bcquality/microsoft/knowledge/testing/bcpt-scenarios-must-be-app-specific.md
Michael Dieringer 67962727f6 Fix ten focused correctness items plus sample links from Jesper's 2026-09-15 re-review
Six carried-over threads:
- api-page-least-privilege-write-access fixtures: added the mandatory
  EntityName/EntitySetName properties (AL0485).
- pages-must-not-contain-business-logic fixtures: Sales Line has no
  "Total Amount" field; replaced with the real "Line Amount" (field 103).
- test-feature-scenario-tags.good.al and test-one-when-per-test.good.al:
  CreatePriceHeader leaves a price list in Draft status, which price
  calculation ignores. Added Validate(Status, Active) + Modify before the
  sales line that depends on it. Verified Status field/enum against
  PriceListHeader.Table.al and PriceStatus.Enum.al in the BCApps clone.
- exposed-objects-must-be-in-a-permission-set.md: a published codeunit is
  a SOAP endpoint (SOAP is deprecated), not OData - Page/Query are the
  OData object types. Corrected and pointed new integrations at API
  pages/queries instead.
- al-error-handling-review.md: the log-writes-must-survive-rollback cue
  selected on Session.StartSession, which only appears in the compliant
  fix, never in the anti-pattern - the bad fixture could never be
  worklisted. Recued on the actual risk shape (log insert around a
  failed TryFunction/GetLastError* path, then raise/propagate), with
  StartSession as an explicit compliant discriminator instead.
- page-design-must-match-bc-page-type-conventions.md: the enum value is
  NavigatePage, not Navigate; noted the type list is a selected subset,
  not an exhaustive PageType catalogue (PromptDialog, ConfigurationDialog,
  UserControlHost, XmlPort also exist, out of this article's scope).

Four new correctness gaps:
- release-must-update-app-version.md: "the version is the only identity"
  was backwards - id is the app's stable identity, version identifies a
  release/code-state of it.
- defensive-vs-offensive-code-must-match-blast-radius.good.al: the "low
  blast radius" example had no else branch, so a failed Customer.Get()
  left the field at its prior/default value instead of the explicit
  chosen fallback the article claims to demonstrate. Added the else.
- bcpt-scenarios-must-be-app-specific.good.al: InitTest and both measured
  StartScenario/EndScenario sections were empty/comment-only, so the
  "app-specific" fixture measured no actual work. Filled in a real,
  self-contained header+line creation path.
- upgrade-tag-logic-must-not-nest-deeply.good.al: the flattened version
  dropped both safety conditions the bad fixture had (Discount % = 0,
  nonblank posting group), silently changing behavior instead of just
  removing nesting. Extracted the guarded update into a helper with both
  conditions preserved as early exits.

Also converted this PR's remaining plain-backtick "See sample:" sample
references (16 articles) to the READ-convention markdown-link form,
matching the fix already made on #156/#158.

Rebased onto upstream/main (conflicts in al-ui-review.md, al-style-review.md,
al-upgrade-review.md against merged upstream PRs - all additive, both
sides' worklist cues retained).
2026-09-21 22:44:17 +02:00

2.5 KiB

bc-version domain keywords technologies countries application-area
all
testing
bcpt
performance-test
scenarios
app-specific
regression
al
w1
all

Include app-specific scenarios in a PerformanceTest app's BCPT suite

Description

A PerformanceTest app that ships with only the generic Microsoft BCPT samples (creating sales orders, purchase orders, posting item journals) measures Business Central's own baseline performance, not the extension it was built to test. Those samples are starting points, not coverage. Without a scenario that exercises the extension's own business flow — its own codeunits, its own FlowFields, its own page rendering — a performance regression introduced by the extension has no test that would ever detect it.

Best Practice

For every major business flow the extension adds, create a matching BCPT* scenario codeunit implementing "BCPT Test Param. Provider", building its own test data in a local InitTest() procedure rather than depending on hardcoded records. Beyond that shared shape, the interface details are context-dependent, not fixed requirements: most of Microsoft's own shipped BCPT samples declare SingleInstance = true, but codeunit "BCPT Create Customer" does not, relying instead on OnRun calling InitTest() unconditionally every run. Likewise, wrapping the operation under test in BCPTTestContext.StartScenario() / EndScenario() is a real, available pattern for splitting one codeunit's run into several separately measured steps — useful when a regression in one step should not hide inside a coarser, whole-OnRun measurement — but it is not what every sample does; "BCPT Create Customer" measures its entire OnRun as a single implicit scenario and never calls StartScenario/EndScenario at all. Choose per-step scenarios when step-level granularity matters to the flow being tested; otherwise a single measured OnRun is a legitimate, simpler choice.

See sample: bcpt-scenarios-must-be-app-specific.good.al.

Anti Pattern

A PerformanceTest app whose only scenario codeunits are copies of Microsoft's shipped samples (creating a standard sales order, opening the standard customer list) tests the platform, not the extension. Any regression in the extension's own posting logic, calculations, or pages goes unmeasured and unnoticed.

See sample: bcpt-scenarios-must-be-app-specific.bad.al.