3 AL/BC testing patterns from an external BC testing expert's blog (Luc van Vugt, fluxxus.nl) (#159)

* Add 4 more AL/BC testing patterns from Luc van Vugt's fluxxus.nl blog

Fourth batch from CURABIS ApS, mined from an external BC/NAV testing expert's blog archive (fluxxus.nl). Confirm+StrSubstNo interaction with ConfirmHandler, Table Relation Test's OnAfterRemoveTableRelation exclusion hook (verified against BCApps source, codeunit 134926), committing shared lazy-Initialize fixture data, and Assert.IsFalse vs asserterror for boolean checks.

* Address Jesper Schulz-Wedde's review on PR #159

- transactionmodel-attribute-governs-test-transactions.md: the "Commit
  causes an error" behavior is specific to an explicitly declared
  AutoRollback attribute. A test method with no TransactionModel
  attribute at all is a distinct, valid shape — BCApps' own
  codeunit 134915 "ERM Online Mapping Setup" commits inside a lazy
  Initialize() with no attribute declared, cleaning up via a manual
  asserterror at the end. Evidence for commit-shared-test-fixture-
  inside-lazy-initialize.md (this PR), which is correct as submitted.
- confirm-needs-strsubstno-before-confirmhandler-sees-substituted-text.md:
  reframe as a known, unconfirmed-fix platform defect
  (microsoft/ALAppExtensions#23935) rather than designed behavior; add
  the Message/MessageHandler asymmetry as supporting evidence.
- table-relation-test-exclude-known-invalid-relations-via-event.md:
  note the test-app-only consumer dependency; correct "walks every
  TableRelation field property in the app" to the actual tenant-wide
  Table Relations Metadata scope across installed apps.
- Wire confirm-needs-strsubstno, commit-shared-test-fixture-inside-
  lazy-initialize, and table-relation-test-exclude-known-invalid-
  relations-via-event into al-testing-review.md's candidate-selection
  cues.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

* Address second round of Jesper Schulz-Wedde's review on PR #159

- commit-shared-test-fixture-inside-lazy-initialize.md: fundamentally
  rewritten. AutoCommit is the documented default TransactionModel, not
  AutoRollback. Explains the real mechanism (Commit() protects a fixture
  from the test method's own later deliberate rollback, per Codeunit.Run/
  TransactionModel-property semantics) and the TestIsolation dependency
  (Disabled/Codeunit survive across methods, Function does not). Fixtures
  rewritten to demonstrate the actual failure/success shape.
- transactionmodel-attribute-governs-test-transactions.md: now states the
  AutoCommit default explicitly and agrees with the article above, closing
  the contradiction Jesper flagged between the two testing articles.
- Deleted confirm-needs-strsubstno-before-confirmhandler-sees-substituted-text
  (.md/.good.al/.bad.al): the underlying platform bug (microsoft/
  ALAppExtensions#23935) was closed as completed in Feb 2024; cannot be
  reproduced or bc-version-pinned on any currently supported version.
- table-relation-test-exclude-known-invalid-relations-via-event.md: added
  the [Scope('OnPrem')] boundary verified against BCApps' Table Relation
  Test codeunit.
- use-assert-isfalse-not-asserterror-for-boolean-checks.md: added a Scope
  section resolving the overlap with asserterror-needs-expectederror-and-code.
- al-testing-review.md: fixed the shared-fixture cue to catch the actual
  anti-pattern instead of the compliant shape, added the missing cue for
  use-assert-isfalse-not-asserterror-for-boolean-checks, wired precedence
  between it and the generic asserterror rule, and removed the cue for the
  deleted article.
- Added in-file Source provenance (specific fluxxus.nl post per article,
  with what was independently verified vs. taken from the post) to the
  three surviving externally-inspired articles, per Jesper's request that
  provenance live in the knowledge file itself, not only the PR description.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

* Fix remaining correctness issues from Jesper's 2026-09-15 re-review

- commit-shared-test-fixture-inside-lazy-initialize: three sub-issues.
  Recommended TestIsolation = Codeunit instead of listing Disabled as an
  equal option - Disabled never rolls back at all ("tests are not
  isolated from each other" per the property's own docs), so a fixture
  this pattern commits under Disabled is permanent database
  contamination unless something else tears it down; Disabled is now
  only mentioned alongside that explicit teardown requirement. Added
  precedence in al-testing-review.md so the deliberate end-of-test
  asserterror Error(...) rollback sentinel isn't also flagged by the
  generic asserterror-needs-expectederror-and-code rule. Rewrote both
  fixtures to actually demonstrate the pattern: persisted fixture data
  (an Item record) instead of an empty comment, a second [Test] method
  that depends on the fixture surviving into it, and an explicit
  Subtype = TestRunner / TestIsolation = Codeunit runner codeunit.

