Merge microsoft/main (#157, #159, #161, #198, #202) into document-distribution-batch

Resolve evaluation/review-fixtures.json semantically: data-modeling
articles list is the union of main's list and this PR's nine articles;
everything else is taken from main unchanged.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
This commit is contained in:
Michael Dieringer 2026-09-29 17:55:05 +02:00
commit 704dc23951
111 changed files with 3057 additions and 56 deletions

View file

@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
codeunit 50101 "Batch Job Runner"
{
procedure AdvanceToNextBusinessDay()
begin
// Anti-pattern: repurposes the user's session WorkDate as a
// scratch variable for unrelated business logic.
WorkDate(CalcDate('<1D>', WorkDate()));
end;
}

View file

@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
codeunit 50100 "Posting Date Helper"
{
procedure GetDefaultPostingDate(): Date
var
PostingDate: Date;
begin
// Read the work date to default a value; never write to it.
PostingDate := WorkDate();
exit(PostingDate);
end;
}

View file

@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
---
bc-version: [all]
domain: data-modeling
keywords: [workdate, session-setting, user-control, side-effect]
technologies: [al]
countries: [w1]
application-area: [all]
---
# Application code must not change the WorkDate
## Description
The work date is a per-user session setting the user controls from the
client (the date shown in the top-right corner, used to default posting
dates and date filters). Business logic unrelated to that setting must not
call `WorkDate(NewDate)` as a side effect of doing something else — that
silently changes what the user sees and defaults to for the rest of their
session, a surprising, hard-to-trace behavior change the user never asked
for and has no visibility into. This is not a blanket ban on the setter
itself: BCApps' own demo-data generators legitimately save the current
work date, set a specific one to backdate the data they create, and
restore it afterward (see `CreateDemoEDocsBE.Codeunit.al`'s
`WorkDate(SampleInvoiceDate)` / `WorkDate(SavedWorkDate)` pair), and test
codeunits routinely set `WorkDate` deliberately to control the date context
a test runs under (hundreds of calls across BCApps' test suite, for
example `SustainabilityPostingTest.Codeunit.al`). Both are the code's
*actual purpose*, not a side effect of something unrelated.
This is a call-direction distinction for the read side: reading the
current work date via `WorkDate` (or `WorkDate()` with no argument) is
always fine.
## Best Practice
Read the work date to default a value. Only write to it when changing it
*is* the operation being performed — implementing the user's own
work-date/settings action, or a test or demo-data routine that deliberately
establishes a date context (saving and restoring the prior value if the
routine must leave the session as it found it). Business logic that exists
to do something else must never write `WorkDate` as an incidental side
effect; if a calculation needs a specific date, pass or compute that date
as a local variable instead.
See sample: [`code-must-not-change-workdate.good.al`](code-must-not-change-workdate.good.al).
## Anti Pattern
Setting the work date from within a codeunit, report, or page action whose
purpose is unrelated to the user's date preference — for example, a
posting or calculation routine that calls `WorkDate(SomeDate)` to make its
own logic simpler. This changes session state the user owns for the
duration of a call that was never about the work date, and never restores
it. This is a different case from a test or demo-data routine explicitly
declaring a date context: the anti-pattern is unrelated logic silently
mutating state it does not own, not the setter form itself.
See sample: [`code-must-not-change-workdate.bad.al`](code-must-not-change-workdate.bad.al).

