bcquality/microsoft/knowledge/style/object-name-30-char-limit.md
Jesper Schulz-Wedde a9f3c50863 Regenerate microsoft/knowledge from upstream BCApps instructions
The previous LLM-generated knowledge files contained factual
hallucinations. The most visible was the claim that `FindFirst` /
`FindLast` "forces a full-table scan" on an unfiltered record - it does
not; those APIs return a single row via the current key.

Other inaccuracies the audit found and fixed:

* `FindSet(true)` was described as "taking a LockTable". The correct
  upstream phrasing is that `FindSet(true)` sets
  `ReadIsolation::UpdLock` on the read. UpdLock and LockTable are
  related but distinct mechanisms.
* The list of production-scale tables had been invented beyond the
  upstream source (e.g. "Detailed Cust. Ledg. Entry") without a
  citation. The regenerated list matches the ten tables upstream lists
  with their P95 row counts.
* `SetLoadFields` guidance had been augmented with an extra mechanism
  claim ("the database resolves the filter using the index without
  hydrating the value") not present in upstream.

Approach: full regeneration of `microsoft/knowledge/` from the six
upstream BCApps Code Review instruction files, with Microsoft Learn /
the AL language reference as a secondary source. Every claim in every
regenerated file is anchored to a verbatim upstream quote (or a Learn
URL); the audit trail lives in artifacts/trace-<domain>.json on the
session workspace.

The PR #11 transaction/error-handling cluster is preserved verbatim:

* performance/understand-implicit-transaction-boundary.md
* performance/codeunit-run-as-atomic-sub-operation.{md,good.al,bad.al}
* performance/codeunit-run-requires-prior-commit-inside-transaction.{md,good.al,bad.al}
* performance/use-tryfunction-for-error-catching-not-rollback.{md,good.al,bad.al}
* performance/avoid-commit-inside-loops.{md,good.al,bad.al}
* security/commitbehavior-attribute-scopes-explicit-commits.{md,good.al,bad.al}
* testing/transactionmodel-attribute-governs-test-transactions.{md,good.al,bad.al}

These articles already cite Microsoft Learn and were carefully
cross-referenced; the regeneration skips their topics rather than
duplicating them.

File counts after regeneration:

  performance   35 .md  (5 preserved + 30 new)
  privacy       17 .md
  security      18 .md  (1 preserved + 17 new)
  style         33 .md
  testing        1 .md  (preserved)
  ui            19 .md
  upgrade       18 .md

Total 141 atomic knowledge files, each strictly one rule. All pass
.github/scripts/validate_frontmatter.py with 0 errors and 0 warnings.

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
2026-05-21 09:53:09 +02:00

1.6 KiB
Raw Permalink Blame History

bc-version domain keywords technologies countries application-area
all
style
object-name
length
prefix
affix
30-characters
appsource
al
w1
all

Keep object names within the 30-character platform limit

Description

Business Central object names — for tables, pages, codeunits, reports, queries, XML ports, enums, and permission sets — are limited to 30 characters in total. AppSource and per-tenant extensions also have to carry a mandatory prefix or affix (typically 34 characters), which leaves roughly 26 characters for the descriptive part of the name. Names hitting the 30-character ceiling are routinely rejected at publish time, and over-aggressive abbreviation to fit (CustLE, SIPoster, SalesInv) makes the object name opaque to reviewers and to anyone reading dependency lists. The right move is to plan name length around the budget — descriptive base + prefix — not to discover the limit during AppSource validation.

Best Practice

Choose a clear, descriptive name in the 2026-character range and reserve the remaining characters for the mandatory app prefix. "Customer Ledger Entry", "Sales Invoice Posting", "Sales Invoice" are descriptive and well under the budget. When you genuinely need to abbreviate, prefer abbreviations that are already established in BC (Cust., Vend., Gen. Jnl., WHSE) over ad-hoc shortenings.

Anti Pattern

Names like "CustLE" or "SIPoster" that abbreviate beyond comprehensibility, or names like "Customer Ledger Entry Posting Helper Codeunit" that breach 30 characters and force a rename during publish.