[Tool] Display contents of an X++ container from SQL database field

Almost 15 years ago AndyD from AxForum blew me away with a post that was giving a glimpse into how the X++ containers are stored in the database. 

Ever since then I had a TODO for myself to write a blog post explaining this in detail and covering the various types that can be stored, basically allowing to review the contents of the container from DB without writing X++ code.

Luckily, today is the day! As they say, 

A colleague of mine, Maciej Plaza, has written a stored procedure, that shows the contents of a container stored in a database field. 

Some inspiration was taken from the following blog post too: http://abraaxapta.blogspot.com/2011/06/accessing-dynamics-ax-containers-from.html

Here's an example of how you could use this to see the batch task's infolog message contents:

declare @bin as varbinary(max);

select top(1) @bin = info from batch where recid = <recid>

exec ##PRINT_CONTAINER @bin

Here is how the output looks like:

Browsing the X++ container contents in SQL

Here is the stored proc (Also available as a file in OneDrive):

CREATE PROCEDURE ##PRINT_CONTAINER @container VARBINARY(MAX)
AS
BEGIN
DECLARE @pos AS int;
SET @pos = 1;
DECLARE @offset AS int;
DECLARE @indent as int;
set @indent = 0;
declare @result as varchar(max);
IF SUBSTRING(@container, @pos, 2) = 0x07FD
	BEGIN
	set @result = '<container>' + char(13);
	set @indent = @indent + 2;
	SET @pos = @pos + 2;
	WHILE @indent > 0
		BEGIN
			IF SUBSTRING(@container, @pos, 1) = 0x00 --STRING
				BEGIN
					set @result = @result + replicate(' ', @indent) + '<string>'
					SET @pos = @pos + 1;
					SET @offset = 0;
					declare @string as varchar(max);
					set @string = '';
					WHILE SUBSTRING(@container, @pos + @offset, 2) <> 0x0000
						BEGIN
							SET @string = @string + 
								CHAR(CAST(REVERSE(SUBSTRING(@container, @pos + @offset, 2)) AS binary(2)))
							SET @offset = @offset + 2;
						END
					SET @pos = @pos + @offset + 2;
					set @result = @result + @string + '</string>' + char(13);
				END
			ELSE IF SUBSTRING(@container, @pos, 1) = 0x01 --INT
				BEGIN
					set @result = @result + replicate(' ', @indent) + '<int>'
					SET @pos = @pos + 1;
					declare @int as int;
					SET @int = CAST(CAST(REVERSE(SUBSTRING(@container, @pos, 4)) AS binary(4)) as int);
					SET @pos = @pos + 4;
					set @result = @result + cast(@int as varchar(max)) + '</int>' + char(13);
				END
			ELSE IF SUBSTRING(@container, @pos, 1) = 0x02 --REAL
				BEGIN
					set @result = @result + replicate(' ', @indent) + '<real>'
					SET @pos = @pos + 1;
					DECLARE @temp as binary(8);
					SET @temp = CAST(REVERSE(SUBSTRING(@container, @pos + 2, 8)) AS binary(8));
					DECLARE @val bigint;
					SET @val = 0;
					DECLARE @dec AS int;
					SET @offset = 1;
					WHILE (@offset <= 8)
						BEGIN
							SET @val = (@val * 100) +
								(CAST(SUBSTRING(@temp, @offset, 1) AS int) / 0x10 * 10) +
								(CAST(SUBSTRING(@temp, @offset, 1) AS int) % 0x10);
							SET @offset = @offset + 1;
						END
					WHILE @val <> 0 AND @val % 10 = 0
						SET @val = @val / 10;
					SET @dec = (CAST(SUBSTRING(@container, @pos, 1) AS int) + 0x80) % 0x100;
					declare @real as real;
					SET @real = CAST(@val AS real);
					WHILE @dec >= LEN(CAST(@val AS varchar)) + 0x80
						BEGIN
							SET @real = CAST(@real AS real) * 10.0;
							SET @dec = @dec - 1;
						END
					SET @dec = (CAST(SUBSTRING(@container, @pos, 1) AS int) + 0x80) % 0x100 + 1;
					WHILE @dec < LEN(CAST(@val AS varchar)) + 0x80
						BEGIN
							SET @real = CAST(@real AS real) / 10.0;
