Usages window
Find Usages lists every place an object, field, procedure, variable or other declaration is used. The results open in the Usages window, grouped by module, object and the declaration that holds each usage, with a search box and, for fields and table methods, a filter panel.
Opening it
- In the Object view or the Extended view, select the name of a declaration, or right-click it and select Find Usages.
- Right-click a declaration in the Outline panel and select Find Usages.
- Right-click an object in the Objects panel and select Find Usages.
- On the Dependencies tab, right-click an object and select Find all usages of this object…, or one of the two Show where… items to see where two objects use each other.
- In Universal Search, Find Usages is among the actions of an object or a member.
- In the Built-in function usages window, select Search.
- In the Usages window itself, right-click an object or a declaration that holds usages and select Find Usages.
The search runs in the background. When it finds nothing, a notification says No usages found and no window opens. Without a license, Find Usages runs only for parameters and variables.
| # | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Query | What was searched: select all direct usages of the target, and in the object searched when there is one. For built-in functions it reads select the functions applied to the table. |
| 2 | Usage count | N usages, or X of N usages while the search box or the filter panel hides some. |
| 3 | Usage | The code line or declaration with the usage. Select it to go to the usage in the workspace window. |
| 4 | Row context menu | Right-click a row to pin it or to find the usages of the declaration that holds the usage. See Row context menu. |
| 5 | Pinned row | A row you pinned, marked with a pin. |
| 6 | Search | Keeps the rows that contain the text, as a substring search. |
| 7 | Toggle filter panel | Shows or hides the filter panel (Ctrl+O). Enabled for the usages of a field and for built-in functions on a table. See Field filter and Temporary record filter. |
| 8 | Collapse all nodes | Collapses every row. |
| 9 | Expand all modules | Expands the modules and collapses everything else, showing modules and objects. |
| 10 | Expand all objects | Expands the objects and collapses everything else, showing modules, objects and their top-level declarations. |
| 11 | Expand down to pinned nodes | Expands the paths down to your pinned rows. |
| 12 | Expand all nodes | Expands every row. |
| 13 | Copy results to Clipboard | Copies the shown usages. See Copy the results. |
| 14 | Show where assigned and read | Lists every usage of the field. See Field filter. |
| 15 | Show where assigned only | Lists only where the field is given a value. |
| 16 | Save | Saves the include options of the chosen filter as your default. |
| 17 | Filter ratio bar | How many of the usages are shown. Shown while the search or the filter hides some, unless Show filter ratio bar is off. |
Results
The results form a tree: module, object, then the procedures, triggers and other declarations down to the code line with the usage. Select any row below a module to go to it; double-clicking does the same. While you scroll, the ancestors of the top row stay pinned at the top of the list; select a pinned row's chevron to collapse its group.
Whether the filter panel starts open and whether the groups start expanded are set under Find usages on the Settings page.
Row context menu
Right-click a row for:
Field filter
For the usages of a field, the filter panel chooses between all usages and assignments only. Each choice has its own include options, which are dimmed while the other choice is selected. The save button beside a choice keeps its current include options as your default for the next search; it is shown beside the selected choice.
| Option | Under | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| Include Properties | Assigned and read | Usages in properties. |
| Include Key Definitions | Assigned and read | Keys that contain the field. |
| Include TransferFields | Both | TransferFields calls on the field's table. |
| Include Clear(Record|Field) | Both | Clear of the record or of the field. |
| Include Message|Confirm|Error parameters | Assigned and read | The field passed to Message, Confirm or Error. |
Hover over the help icon beside Show where assigned only for what counts as an assignment:
:=, +=, -=, *=, /=, Validate,
Evaluate, Clear, ModifyAll, and passing the field to a var
parameter.
Temporary record filter
When you find the usages of built-in functions such as Insert or Delete on a table,
the filter panel tells temporary records from persistent ones. Persistent means a record declaration that is
not temporary.
| # | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Temporary record filter | Shown for the usages of built-in functions on a table. |
| 2 | Show all usages (temporary and persistent) | The default. Lists the calls on temporary records as well as those on records stored in the database. |
| 3 | Zoom in on persistent usages | Leaves out usages on temporary records. Persistent global and local variables and persistent by-value parameters are always included. Under Usages of by-reference parameters, choose Include all (whether declared persistent or temporary) or Only include if declared persistent. |
A by-reference (var) parameter declared temporary can still be passed a persistent
record: AL enforces the declaration neither when it compiles nor when it runs. Keep Include all (whether
declared persistent or temporary) to be sure no persistent usage is left out. Choose Only
include if declared persistent when you trust that every call passes a temporary record to a
temporary var parameter.
Find where a field is written
Use this when a field holds a value you did not expect and you need the code that sets it.
- Open the table in the object view and right-click the field.
- Select Find Usages. The Usages window opens.
- Press Ctrl+O to open the filter panel.
- Select Show where assigned only. Clear Include TransferFields and Include Clear(Record|Field) to see only direct assignments.
- Select each usage to read it in context.
The window lists the assignments only; the count at the top tells how many of all usages they are.
Copy the results
- Narrow the list with the search box and the filter panel until it shows what you want to share.
- Select Copy results to Clipboard.
- Paste into a spreadsheet or a message.
The copy holds the usages the window shows, as tab-separated text with a header row and one row per usage: the module's publisher and name, the object's type and name, the declarations that hold the usage, and the code.