Rename Item Number feature in D365FO- What is it and why is it deprecated

Microsoft had released a preview feature in D365FO 10.0.42 called ' Rename Item number' which enables the users to rename the item Id field .

As we are all aware , the ItemId is a key field and one of the index fields in many tables. So once the Item is imported in the system , it will not be possible to rename ItemId once created even if the item has no transactions.

Where is this feature ?

Go to Workspaces --> Feature Management and filter by the "(Preview) Rename Item Number" feature.

If you look at the right side of the page, a brief description of the feature is given.

This feature enables the item number renaming. It finds all relevant records across the system that need to be updated with the new item number value. Additionally, the whole renaming process is thouroughly logged. The log is available at 'Product information management > Inquiries and reports > Item number renaming logs' page.

When the feature is enabled, the user can find a new button in Product information management -> Released products.

Upon clicking the button 'Rename item Number' , a dialog pops up with the option to enter a new item number . A warning message is also displayed.

This task renames an item number and updates all related records across the system. There are some limitations to be aware of, as in certain cases, it may not be possible to identify all related records that need updating. - Serialized or encoded item numbers: if the item number is stored in serialized or encoded format, such records will not be updated. For example, item number is serialized when stored as a batch job query parameter. In this case the batch job query parameter will not be updated. - External systems: the task does not update item numbers stored in external systems. - Plain text usage: if the item number is stored as plain text, it will not be updated. For example, batch job logs may contain item numbers as plain text. - Temporary tables and in memory fields: these will not be renamed using this task. It will be possible to see such tables as part of the logs. The item renaming process is thoroughly logged. You can access the logs at Product information management > Inquiries and reports > Item number renaming logs page.

It is also possible to execute the process in the batch mode , so this can be scheduled after business hours to avoid any inconsistency . It might also result in error if the item is in use while the renaming process is running.

I tried for an item where there are no transactions and executed in synchronous mode during offline hours.

This took less than 2 minutes to complete the process as the item has no transactions.

Upon clicking the renaming logs, the details are captured including the time taken for this operation.

When navigating from the item, the log shows only for the selected item. In case if you need to see the items list which were renamed, use the below option to modify directly in the FO URL .

Include the menu item name 'EcoResInventTableItemIdRenameLog' .

Other option is to navigate to Product Information management -> Inquiries and reports -> Item number renaming logs.

Is this Feature short-lived ? Microsoft announced deprecation

Microsoft has announced the deprecation of this feature in 10.0.44 stating the following reasons in the deprecated section.

The item number field is a primary key that is used across multiple systems. The (Preview) Rename item number feature allowed users to edit the item number field, but we found that the feature could cause data inconsistencies in multi-system and apps-integration scenarios, leading to data integrity and data corruption issues. The feature was previously in preview and was never made generally available for use in production environments.

Microsoft deprecated feautures link here

So, Item renaming is now officially not recommended to be used . Microsoft has suggested alternate option of deleting & creating a new item, or renaming the attributes , search names and other item- related fields. Thus the key field renaming is revoked resulting in data consistency.