Automated Document Generation - REFRACT PDF Business Central

Overview

REFRACT PDF supports four ways to trigger document generation. All four paths funnel into the same Generation Queue - a persistent table that the VPF Gen Processor job drains asynchronously.

The first three scenarios are covered in detail below. The interactive gallery is described in Processing Documents.

Architecture: The Generation Queue

The Generation Queue (table 73524588 "VPF Gen Request", caption "REFRACT Generation Request") decouples the act of requesting PDF generation from the act of executing it. Any trigger path inserts a row; the Gen Processor (codeunit 73524611 "VPF Gen Processor"), running as a recurring Job Queue entry, picks up Pending rows in batches (up to 50 per run) and drives each one through the full pipeline (JSON build → SharePoint upload → Dispatcher call → Record Link).

Trigger (Post event / API call / AL code)
        ↓
  Gen Request row (Status = Pending)
        ↓
  Job Queue → VPF Gen Processor (codeunit 73524611)
        ↓
  SharePoint Upload + Dispatcher Call
        ↓
  Status = Completed  (or Failed / Dead after retries)

Key design properties:

• Trigger-agnostic - the processor does not know or care how a row was created
• Fixed retry count - failed rows are retried up to 3 times (hardcoded when the row is queued) before being marked Dead; there is no backoff between attempts
• Concurrent-safe - the processor marks a row Processing before committing, so parallel Job Queue workers cannot double-process the same request
• Non-blocking for posting - the posting subscriber inserts Gen Request rows in a new transaction after posting commits, so a subscriber failure never rolls back a completed posting

Scenario 1: Auto-Generate on Post

Enable this flag on a template to have REFRACT PDF automatically queue a generation request whenever a Business Central document from that template's source table is posted.

Supported posting events:

• Sales Invoice posted from a Sales Order or Sales Invoice
• Sales Credit Memo
• Purchase Invoice
• Purchase Credit Memo

Scenario 2: External System Triggers Generation via API

Use this pattern when an external application - a custom ERP, an integration platform (Power Automate, Logic Apps, Boomi, MuleSoft), or a BC API client - creates or posts a BC document and then wants to trigger REFRACT PDF generation without requiring a user to open Business Central.

API Endpoint

POST /api/refractlogic/vaultpdf/v1.0/companies({companyId})/generationRequests

This is page 73524613 "VPF Gen Request API" (APIPublisher='refractlogic', APIGroup='vaultpdf', APIVersion='v1.0', EntityName='generationRequest'), reading and inserting into table 73524588 "VPF Gen Request".

Authentication: Standard BC OData API authentication (OAuth 2.0 with Dynamics 365 Business Central scope, or Basic auth for on-premises).

Request body:

{
  "templateCode": "PINV-STANDARD",
  "tableId": 122,
  "docNo": "PINV-00001",
  "externalRef": "ERP-JOB-REF-789"
}

Common table IDs:

Response (201 Created):

{
  "requestId": "a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890",
  "templateCode": "PINV-STANDARD",
  "tableId": 122,
  "docNo": "PINV-00001",
  "status": "Pending",
  "externalRef": "ERP-JOB-REF-789",
  "createdAt": "2026-06-20T14:32:00Z"
}

Polling for Completion

Poll the returned requestId to track processing:

GET /api/refractlogic/vaultpdf/v1.0/companies({companyId})/generationRequests({requestId})

Response when complete:

{
  "requestId": "a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890",
  "status": "Completed",
  "blobPath": "RefractLogic/PurchaseInvoices/PINV-00001_PINV-STANDARD.pdf",
  "correlationId": "vpdf-corr-xyz",
  "processedAt": "2026-06-20T14:33:15Z"
}

End-to-End Example: External System Posts an AP Invoice

This is the canonical scenario: an external procurement system creates and posts a Purchase Invoice via the BC standard API, then triggers REFRACT PDF generation.

POST /api/refractlogic/vaultpdf/v1.0/companies({companyId})/generationRequests
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "templateCode": "PINV-STANDARD",
  "tableId": 122,
  "docNo": "PINV-00001",
  "externalRef": "PROC-SYSTEM-JOB-42"
}

Power Automate / Logic Apps Integration

To integrate with Power Automate or Azure Logic Apps, use the Business Central connector's Call a Bound Action action - or make a direct HTTP call to the OData endpoint using the HTTP with Microsoft Entra ID connector.

Recommended flow pattern:

1. Trigger: When a record is created/modified in Business Central (or on a schedule)
2. Action: POST to generationRequests using HTTP connector
3. Action: Do-Until loop polling GET generationRequests({requestId}) until status = Completed or timeout
4. Action: Send Teams/email notification with blobPath

Scenario 3: AL Developer Queues Programmatically

A partner or customer extension can queue generation requests directly from AL code without going through a user action or a posting event.

