bcquality/microsoft/knowledge/performance/use-addloadfields-in-report-layouts.md
Jesper Schulz-Wedde 32c40bbf1d Seed performance knowledge corpus (22 articles + AL samples)
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>
2026-04-17 13:23:34 +02:00

1.4 KiB

bc-version domain keywords technologies countries application-area
26..28
performance
report
addloadfields
ondatapreitem
layout
partial-record
al
w1
all

Use AddLoadFields in report dataitems

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

Reports iterate a dataitem's record automatically; the developer does not control the Find call directly. AddLoadFields, called in OnPreDataItem, tells the platform which fields the layout and the dataitem triggers will read. Without it the report streams every field of every row — for a ledger-entry dataitem on a production tenant, that is the dominant cost of the report.

Best Practice

In each dataitem's OnPreDataItem trigger, call AddLoadFields for every field used by the layout, by the dataitem's triggers, and by any code that runs in the row-level event hooks. If the layout uses a FlowField, also ensure CalcFields is called and that the underlying key is loaded (see add-sift-keys-for-flowfields).

See sample: samples/performance/use-addloadfields-in-report-layouts/good.al.

Anti Pattern

Omitting AddLoadFields is the default for reports generated by the AL wizard. For a dataitem backed by a ledger-entry table, this silently turns the report into a full-column scan.