Tag: Loop

Boosting Performance in Business Central with SetAutoCalcFields

In today’s fast-paced business environments, performance optimization is not a luxury — it’s a necessity. Whether you’re building custom reports, extending pages, or writing integration APIs in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, slow operations can frustrate users and strain resources.

One simple but powerful technique to improve performance is using the SetAutoCalcFields method.

Why FlowFields Matter for Performance

In Business Central, FlowFields are virtual fields calculated on the fly, not stored physically in the database. Examples include:

  • Inventory on Item
  • Balance on Customer

When you retrieve a record, FlowFields are not calculated automatically unless you explicitly call CalcFields().

Manually calculating FlowFields for every record during loops, leading to multiple SQL queries — one for each record — causing heavy load and slower performance.

SetAutoCalcFields solves this by batch-calculating FlowFields along with the record fetch.
Instead of running one query per record, it combines the calculation in a single optimized query.

Imagine fetching 1,000 customers and displaying their balances without SetAutoCalcfields:

CustomerRec.FindSet();
repeat
    CustomerRec.CalcFields(CustomerRec.Balance); // Triggers a DB call every time!
    DisplayBalance(CustomerRec."No.", CustomerRec.Balance);
until CustomerRec.Next() = 0;

Result:
  • 1 SQL query to get Customers
  • + 1,000 SQL queries for Balances

With SetAutoCalcFields:

CustomerRec.SetAutoCalcFields(CustomerRec.Balance);
CustomerRec.FindSet();
repeat
    DisplayBalance(CustomerRec."No.", CustomerRec.Balance);
until CustomerRec.Next() = 0;

Result:
  • 1 SQL query to get Customers and Balances together

Benefits of Using SetAutoCalcFields

  • Improved Page Load Times: By deferring calculations, pages with numerous records and calculated fields will load significantly faster.
  • Faster Report Generation: Reports that rely on calculated fields will be generated more quickly as the calculations are performed only when the field’s value is actually needed for display or processing.
  • Reduced Database Load: Fewer automatic calculations translate to fewer database queries, reducing the overall load on your Business Central database.
  • Enhanced User Experience: Snappier performance leads to a more responsive and enjoyable user experience.

Best Practices for Performance Gains

To maximize the benefits of SetAutoCalcFields:

  • Only specify necessary FlowFields:
    Don’t auto-calculate every FlowField — focus on what your process needs.
  • Use it before data retrieval:
    Call SetAutoCalcFields before FindSet(), FindFirst(), or FindLast()
  • Avoid unnecessary recalculations:
    Once FlowFields are set to auto-calculate, do not manually call CalcFields() again for the same fields.
  • Monitor heavy FlowFields:
    Some FlowFields (e.g., Inventory) involve complex sums across tables — only auto-calculate when really needed.
  • Profile your code:
    Use Performance Profiler to measure improvements.

Using SetAutoCalcFields properly can lead to dramatic performance improvements in Business Central.
By reducing SQL traffic, simplifying code, and batch-fetching FlowFields intelligently, you can create faster, cleaner, and more scalable applications.

A small change in your coding habits can create a big impact for your users.

Hope this will help..

Introduction of ‘Continue’ in Business Central v26

The Dynamics 365 Business Central ecosystem is in a state of continuous evolution, with each release bringing enhancements that empower developers and refine business processes. With the advent of version 26 (2025 release wave 1), a particularly noteworthy addition to the AL programming language is the continue statement. While seemingly a minor syntactic change, its implications for code efficiency and clarity are substantial.

A Refined Approach to Loop Control

In the realm of business application development, loops are indispensable. They facilitate iterative data processing, automation of repetitive tasks, and the implementation of complex algorithms. However, traditional loop structures often necessitate convoluted conditional logic to bypass specific iterations, leading to code that is both verbose and difficult to maintain.

The introduction of continue addresses this challenge directly. By providing a concise mechanism to skip the remaining code within a loop’s current iteration and proceed to the next, it promotes a more streamlined and readable coding style.

Benefits for Business Central Developers

  • Enhanced Code Readability: The continue statement reduces the reliance on nested IF statements, resulting in cleaner and more maintainable code. This is particularly crucial in large-scale Business Central implementations where code clarity is paramount.
  • Improved Performance: By bypassing unnecessary code execution, continue contributes to optimized loop performance. This is especially relevant when processing large datasets or executing computationally intensive operations.
  • Modernization of AL: The inclusion of continue aligns AL with contemporary programming paradigms, enhancing its usability for developers accustomed to other languages. It signifies changes to evolving AL into a more robust and versatile development platform.
  • Increased Development Flexibility: The ability to finely control loop execution grants developers increased flexibility when coding. This allows for more complex and efficient algorithms to be developed.

Where Can You Use ‘Continue’?

The continue statement is your ally within various loop structures in AL:

  • for loops: Ideal for iterating a specific number of times.
  • while loops: Perfect for looping until a condition is met.
  • repeat...until loops: Useful for executing a block of code at least once.
  • foreach loops: Designed for iterating through collections.

A Case in Point

Consider a scenario where a developer needs to process a batch of sales orders, excluding those with specific characteristics. Without continue, the code might involve nested IF statements to filter out unwanted orders. However, with continue, the logic becomes significantly more concise:

local procedure ProcessSalesOrders(SalesOrderRecord: Record "Sales Header")
begin
    SalesOrderRecord.Reset();
    SalesOrderRecord.FindSet();

    repeat
        if SalesOrderRecord."Order Type" = SalesOrderRecord."Order Type"::Quote then
            continue; // Skip quotes
        end;

        // Process the remaining sales order logic here
        // ...
    until SalesOrderRecord.Next() = 0;
end;

This example illustrates the power of continue in simplifying loop logic and enhancing code clarity.

Stay tuned for more.