FAQ for Partial Records

Grein
01/18/2023

This article answers some of the most typical questions about the partial records capability in Business Central.

Do I need to change any code to keep my solution functional?

No. If a field that's not selected for loading is accessed, the data will be fetched automatically for the current record. The field will then be selected for loading on future requests by using this record instance. However, you may still get the message Record has been modified by another user, like you could before. But now, the message can also appear in read-only scenarios where the record isn't locked.

Where is "Partial Records" applied? To all records instances?

Currently, the partial records capability is only implicitly used on report data items, OData pages, List pages, ListPart pages and table relation-based lookups. The behavior for all other record instances is as before, that is, all fields will be loaded. However, as an AL developer, use in your own code to improve performance in looping code.

What happens when accessing fields not selected for load?

The platform will load any fields not selected for loading when accessed, making it seem like the field was already loaded.

What happens if the record has been modified or deleted in between the original load and JIT load?

The platform will validate that either the record is unchanged, or no change has been made to read fields.

What's a JIT load?

The platform determines that a field, which isn't currently loaded, is needed. Then it loads the field.

Can I optimize my code, so that I can avoid an extra database call to load my field?

Yes. You can add your field to the list of fields selected for loading by using the AddLoadFields method.

Which fields can be selected not to be loaded?

Any field that isn't a FlowField, FlowFilter, Primary Key, Timestamp, SystemId, Audit Fields, or Blobs.

How do partial records interact with table extensions?

When no fields from a table extension are selected for loading, then table extension data isn't joined, which saves time.

What's the performance overhead of determining the fields necessary for a record?

For reports, a calculation takes place at compile time and once per data item type per report execution. For OData pages, the calculation takes place at compile time and once per request segment.

Compared to the time it takes to fetch data, the overhead is insignificant.

Can I disable partial records in certain scenarios?

With Business Central on-premises, you can turn off partial records by using Enable Partial Records setting of Business Central Server. See Configuring Business Central Server .
With Business Central online, you can call the SetLoadFields method with no fields. Calling an empty SetLoadFields method will revert the behavior to what it was before Business Central 2020 release wave 2.

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