Get, Find, and Next methods

The following methods are used to search for records:

• Get
• Find
• Next

These methods are some of the most frequently used AL methods. When you search for records, you must know the difference between Get and Find. You should also know how to use Find and Next in conjunction.

Tip

When using these methods, consider using the partial records methods to improve performance, especially when looping through several records or when table extensions are defined on the table. For more information, see Using partial records.

Get method

The Get method (Record) retrieves one record based on values of the primary key fields.

Get has the following syntax.

[Ok :=] Record.Get([Value],...)  

For example, if the No. field is the primary key of the Customer table and if you've created a record variable called CustomerRec that has a subtype of Customer, then you can use Get in the following way.

CustomerRec.Get('4711');  

The result is that the record of customer 4711 is retrieved.

Get produces a runtime error if it fails and the return value isn't checked by the code. In the previous example, the actual code that you write should resemble the following.

if CustomerRec.GET('4711') then
.... // Do some processing.  
else  
.... // Do some error processing.  

Get searches for a record without changing any current filters. Get always searches through all the records in a table.

GetBySystemId method

APPLIES TO: Business Central 2019 release wave 2 and later

The GetBySystemId(Guid) retrieves a record based on the value of its SystemId field.

GetBySystemId has the following syntax:

RecordExists :=   Record.GetBySystemId(SystemId: Guid)

The following example gets the record that has the SystemId 5286305A-08A3-E911-8180-001DD8B7338E:

var
    Customer: Record Customer;
    Text000: Label 'Customer was found.';
begin
    If Customer.GetBySystemId('{5286305A-08A3-E911-8180-001DD8B7338E}') then
    Message(Text000);
end;

Similar to the Get method, GetBySystemId also searches for a record without changing any current filters.

Find methods

The Find method (Record) locates a record in a table that is based on the values stored in the keys.

Find has the following syntax.

Ok := Record.Find([Which])  

The Which parameter specifies how to perform the search. You can search for values that are greater than, less than, or equal to the key value, or for the first or last record in a table.

The important differences between Get and Find are as follows:

• Find uses the current filters.

• Find can look for records where the key value is equal to, greater than, or smaller than the search string.

• Find can find the first or the last record, depending on the sort order defined by the current key.

When you're developing applications in a relational database, there are often one-to-many relationships defined between tables. An example could be the relationship between an Item table, which registers items, and a Sales Line table, which registers the detailed lines from sales orders. One record in the Sales Line table can only be related to one item, but each item can be related to any number of sales line records. You won't want an item record to be deleted as long as there are still open sales orders that include the item. You can use Find to check for open sales orders.

If you want to find the first record in a table or set, then use the FindFirst method (Record). If you want to find the last record in a table or set, then use the FindLast method (Record).

The PickItem procedure of the Item table includes the following code that illustrates using FindFirst.

procedure PickItem(var Item: Record Item): Code[20]
    var
        ItemList: Page "Item List";
    begin
        if Item.FilterGroup = -1 then
            ItemList.SetTempFilteredItemRec(Item);

        if Item.FindFirst() then;
        ItemList.SetTableView(Item);
        ItemList.SetRecord(Item);
        ItemList.LookupMode := true;
        if ItemList.RunModal() = ACTION::LookupOK then
            ItemList.GetRecord(Item)
        else
            Clear(Item);

        exit(Item."No.");
    end;

Next method

The Next method (Record) is often used with FIND to step through the records of a table.

Next has the following syntax.

Steps := Record.Next([Steps])  

In the following example, Find is used to go to the first record of the table. Next is used to step through every record, until there are no more. When there are no more records, Next returns a 0 (zero).

if (Rec.FindSet) then
repeat
  // process record  
until (Rec.Next = 0);  

Related information

AL methods
SystemId field