- table-relation-test-exclude-known-invalid-relations-via-event:
  the length/type rule was stated as one global requirement. Verified
  ValidateFieldRelation in codeunit 134926 directly (BCApps reference
  clone) and split it into the two branches the source actually has:
  a field with any unconditional relation needs exact length and exact
  resolved type; a field whose relations are all conditional only fails
  on being shorter (longer is fine) than the largest related field, and
  when the required type is specifically Code, a Text source passes too
  - a tolerance that does not apply on the unconditional side and does
  not extend to a required Text.

Rebased onto upstream/main (one conflict in
transactionmodel-attribute-governs-test-transactions.md - upstream had
already linked its sample references via the READ convention, ours
added a Source section; merged both). Also converted the 3 remaining
plain-backtick sample references in this PR to the READ-convention
markdown-link form, same fix as #156/#157/#158.

* Fix four merge-critical issues from Jesper's 2026-09-22 review

- al-testing-review.md: the generic ExpectedError cue's asserterror
  Assert.IsTrue/IsFalse exclusion was unconditional, but the
  specialized rule it deferred to only claims the pure-inversion
  shape. A test expecting the guarded Boolean-returning call itself to
  raise fell through both routes. Narrowed the exclusion to the same
  inversion-only condition the specialized cue already uses.
- asserterror-needs-expectederror-and-code.md: the rollback-sentinel
  exception (a trailing asserterror Error(...) used purely to force a
  fixture rollback, not to verify a specific failure) previously lived
  only in skill routing prose. Encoded it directly in the article's
  Anti Pattern section so every consumer of the knowledge base sees it,
  not just this one skill.
- commit-shared-test-fixture-inside-lazy-initialize.good.al/.bad.al:
  replaced hand-rolled Item.Init()/Insert(true) with
  LibraryInventory.CreateItem, so the canonical fixture doesn't itself
  trigger use-library-codeunits-for-test-fixtures.
- table-relation-test-exclude-known-invalid-relations-via-event.good.al/
  .bad.al: declared minimal "Sample Setup"/"Sample Header" tables
  inline instead of referencing undefined symbols, matching this
  repo's own convention that every fixture is self-contained.

* Give the table-relation-test fixtures a real relation to exclude and one to protect

The "Category Code" field had no TableRelation at all, so the good
subscriber's RemoveTableRelation call targeted metadata that never
existed - a no-op. Added a real TableRelation to "Sample Setup" on
that field (the one known exception to exclude) and a second,
ordinary self-referencing relation ("Parent No." -> "Sample
Header"."No.") with no exception. The good fixture now removes only
the first; the bad fixture's table-wide removal (field/related
table/field all 0) now demonstrably also strips the second, showing
the actual anti-pattern instead of removing nothing meaningful.

---------

Co-authored-by: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Co-authored-by: Jesper Schulz-Wedde <jesper.schulzwedde@microsoft.com>
Co-authored-by: Copilot App <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

