bcquality/microsoft/knowledge/events/prefer-this-over-includesender-in-codeunit-events.md

bc-version	domain	keywords	technologies	countries	application-area
25..	events	this-keyword includesender sender codeunit self-reference integration-event type-safety	al	w1	all

Prefer this over IncludeSender in codeunit events

Description

Some publishers set IncludeSender to true on [IntegrationEvent] or [BusinessEvent] so subscribers receive the publishing object as an implicit sender parameter. From Business Central 2024 release wave 2, a codeunit can instead pass itself explicitly with the this keyword as a normal, strongly-typed Sender parameter. Explicit passing is clearer at both the publisher and the subscriber: the sender appears in the signature, it is concretely typed to the publishing codeunit, and it avoids the implicit-parameter mechanics of IncludeSender. Reserve IncludeSender = true for cases where the sender genuinely cannot be passed explicitly. This guidance applies to code targeting Business Central 2024 release wave 2 or later, where the this keyword is available.

Best Practice

Declare the publisher [IntegrationEvent(false, false)] with an explicit Sender: Codeunit "…" parameter and raise it with this, for example OnBeforeProcessOrder(OrderNo, this);. Subscribers then receive a typed sender they can call directly.

See sample: prefer-this-over-includesender-in-codeunit-events.good.al.

Anti Pattern

Relying on [IntegrationEvent(true, …)] solely to hand subscribers the publisher instance, where a codeunit could pass this explicitly as a typed parameter. Detection: IncludeSender = true on a codeunit event whose only purpose is to expose the sender, in code targeting Business Central 2024 release wave 2 or later.

See sample: prefer-this-over-includesender-in-codeunit-events.bad.al.