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2b5550c346
Lead with a complete plugin quick start and add task-oriented usage, troubleshooting, customization, and contribution guides. Preserve the broader plugin framing, correct conflicting contract guidance, support Agents folder reviews, and align repository validation. Convert existing sample references to clickable links without changing knowledge rules. Co-authored-by: Jesper Schulz-Wedde <jesper.schulzwedde@microsoft.com> Co-authored-by: Copilot App <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
26 lines
1.7 KiB
Markdown
26 lines
1.7 KiB
Markdown
---
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bc-version: [all]
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domain: style
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keywords: [page, report, codeunit, runmodal, run, object-id, named-invocation]
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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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# Call objects by name, not by numeric ID
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## Description
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`Page.RunModal`, `Report.Run`, `Codeunit.Run`, and the `Page::`, `Report::`, `Codeunit::`, `Table::`, `XmlPort::` selectors accept either a numeric ID or a named alias. The named form — `Page::"Posted Sales Shipment Lines"`, `Report::"Sales - Invoice"` — is the one to use. Numeric IDs are an implementation detail that change with renumbering, do not survive a rename, and carry no signal to a reader about what the call actually does. The compiler resolves named aliases at build time, so the named form is no slower than the numeric form.
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## Best Practice
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When invoking an object whose named alias is available in the same app (or in a dependency the current app already references), use the named form: `Page.RunModal(Page::"Posted Sales Shipment Lines", SalesShptLine)`, `Report.Run(Report::"Sales - Invoice", true)`. The same applies to `Codeunit.Run`, `XmlPort.Run`, `Query.Open`, and any platform method that takes an object reference. The named form makes diffs reviewable — a rename is visible — and makes log output and stack traces interpretable.
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See sample: [`named-invocations-not-object-ids.good.al`](named-invocations-not-object-ids.good.al).
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## Anti Pattern
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`Page.RunModal(525, …)` or `Report.Run(206, true)`. The numeric form is unreadable, fragile across renumbering, and breaks every search that looks for callers of a named object.
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See sample: [`named-invocations-not-object-ids.bad.al`](named-invocations-not-object-ids.bad.al).
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