bcquality/community/knowledge/data-modeling/xrec-is-a-before-image-only-in-some-triggers.good.al
Stefan Maron e00ef8ad94 knowledge(data-modeling): TableRelation delete/rename asymmetry and the xRec before-image contract
Three related concerns, each proven by executable tests rather than recall.
They were extracted from a real defect that shipped through a six-reviewer
panel undetected, which is the admission test passing on behavior rather than
on theory.

owning-table-must-delete-dependents-in-ondelete
  AL has no cascading delete. What makes it missable is an asymmetry: the
  platform DOES keep references correct on rename via TableRelation, so a
  developer who learns that and generalizes it to delete ships orphans. Also
  notes the permission trap (delete rights needed on the dependent table, not
  just the parent).

validate-table-relation-false-suppresses-rename-propagation
  The non-obvious half. The property name implies input validation only, but
  disabling it also switches off rename propagation. Verified against a parent
  renamed once while a child held three fields: a normal relation (follows),
  the same relation with validation disabled (does NOT follow), and a field
  with no relation at all (does not follow) — the third being the control that
  proves the test can detect a non-propagating field.

xrec-is-a-before-image-only-in-some-triggers
  Corrects both the naive belief that xRec is always the previous record and
  the folk rule that it 'only works from a page'. The behavior is per-trigger:
  a genuine before-image in OnRename and OnDelete regardless of driver, a
  mirror of Rec in OnInsert/OnModify when driven from code, and a real
  before-image in those two only when a page drove the write. That last
  asymmetry is why an OnModify comparison against xRec passes manual page
  testing and silently no-ops in a job queue.

Targets /community per CONTRIBUTING — general BC knowledge, not fork-specific.
Frontmatter validator clean; Test-ReviewFixtures passes (32 cases, 16 leaves).
2026-08-05 13:46:41 +02:00

58 lines
1.5 KiB
AL

table 50130 "Service Request"
{
fields
{
field(1; "No."; Code[20])
{
DataClassification = CustomerContent;
}
field(2; Status; Enum "Service Request Status")
{
DataClassification = CustomerContent;
}
}
keys
{
key(PK; "No.")
{
Clustered = true;
}
}
// OnModify: xRec mirrors Rec when the write came from code, so it cannot be
// used as a before-image. Re-read the stored row instead — this behaves the
// same whether a page, a job queue or an API drove the write.
trigger OnModify()
var
Previous: Record "Service Request";
begin
if Previous.Get("No.") and (Previous.Status <> Status) then
LogStatusChange(Previous.Status, Status);
end;
// OnRename: xRec IS the before-image of the primary key here, whatever drove
// the rename. This is the one trigger where the idiom is reliable.
trigger OnRename()
begin
RepointDependents(xRec."No.", "No.");
end;
// OnDelete: xRec reflects the record being removed.
trigger OnDelete()
begin
ArchiveRequest(xRec."No.");
end;
local procedure LogStatusChange(FromStatus: Enum "Service Request Status"; ToStatus: Enum "Service Request Status")
begin
end;
local procedure RepointDependents(OldNo: Code[20]; NewNo: Code[20])
begin
end;
local procedure ArchiveRequest(RequestNo: Code[20])
begin
end;
}