Using the Public API: QueueGenerationForPosting

QueueGenerationForPosting(TableId: Integer; var SourceRecRef: RecordRef) on codeunit 73524612 "VPF Posting Subscriber" is the same path the built-in posting subscriber uses. It does not take a template code - it queues one generation request for every enabled template variant configured with Auto Generate on Post whose source table matches TableId. Use it when you want "everything configured for this table" behavior from your own posting hook:

local procedure TriggerGenerationForMyDoc(PostedHeader: Record "My Posted Header")
var
    PostingSubscriber: Codeunit "VPF Posting Subscriber";
    RecRef: RecordRef;
begin
    RecRef.GetTable(PostedHeader);
    PostingSubscriber.QueueGenerationForPosting(Database::"My Posted Header", RecRef);
end;

Calling it fires OnBeforeQueueForTable (described below) before any variant is queued.

OnBeforeQueueForTable

Published by codeunit 73524612 "VPF Posting Subscriber". Fires once per table before the posting subscriber queues any generation requests for it. The real signature has no template-code parameter - at this point no specific template or variant has been chosen yet, so a subscriber can only skip the default behavior entirely, not redirect it to a substitute template:

[EventSubscriber(ObjectType::Codeunit, Codeunit::"VPF Posting Subscriber",
  'OnBeforeQueueForTable', '', false, false)]
local procedure OnBeforeQueueForTable(
    TableId: Integer;
    var SourceRecRef: RecordRef;
    var IsHandled: Boolean)
begin
    // Skip the default queue behavior entirely for a specific custom table;
    // handle queuing yourself (e.g. call QueueInternal with your own logic).
    if TableId = Database::"My Custom Header" then
        IsHandled := true;
end;

Setting IsHandled := true prevents the default posting subscriber from queuing anything for that table.

Queue a Specific Template Internally

Use QueueInternal(TemplateCode: Code[20]; SourceRecRef: RecordRef) on table 73524588 "VPF Gen Request" when you want to queue one named template for a record, from a background codeunit, upgrade routine, or any non-posting context:

local procedure ReprocessDocument(DocNo: Code[20])
var
    InvHeader: Record "Sales Invoice Header";
    GenRequest: Record "VPF Gen Request";
    RecRef: RecordRef;
begin
    InvHeader.Get(DocNo);
    RecRef.GetTable(InvHeader);
    GenRequest.QueueInternal('SINV-STANDARD', RecRef);
end;

Queue from a Custom Posting Flow (Low-Level)

QueueFromPosting(TemplateVariantId: Code[50]; SourceRecRef: RecordRef) on table 73524588 "VPF Gen Request" is the low-level entry point the posting subscriber itself calls, once per matched template variant. TemplateVariantId must match an existing row in table "VPF Template Setup"; the procedure resolves that variant's parent Template Code automatically:

local procedure AfterMyDocumentPosting(var PostedHeader: Record "My Posted Header")
var
    GenRequest: Record "VPF Gen Request";
    RecRef: RecordRef;
begin
    RecRef.GetTable(PostedHeader);
    GenRequest.QueueFromPosting('SINV-STANDARD-DEFAULT', RecRef);
end;

It sets Source = Posting Event, captures the Record ID directly from the RecordRef, and resolves Doc No. from the record's No. field. It is safe to call within a posting transaction - the Gen Request insert is committed independently.

Queue from an API (Server-Side Validation)

If you need to add validation logic before accepting an API-originated request, create a page extension on page 73524613 "VPF Gen Request API" and add your logic in OnInsertRecord.

Maximum Retries

The Gen Processor retries a failed request up to 3 times before marking it Dead (Max Retries Reached). This count is hardcoded on the "VPF Gen Request" table's OnInsert trigger (if "Max Retries" = 0 then "Max Retries" := 3) and re-applied defensively by the Gen Processor itself. There is no backoff between attempts and no system setting that changes this number for automatic generation.

Log Retention and Auto-Purge

The Gen Processor (codeunit 73524611 "VPF Gen Processor") purges old log data on every run, controlled by the REFRACTPDF_LOG_RETENTION_DAYS setting (default 90; set to 0 to disable).

What gets purged, older than the retention cutoff:

• "VPF Batch Job Entry" rows with status Completed, Failed, or Partial, and their linked "VPF Batch Log Detail" rows
• "VPF Batch Log Entry" rows, filtered by their own Log DateTime (independent of any batch job's status)
• "VPF Gen Request" rows with status Completed, filtered by Created At

What is not purged:

• Batch jobs still Queued or Running, regardless of age
• "VPF Gen Request" rows with status Failed, Dead, Pending, or Processing, regardless of age

There is no separate "Upload Log" page or table - generation and batch history are recorded on "VPF Batch Log Entries" (page 73524600) and its detail sub-page "VPF Batch Log Detail" (page 73524610).

Monitoring the Generation Queue

Generation Queue Page

Open REFRACT Generation Queue from the Tell Me bar to view all requests across all templates.

From the Template Card, the Generation Queue action in the action bar opens the same list pre-filtered to the current template.

Page columns:

Status color coding:

Actions

Troubleshooting