View file

@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
table 50111 "Sample Item Card"
{
fields
{
field(1; "No."; Code[20]) { }
field(50; Picture; BLOB)
{
Caption = 'Picture';
}
}
}

View file

@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
table 50110 "Sample Item Card"
{
fields
{
field(1; "No."; Code[20]) { }
field(50; Picture; Media)
{
Caption = 'Picture';
}
}
}

View file

@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
---
bc-version: [all]
domain: data-modeling
keywords: [blob, media, mediaset, picture-field, image-field, table-design]
technologies: [al]
countries: [w1]
application-area: [all]
---
# Pictures must be stored in a Media/MediaSet field, not BLOB
## Description
`BLOB` is still a valid AL field type for arbitrary binary data, but it is
not the right choice for storing pictures or images. The current
recommendation is the `Media` field type for a single image, or
`MediaSet` when a record needs several independent images (e.g. multiple
product photos) — `MediaSet` is a collection of separately-imported media
objects, each with its own identity; it does not generate resized variants
or thumbnails on its own, and displaying more than one item still requires
custom page handling. Media/MediaSet integrate with the platform's
picture control and media repository, which a plain `BLOB` field does not
— but any derived preview or thumbnail image still has to be generated
explicitly and stored in its own field, regardless of which type holds the
source image.
`BLOB` remains the correct choice for genuinely arbitrary binary payloads
that are not images and don't benefit from the media pipeline (e.g. a raw
file attachment blob unrelated to picture rendering).
## Best Practice
Use `Media` for a single image, or `MediaSet` for multiple independent
images, for any field that holds a picture.
See sample: [`pictures-must-use-media-not-blob.good.al`](pictures-must-use-media-not-blob.good.al).
## Anti Pattern
A `BLOB` field named "Picture" compiles and stores the image bytes, but
it misses the picture control integration and media repository that a
`Media`/`MediaSet` field provides for free — the anti pattern is choosing
`BLOB` for image storage out of habit rather than recognizing that the
field is holding a picture, not generic binary data. A related anti
pattern: assuming `MediaSet` gives automatic image variants or thumbnails
because it sounds like a collection with derived versions — it is only a
collection of independently-imported media objects.
See sample: [`pictures-must-use-media-not-blob.bad.al`](pictures-must-use-media-not-blob.bad.al).

View file

@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
table 50121 "Sample Ledger Entry"
{
fields
{
// Anti-pattern: a Ledger table's key must never be user-editable.
field(1; "Entry No."; Integer) { }
field(2; "Posting Date"; Date) { }
field(3; Amount; Decimal) { }
}
keys
{
key(PK; "Entry No.") { Clustered = true; }
}
// No AutoIncrement, no guard against manual insert/delete — a user or
// integration can renumber or remove entries, breaking the Ledger
// type's audit-trail guarantee.
}

View file

@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
table 50120 "Sample Ledger Entry"
{
fields
{
// Ledger primary key: Integer "Entry No.", set only by posting.
field(1; "Entry No."; Integer) { AutoIncrement = true; }
field(2; "Posting Date"; Date) { }
field(3; Amount; Decimal) { }
}
keys
{
key(PK; "Entry No.") { Clustered = true; }
}
// No user-facing Insert/Delete/Modify path is exposed; rows are
// created exclusively by the posting routine.
}

