core 3.1 as runtime stack and a region that is near your location:

Click Review + Create to create the Azure Function. It takes a view minutes to provision all the required elements:

Click on Go to Resource. Next to the Functions group click + to create a new function and select In-Portal to edit the function code direct in the browser:

Choose the webhook + API to create a demo function that can be called via HTTP POST.

This will create a function that takes a name as parameter and returns “Hello ” + the parameter name.

You can test the function by using Test tab on the right. The function takes a JSON string with a name parameter and returns a simple string.

Call the function from X++

In the azure portal get the function URL with a function key. Copy the URL with the key:

In Visual Studio create an X++ class with a main method for testing. Use the System.Net.Http.HttpClient class to call the service. The content is a JSON string encoded in UTF-8 with a name parameter and value. In this example the name is Dynamics:

System.Net.Http.HttpClient httpClient = new System.Net.Http.HttpClient();
System.Net.Http.HttpContent content = new System.Net.Http.StringContent(
        "{\"name\":\"Dynamics\"}",
        System.Text.Encoding::UTF8,
        "application/json");

At the moment X++ does not support the await keyword for asynchronouse calls. The workaround is to use the Task.Wait() method. Call the service with your function URL async and get the content of the call:

var task = httpClient.PostAsync("https://<YOUR_FUNCTION_URL>",content);
task.Wait();
System.Net.Http.HttpResponseMessage msg = task.Result;

System.Net.Http.HttpContent ct = msg.Content;
var result = ct.ReadAsStringAsync();
result.Wait();
System.String s = result.Result;

info(s);

Start the class from Visual Studio. The result should look like this: