Understand why a component looks the way it does
Every Dataverse component, such as a form, view, column, or web resource, can have several solution layers. Managed solutions stack on top of the system layer, and unmanaged customizations sit on top as the Active layer. Solution Layers Explorer shows that whole stack for a component, with each layer’s order, solution, publisher, version, and time.
Select a layer to see what it changed, the component’s full state in that layer, and its child components.
Compare two layers
Pick any two layers of the same component and compare them property by property. Each property that differs is marked, and you can hide the rest. Choose a property to see its two values side by side with the changed lines highlighted. JSON values are pretty-printed first, and web resource content is decoded from base64 before comparing.
Remove the Active layer
When unmanaged changes are hiding a managed update, remove the Active layer and the component falls back to the layer below it. You can do this for one component or for several at once, always after a confirmation.
When to use it
- Finding out why a managed solution update did not appear.
- Checking what an unmanaged customization changed on top of a managed form or view.
- Cleaning unmanaged layers out of a production environment.