View file

@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
---
bc-version: [all]
domain: data-modeling
keywords: [tables, table-design, naming-conventions, primary-key, master-table, ledger-table, journal-table, register-table, document-table, setup-table, subsidiary-table, supplemental-table]
technologies: [al]
countries: [w1]
application-area: [all]
---
# Tables must match one of Business Central's nine table-type conventions
## Description
Business Central's Base Application follows nine recurring table types —
Master, Supplemental, Subsidiary, Ledger, Register, Journal, Document,
Document History, and Setup. Each type fixes a naming pattern, a
primary-key shape, and a set of associated pages. A new or extended table
whose design doesn't match the conventions of its own type is either
misclassified or built inconsistently with the rest of the application,
and should be flagged in review even if it compiles. Before assigning a
primary key or naming a new table, first identify which of the nine types
it is — that answer fixes almost every other design decision.
## Best Practice
Match the table's design to its type:
1. **Master** (Customer, Item) — one record is the subject; primary key
`Code[20]` named `No.`; description field in `DataCaptionFields`; Card +
List (+ Statistics) pages.
2. **Supplemental** (Currency, Language) — used across functional areas;
primary key `Code[10]` named `Code`; one List page, plural name, set as
`LookupPageID`.
3. **Subsidiary** (Item Vendor) — subsidiary to a Master/Supplemental
table; primary key is the parent key field(s), optionally + `Line No.`;
page shape depends on whether the table carries its own identity: a
pure parent-join table (Item Vendor) typically gets a plain List page
filtered by the calling page, while a subsidiary table that supplements
a master record with its own identity — parent key + own code, e.g.
Ship-to Address, Customer/Vendor Bank Account — commonly gets a
List+Card pair instead, for direct editing of that record.
4. **Ledger** (Cust. Ledger Entry) — transactional record of a functional
area; primary key `Integer` `Entry No.`, always auto-generated by
posting, never user-editable, no free add/delete; List page as
`LookupPageID`/`DrillDownPageID`.
5. **Register** (G/L Register) — table of contents for its Ledger, one row
per posting run; primary key `Integer` `No.`, auto-generated; carries
`From Entry No.`/`To Entry No.`; List page with a link to the Ledger.
6. **Journal** (Resource Journal Line) — where users enter data before
posting to a Ledger; primary key Template + Batch + `Integer` `Line No.`;
Worksheet page with `AutoSplitKey`, a Posting action, and a link to the
Ledger.
7. **Document** (Sales Header/Line) — posts to Ledgers via Journals, not
directly; Header primary key `Code[20]` `No.` (or + `Option Document
Type`); Line primary key = Header key renamed `<Document> No.` +
`Integer Line No.`; Document/Card page with a Posting action and a lines
subpage.
8. **Document History** (Posted Sales Invoice Header/Line) — posted copy of
a Document table, created during posting; mirrors the source table's
fields; never user-editable; same page shape but the Line-equivalent is
a List page, not a Worksheet.
9. **Setup** (General Ledger Setup) — exactly one record for a functional
area; primary key `Code[10]` named `Primary Key`, always blank; one page
with the key field hidden, whose `OnOpenPage` creates the singleton the
first time it's opened (`Reset()` → `Get()` → if not found, `Init()` →
`Insert()`) rather than assuming the record pre-exists.
A table named "Setup" that holds more than one record follows Subsidiary
rules instead — the name alone is not proof of type. When a table's
identity can't be resolved from its definition alone (e.g. a "Setup"-named
table with a real business-field key and no page), say so explicitly
rather than forcing a classification; settling it requires checking actual
row cardinality or call sites, not just the object definition.
These nine types cover Business Central's *business-record* tables — they
are not an exhaustive catalogue of every legitimate table shape. A
temporary/buffer table, a work queue, a log or telemetry table, a
cross-reference/mapping table with no business meaning of its own, or a
staging/working table used only inside one process is not required to fit
any of the nine, and forcing one into the nearest-looking type (usually
Ledger, because it has an `Integer` key, or Subsidiary, because it has a
composite key) produces a harmful redesign recommendation for a table that
was never meant to carry that type's guarantees. Apply this rule only when
the table's name, fields, or usage genuinely establish it as one of the
nine business-record types; when nothing points that way, this rule simply
does not apply — that is not the same as an unresolved classification.
See sample: [`table-design-must-match-bc-table-type-conventions.good.al`](table-design-must-match-bc-table-type-conventions.good.al).
## Anti Pattern
A table that mixes conventions from two types — for example, a "Ledger"
table with a user-editable primary key that lets users freely insert or
delete rows — is not "flexible", it is either misclassified or has skipped
a design step. A Ledger table's `Entry No.` must come only from the
posting routine; exposing it as an editable field breaks the type's core
guarantee that entries are an immutable, sequential audit trail.
See sample: [`table-design-must-match-bc-table-type-conventions.bad.al`](table-design-must-match-bc-table-type-conventions.bad.al).