Converts an existing performance-review prompt into 22 atomic knowledge articles under microsoft/knowledge/performance/, each paired with AL samples under samples/performance/<slug>/ demonstrating the anti-pattern and/or the best practice. The full set seeds the corpus the microsoft/skills/al-performance-review leaf skill matches against and validates the READ knowledge-file format end-to-end. Every article conforms to the READ contract: six required frontmatter fields, Description always present, no fenced code blocks, sample code referenced by repo-relative path. Each article is marked with a blockquote 'Seed article' note so domain stewards can extend or restructure them freely. Articles (ordered by concern area): Database query efficiency - use-findset-with-next (AA0181) - avoid-findfirst-with-next (AA0233) - only-fetch-records-you-use (AA0175) - use-findset-readonly-by-default - use-setloadfields-for-partial-records - use-addloadfields-in-report-layouts - use-calcsums-to-aggregate-filtered-sets (file: use-calcsums-for-flowfield-totals.md) - avoid-calcfields-in-loops - add-sift-keys-for-flowfields (AA0232) - use-isempty-for-existence-checks Filter and key optimization - filter-before-find - set-current-key-to-match-filters Temporary tables and transactions - use-temporary-tables-for-intermediate-data - keep-transaction-scope-short - avoid-user-interaction-in-transactions - avoid-commit-inside-loops Record operations - prefer-get-for-primary-key-lookups - use-insert-false-when-skipping-triggers - prefer-direct-record-over-recordref Strings, codeunits, events - use-strsubstno-for-message-formatting - use-single-instance-codeunits-for-caching - keep-event-subscribers-lightweight samples/README.md documents the sample-folder convention and makes clear the samples are demonstration-only, not derived from BC base application source, with unique object IDs in the 50100-50199 range. Rubber-duck pass caught: a misleading good.al in avoid-calcfields-in-loops (fixed by switching to a hoistable CalcFields scenario), an invalid event subscriber signature in keep-event-subscribers-lightweight (fixed by adding var xRec), normative guidance leaked into the Description of use-findset-readonly-by-default (moved to Anti Pattern), a missing sample pair for keep-transaction-scope-short (added), and muddy FlowField/CalcSums framing (retitled and clarified). Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
1.3 KiB
| bc-version | domain | keywords | technologies | countries | application-area | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
performance |
|
|
|
|
Prefer direct record access over RecordRef where possible
Seed article. Converted from an existing performance-review prompt to bootstrap the BCQuality performance corpus. Domain stewards should expand, restructure, and refine as needed.
Description
RecordRef and FieldRef are the platform's reflection API: they work across tables the compiler does not know at authoring time. That flexibility costs per-operation overhead — every field access goes through a lookup — and loses compile-time type checking. For operations where the table is known, a strongly-typed Record variable is simpler and faster.
Best Practice
Use Record variables for code paths that target a known table. Reach for RecordRef and FieldRef only when the table is genuinely dynamic (generic export/import, field-agnostic utilities, cross-table integrations).
See sample: samples/performance/prefer-direct-record-over-recordref/good.al.
Anti Pattern
Using RecordRef as a habit, even when the target table is hardcoded two lines earlier, costs performance and hides intent from reviewers.
See sample: samples/performance/prefer-direct-record-over-recordref/bad.al.