microsoft/skills/review/al-testing-review.md

@@ -55,7 +55,10 @@ The following targeted checks cover every current `testing` article. Treat each
 - A permission-sensitive test uses `TestPermissions = Disabled`, claims to test a restricted user without `"Permissions Mock"`/`"Library - Lower Permissions"`, or declares `[TestPermissions(...)]` without applying that context — `permission-tests-must-lower-the-execution-context`.
 - Test fixture code manually calls `Init`/`Insert`, invents keys or prerequisite records, or bypasses available `LibrarySales`, `LibraryPurchase`, `LibraryERM`, `LibraryInventory`, `LibraryRandom`, or equivalent library codeunits — `use-library-codeunits-for-test-fixtures`.
 - A test codeunit's `Initialize` procedure exits on `IsInitialized` before per-test reset such as `LibraryVariableStorage.Clear`, `LibrarySetupStorage.Restore`, or `LibraryTestInitialize.OnTestInitialize`, or a `[Test]` method in a codeunit using that pattern does not call `Initialize()` first — `reset-per-test-state-before-the-isinitialized-guard`.
-- `asserterror` is added or changed without a following `Assert.ExpectedError`, `Assert.ExpectedErrorCode`, or a purpose-built assertion such as `ExpectedTestFieldError` — `asserterror-needs-expectederror-and-code`.
+- `asserterror` is added or changed without a following `Assert.ExpectedError`, `Assert.ExpectedErrorCode`, or a purpose-built assertion such as `ExpectedTestFieldError` — `asserterror-needs-expectederror-and-code`. Exclude `asserterror Assert.IsTrue(...)` / `asserterror Assert.IsFalse(...)` only when it is used solely to invert the guarded call's Boolean result (the same condition `use-assert-isfalse-not-asserterror-for-boolean-checks` cues on below, which wins for that shape) — not when the test expects the guarded Boolean-returning call itself to raise an error, which this rule still owns even though it happens to wrap an `Assert.IsTrue`/`IsFalse` call. Also exclude a trailing `asserterror Error(...)` used purely as an end-of-test rollback sentinel after a lazy `Initialize()` fixture already committed — that shape belongs to `commit-shared-test-fixture-inside-lazy-initialize`, which wins for it; the sentinel's own error text is not meant to be asserted against.
+- `asserterror` wraps `Assert.IsTrue(BooleanExpression, ...)` (or the `IsFalse` mirror) solely to invert the boolean result of the guarded call, rather than to assert that call itself raises an error — `use-assert-isfalse-not-asserterror-for-boolean-checks`.
+- A shared/lazy `Initialize()`-style fixture helper creates fixture data without a following `Commit()`, in a test method whose body later forces its own rollback (for example `asserterror Error(...)` used for end-of-test cleanup) — `commit-shared-test-fixture-inside-lazy-initialize`. The presence of `Commit()` after the fixture is the compliant shape, not the signal to look for; the missing-`Commit()` shape combined with a later deliberate rollback is the anti-pattern. Require runner/repository context for the `TestIsolation` value: a standalone test file cannot prove which runner executes it, and under `Function`-level isolation this whole pattern is moot regardless of `Commit()` — do not raise the finding when the executing runner's `TestIsolation` is known to be `Function`.
+- Changed code subscribes to `OnAfterRemoveTableRelation`, calls `RemoveTableRelation`, or references `Codeunit "Table Relation Test"`/134926 — `table-relation-test-exclude-known-invalid-relations-via-event`.
 - Test fixture code assigns a hardcoded literal to a primary-key field or a field the test relies on as a unique lookup identifier, hand-builds a "unique" value for such a field (string concatenation, a counter, `Format(CurrentDateTime)`), or truncates `LibraryUtility.GenerateGUID()`'s result with `CopyStr` for such a field shorter than 10 characters — `use-generateguid-for-unique-test-fixture-values`. Calling `GenerateGUID()` untruncated into a full-length field, `GenerateRandomCodeWithLength` for a shorter field needing real verified uniqueness, or `GenerateRandomCode20` specifically for a `Code[20]` field, is the compliant shape, not the signal to flag. `GenerateRandomCode20` is not a substitute for `GenerateRandomCodeWithLength` on a shorter field — it truncates `GenerateGUID()`'s sequential value down to the field's length by keeping the *leftmost* characters, which change the slowest, so retries against a short field can churn through the same truncated prefix far longer than `GenerateRandomCodeWithLength`'s equivalent. A hardcoded or deterministic value in an ordinary descriptive field is not this anti-pattern — that field carries no uniqueness constraint. Do not claim `GenerateRandomCode` (without `WithLength`/`20`) or `GenerateRandomXMLText` verify uniqueness against the real table, or that `GenerateRandomCode` is collision-free even within one test run for a short field — none of that is true.
 - A test asserts against a `TestPage` field's `.Visible()` or `.Enabled()` — `use-testpage-visible-enabled-to-verify-field-ui-state`. When the assertion is against `.Editable()`, or the page is opened with `OpenEdit()` specifically to check editability — `use-testpage-editable-to-verify-field-editability`.
 - A test path raises UI and `[HandlerFunctions(...)]` does not match the invoked handlers, or the test has no meaningful evidence of the UI result (for example, it treats a Boolean set before the action as proof of success) — `ui-handlers-in-tests`. A capture/reset/assert-after-`RunModal` pattern is valid. Enqueue/dequeue and `AssertEmpty` are required only when order, count, text, replies, or a scripted sequence is part of the contract. Only nonoptional handlers have to execute: a listed handler declared `[SendNotificationHandler(true)]` or `[RecallNotificationHandler(true)]` is optional by design, so do not treat it as unmatched when the run never raises the notification.