Optimizing database trips for data retrieval - dynamics-ax-2009

Question

For multiple data insertion we have an efficient way: RecordSortedList
RecordSortedList rsl;
MyTable myTable;
;
rsl = new RecordSortedList(myTable.tableid);
rsl.sortOrder(fieldname2id(myTable.tableId,'RecId'));
myTable.field1 = 'Value1';
rsl.ins(myTable);
myTable.field1 = 'Value2';
rsl.ins(myTable);
rsl.insertDatabase();
Is the same possible for multiple records retrieval from db in one go? Something like
int i =1;
while(i<10000)
{
//enter records from db into a buffer in db
i++
}
//now bring the buffer from db in a single trip
//and do the data manipulation in AX
My intention is to optimize the db trip to the least.
Please Suggest.

Answer 1

Yes, it's called RecordLinkList - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa643250(v=ax.50).aspx
A recordLinkList is a double linked list that can hold records of
different types at the same time. It is not keyed or sorted.
The recordLinkList is particularly useful for passing records from
different tables as a parameter instead of retrieving the same records
again.
There is no limit to the size of a recordSortedList; it is the
responsibility of the programmer to control its size and, therefore,
memory consumption.
You can also add different types of records.
static void RecordLinkList(Args _args)
{
RecordLinkList rll = new RecordLinkList();
SalesTable salesTable;
CustTable custTable;
InventTrans inventTrans;
Address address;
boolean iterate;
;
select firstonly salesTable;
select firstonly custTable;
select firstonly inventTrans;
select firstonly address;
rll.ins(salesTable);
rll.ins(custTable);
rll.ins(inventTrans);
rll.ins(address);
iterate = rll.first();
while (iterate)
{
switch (rll.fileId()) // FileId == TableId
{
case tablenum(SalesTable):
salesTable = rll.peek();
info(strfmt("SalesTable");
break;
case tablenum(CustTable):
custTable = rll.peek();
info("CustTable");
break;
case tablenum(InventTrans):
inventTrans = rll.peek();
info("InventTrans");
break;
default:
error(strfmt("Table %1 (%2) not expected", tableid2name(rll.fileId()), rll.fileId()));
}
iterate = rll.next();
}
info("Done");
}

Answer 2

The insertDatabase method as stated (use the RecordInsertList class instead of RecordSortedList, if you do not need the sorted order):
inserts multiple records on a single trip to the database.
However this is mostly from the programmers perspective. The operation from the SQL goes like this:
INSERT INTO MyTable ( Column1, Column2 )
VALUES ( Value1, Value2 ),
( Value1, Value2 ), ...
There are limits to the number of records inserted this way, so the AX kernel may split the list to make several calls to the SQL server.
The other way from DB to AX is easy:
while select myTable where ...
Which is translated to SQL as:
SELECT T1.Column1, T1.Column2 FROM MyTable T1 WHERE...
This transports the data from the table to AX as efficient as possible.
You may choose to use a QueryRun object instead, but the call to SQL stays the same.
If you do simple updates on the table, consider using update_recordset as this may move the updates to the SQL server and eliminating the round-trip.