bcquality/microsoft/knowledge/performance/use-get-instead-of-findfirst-on-full-primary-key.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

1.4 KiB

bc-version domain keywords technologies countries application-area
all
performance
get
findfirst
primary-key
setrange
lookup
al
w1
all

Use Get when the full primary key is known; FindFirst is the wrong tool

Description

Get(...) is the direct primary-key lookup. FindFirst() walks an index — even when narrowed by SetRange on every primary-key field. The upstream review guidance treats Customer.SetRange("No.", CustomerNo); if Customer.FindFirst() then ... as a bad pattern and if Customer.Get(CustomerNo) then ... as the correction. The two reach the same record; only Get expresses the lookup as a primary-key seek.

Best Practice

When all primary-key fields are available at the call site, call Get (or GetBySystemId) with them. Reserve FindFirst for cases where the filter is on something other than the full primary key — a unique secondary field, a partial composite key, a sort that the caller cares about.

See sample: use-get-instead-of-findfirst-on-full-primary-key.good.al.

Anti Pattern

Composing SetRange calls that exactly cover the primary key and then calling FindFirst. The result is correct but the call site reads as "search the table" rather than "look up by key", which obscures both the intent and the access pattern from later reviewers.

See sample: use-get-instead-of-findfirst-on-full-primary-key.bad.al.