bcquality/microsoft/knowledge/upgrade/skip-nonessential-work-via-execution-context.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

1.7 KiB

bc-version domain keywords technologies countries application-area
all
upgrade
get-execution-context
execution-context-upgrade
skip
report-selection
runtime-trigger
al
w1
all

Skip non-essential runtime work when GetExecutionContext() = ExecutionContext::Upgrade

Description

Runtime procedures (table triggers, install routines, helpers called from many places) sometimes fire during the upgrade window because the upgrade itself touches the data they react to. When the work those procedures do is not strictly required for the upgrade to succeed — inserting report-selection entries, seeding optional configuration, sending welcome notifications — they should detect upgrade context with GetExecutionContext() = ExecutionContext::Upgrade and exit. This keeps upgrade transactions tight and avoids side effects that the upgrade pipeline did not ask for.

This is the opposite of a load-bearing concern: code that MUST run during the upgrade does not consult execution context. The check is for optional side effects that happen to be wired into runtime code paths.

Best Practice

In a runtime procedure that performs non-essential side effects, guard the side-effect block with if GetExecutionContext() = ExecutionContext::Upgrade then exit; and include a brief comment explaining what is being skipped and why.

See sample: skip-nonessential-work-via-execution-context.good.al.

Anti Pattern

Using GetExecutionContext() to enable upgrade behaviour from outside an upgrade codeunit. Upgrade behaviour belongs in a codeunit with Subtype = Upgrade; runtime code should only use the check to suppress optional work.

See sample: skip-nonessential-work-via-execution-context.bad.al.