RENAME Function (RecordRef)

Changes the value of a primary key in a table.

Syntax

[Ok :=] RecordRef.RENAME(Value1[, Value2,...])  

Parameters

RecordRef
Type: RecordRef

The RecordRef that refers to the table that contains the primary key that you want to change.

Value1, Value2, …
Type: Any

The new values for the primary key.

Property Value/Return Value

Type: Boolean

true if the primary key was renamed; otherwise, false. If the table does not exist or if you do not have permission to write to it, then false is returned.

If you omit this optional return value and if the record is not renamed, then a run-time error occurs. If you include the return value, then you must handle any errors.

Remarks

You cannot rename some tables. Examples of the types of tables that you cannot rename are:

  • Tables in which the user is not allowed to rename the Document No. for legal or business reasons.

  • Tables in which an Option data type field, such as Document Type, is part of the primary key.

    Some examples of tables that you cannot rename are:

  • Table 36, Sales Header

  • Table 38, Purchase Header

  • Table 5405, Production Order

  • Table 5766, Warehouse Activity Header

    If an end-user modifies a record between the time that another end-user or another process reads the record and modifies it, then the second user must refresh the value of the record variable before editing the record. Otherwise, the end-user receives the following run-time error:

    Another user has modified the record for this <Table Name> after you retrieved it from the database.

    Enter your changes again in the updated window, or start the interrupted activity again.

    In earlier versions of Dynamics NAV, certain situations allowed code that an end-user runs to modify a record after a newer version of the record was written and committed to the database. This would overwrite the newer changes. However, in Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2018, we have restricted the MODIFY Function (RecordRef), RENAME Function (RecordRef), and DELETE Function (RecordRef) so that the end-user receives the following run-time error in these certain situations:

    Unable to change an earlier version of the <Table Name> record. The record should be read from the database again. This is a programming error.

    You must design your application so that you use the most up-to-date version of the record for modifications to the database. You use the GET Function (RecordRef) to refresh the record with the latest version.

Example

This example shows how to change the value of the primary key of a Record variable, and how to change the value of the primary key of a RecordRef variable. This example requires that you create the following variables in the C/AL Globals window.

Variable name DataType Subtype
CustomerRec Record Customer
NewNo1 Code Not applicable
NewNo2 Code Not applicable
result Boolean Not applicable
CustomerRecRef RecordRef Not applicable
CustomerRec.GET('0112121');  
NewNo1 := ‘9999999’;  
NewNo2 := ‘8888888’;  
MESSAGE('Customer name: %1; Customer number: %2',CustomerRec.Name, CustomerRec."No.");  
result := CustomerRec.RENAME(NewNo1);  
IF result THEN  
  MESSAGE('After rename - Customer name: %1; Customer number: %2',CustomerRec.Name, CustomerRec."No.")  
ELSE  
  MESSAGE('No rename.');  
CustRecRef.GETTABLE(CustomerRec);  
result := CustRecRef.RENAME(NewNo2);  
IF result THEN BEGIN  
  CustomerRec.GET(NewNo2);  
  MESSAGE('After rename 2 - Customer name: %1; Customer number: %2',CustomerRec.Name, CustomerRec."No.")  
END ELSE  
  MESSAGE('No rename.');  

If a record with No. 0112121 is found, and if the renames are successful, then the following messages are displayed:

Customer name: Spotsmeyer’s Furnishings; Customer number: 0112121

After rename - Customer name: Spotsmeyer’s Furnishings; Customer number: 9999999

After rename 2 - Customer name: Spotsmeyer’s Furnishings; Customer number: 8888888

See Also

RENAME Function (Record)