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Author 7 remedial BCQuality knowledge articles plus good/bad AL samples (21 files) covering AL master-table and data-model design: - data-modeling: master No. from number series in OnInsert; use codeunit "No. Series" not obsolete NoSeriesManagement; setup table is a singleton; set Last Date Modified in OnModify and OnRename; enforce Blocked in referencing code not in the master. - style: ApplicationArea required on page controls (AS0062). - appsource: object affixes prevent collisions (AS0011). Clean-room authored from own BC knowledge; specifics verified against public sources only (learn.microsoft.com, microsoft/BCApps). Introduces two new domains (data-modeling, appsource). Co-authored-by: Jesper Schulz-Wedde <jesper.schulzwedde@microsoft.com> Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
28 lines
1.9 KiB
Markdown
28 lines
1.9 KiB
Markdown
---
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bc-version: [all]
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domain: data-modeling
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keywords: [no-series, primary-key, code20, oninsert, autoincrement, number-assignment]
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technologies: [al]
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countries: [w1]
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application-area: [all]
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---
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# A master table's `No.` primary key comes from a number series in `OnInsert`
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## Description
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In Business Central, a master table (Customer, Vendor, Item, and any custom equivalent) uses a single primary-key field named `No.` of type `Code[20]`. It is populated from a number series — configured on the feature's application-area setup table — inside the table's `OnInsert` trigger, but only when `No.` is still blank (so a user may still type a manual number when the series allows it). The record also keeps a non-editable `No. Series` `Code[20]` field recording which series produced the number.
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This is not an `Integer` `AutoIncrement` key, a GUID, or the `SystemId`. Those are surrogate/system identifiers that users never see and cannot quote; BC's whole document flow — lookups, filtering, printed references, telephone support — depends on a short, human-readable, business-controlled `No.`. Use the modern assignment API described in `use-no-series-codeunit-not-noseriesmanagement.md`.
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## Best Practice
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`No.` `Code[20]` is the sole primary key; a non-editable `No. Series` `Code[20]` field records the source series. `OnInsert` checks `if "No." = ''`, reads the setup table, `TestField`s the configured series, stores it in `No. Series`, and assigns `No.` from the series.
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See sample: `master-table-no-from-number-series-in-oninsert.good.al`.
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## Anti Pattern
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An `Integer` `AutoIncrement` (or GUID / `SystemId`) primary key used as the business key, with no `OnInsert` number assignment. Records get an opaque identifier no user can reference, and the master no longer participates in the standard numbering and manual-entry behavior every other BC master follows.
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See sample: `master-table-no-from-number-series-in-oninsert.bad.al`.
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