a28ba1a1d7
- dimension-management-wiring.md/.good.al: split into the two distinct
models the article was conflating - master data (Default Dimension
records via ValidateDimValueCode/SaveDefaultDim) vs. transactional/
document data (a single Dimension Set ID assembled via AddDimSource +
GetDefaultDimID, verified against BCApps' ExchRateAdjmtProcess.Codeunit.al).
Added a compiling document-table example alongside the existing master
table one.
- Deleted api-page-flowfields-must-be-calcfields (.md/.good.al/.bad.al):
Microsoft's own FlowFields documentation states a FlowField used as a
control's direct source expression is automatically calculated on any
page - no API-page exception is documented, and none could be
reproduced.
- prefer-email-module.bad.al/.md: Codeunit Mail has no Send/GetErrorDesc
members; fixed to the real current 7-argument CreateMessage signature,
and corrected the claim that the legacy path "still runs" - its base
implementation no longer sends anything, only raises integration events.
- check-post-line-batch-pattern.md/.good.al: reframed from a universal
invariant to the standard shape, naming the real Gen./Item/CA/Res./Job/
Insurance/Mfg. Item/FA Jnl.-Check Line/-Post Line/-Post Batch codeunits
it's based on. Added the missing Check Line companion codeunit so the
good fixture is internally complete.
- test-data-must-be-random-and-complete.good.al: removed leftover
"collision-free" wording contradicting the already-corrected article text.
- fixed-choice-set-must-use-enum-not-integer.md: removed the reintroduced
state-count heuristic ("the line is the state count"), aligned with
binary-choice-must-be-boolean.md's semantics-based distinction.
- namespace-must-be-verified-from-source.md: removed the false claim that
the compiler and AL Language Server use different namespace-resolution
rules.
- intrinsic-al-functions-must-use-modern-casing.md: removed the unverified
claim that PascalCase is the VS Code formatter's default output.
Worklist completeness: added cues for the 8 rules in data-modeling,
testing, performance, and web-services that had none (Jesper's explicit
ask), plus the same gap in all 7 style rules from this PR (not explicitly
named this round, but the identical systemic issue) - 15 cues total across
al-data-modeling-review.md, al-testing-review.md, al-performance-review.md,
al-web-services-review.md, and al-style-review.md.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
1.8 KiB
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A fixed set of named choices must use Enum, not a raw Integer
Contributions welcome — open a PR to refine or extend this article.
Description
When a variable or field represents a fixed set of named, mutually exclusive states — a difficulty level, a document type, a processing status — it should be typed as Enum (or Option when extending an object that still uses the legacy type). Representing that same state as a plain Integer and tracking the meaning of each value in a comment or in a developer's head is a magic-number anti-pattern: the compiler cannot catch an out-of-range value, and branches read as opaque numbers instead of names. This is about semantics, not member count, matching binary-choice-must-be-boolean.md's own distinction: a domain concept that is genuinely a stable true/false predicate belongs in Boolean even if someone represents it as a two-value Enum, while a domain concept with exactly two current named states is not automatically a Boolean in disguise — it stays an Enum when the states are named alternatives rather than a yes/no flag, or when it needs to implement an interface, preserve an existing contract, or leave room for a future third value.
Best Practice
Declare an Enum with named values and branch on the enum value, not a raw number.
See sample: fixed-choice-set-must-use-enum-not-integer.good.al.
Anti Pattern
Using a plain Integer field with the meaning of each value tracked only in a comment pushes the documentation of the states into something the compiler cannot check and a future maintainer cannot rely on.
See sample: fixed-choice-set-must-use-enum-not-integer.bad.al.