							SET @dec = @dec + 1;
						END
					IF SUBSTRING(@container, @pos + 1, 1) = 0x80
						SET @real = 0 - CAST(@real AS real);
					SET @pos = @pos + 10;
					set @result = @result + @real + '</real>' + char(13);
				END
			ELSE IF SUBSTRING(@container, @pos, 1) = 0x03 --DATE
				BEGIN
					set @result = @result + replicate(' ', @indent) + '<date>'
					SET @pos = @pos + 1;
					DECLARE @year char(4);
					DECLARE @month char(2);
					DECLARE @day char(2);
					SET @year = SUBSTRING(@container, @pos, 1) + 1900;
					SET @month = SUBSTRING(@container, @pos + 1, 1) + 1;
					SET @day = SUBSTRING(@container, @pos + 2, 1) + 1;
					IF LEN(@month) < 2
						SET @month = '0' + @month;
					IF LEN(@day) < 2
						SET @day = '0' + @day;
					declare @date as date;
					SET @date = CAST(@year + '-' + @month + '-' + @day AS date);
					SET @pos = @pos + 3;
					set @result = @result + convert(varchar(max), @date) + '</date>' + char(13);
				END
			ELSE IF SUBSTRING(@container, @pos, 1) = 0x04 --ENUM
				BEGIN
					set @result = @result + replicate(' ', @indent) + '<enum>'
					SET @pos = @pos + 1;
					declare @enum as int;
					SET @enum = CAST(SUBSTRING(@container, @pos, 1) AS int);
					SET @pos = @pos + 3;
					set @result = @result + @enum + '</enum>' + char(13);
				END
			ELSE IF SUBSTRING(@container, @pos, 1) = 0x06 --DATETIME
				BEGIN
					set @result = @result + replicate(' ', @indent) + '<datetime>'
					SET @pos = @pos + 1;
					DECLARE @year2 char(4);
					DECLARE @month2 char(2);
					DECLARE @day2 char(2);
					DECLARE @hour char(2);
					DECLARE @min char(2);
					DECLARE @sec char(2);
					SET @year2 = SUBSTRING(@container, @pos, 1) + 1900;
					SET @month2 = SUBSTRING(@container, @pos + 1, 1) + 1;
					SET @day2 = SUBSTRING(@container, @pos + 2, 1) + 1;
					SET @hour = SUBSTRING(@container, @pos + 3, 1) + 0;
					SET @min = SUBSTRING(@container, @pos + 4, 1) + 0;
					SET @sec = SUBSTRING(@container, @pos + 5, 1) + 0;
					IF LEN(@month2) < 2
						SET @month2 = '0' + @month2;
					IF LEN(@day2) < 2
						SET @day2 = '0' + @day2;
					IF LEN(@hour) < 2
						SET @hour = '0' + @hour;
					IF LEN(@min) < 2
						SET @min = '0' + @min;
					IF LEN(@sec) < 2
						SET @sec = '0' + @sec;
					declare @datetime as datetime;
					SET @datetime = CAST(@year2 + '-' + @month2 + '-' + @day2 + ' ' + @hour + ':' + @min + ':' + @sec AS datetime);
					SET @pos = @pos + 12;
					set @result = @result + @datetime + '</datetime>' + char(13);
				END
			ELSE IF SUBSTRING(@container, @pos, 1) = 0x07 --CONTAINER
				BEGIN
					set @result = @result + replicate(' ', @indent) + '<container>' + char(13);
					SET @pos = @pos + 3;
					set @indent = @indent + 2;
				END
			ELSE IF SUBSTRING(@container, @pos, 1) = 0xFF --CONTAINER END
				BEGIN
					SET @pos = @pos + 1;
					set @indent = @indent - 2;
					set @result = @result + replicate(' ', @indent) + '</container>' + char(13);
				END
			ELSE IF SUBSTRING(@container, @pos, 1) = 0x2D --GUID
				BEGIN
					SET @pos = @pos + 1;
					SET @offset = 0;
					declare @guid as uniqueidentifier
					SET @guid = CAST(CAST(
						REVERSE(SUBSTRING(@container, @pos, 4)) +
						REVERSE(SUBSTRING(@container, @pos + 4, 4)) +
						REVERSE(SUBSTRING(@container, @pos + 8, 4)) +
						REVERSE(SUBSTRING(@container, @pos + 12, 4)
					) AS binary(16))AS uniqueidentifier);
					SET @pos = @pos + 16;
					set @result = @result + replicate(' ', @indent) + '<guid>' + cast(@guid as varchar(80)) + '</guid>' + char(13)
				END
			ELSE IF SUBSTRING(@container, @pos, 1) = 0x30 --BLOB
				BEGIN
					SET @pos = @pos + 1;
					SET @offset = CAST(CAST(REVERSE(SUBSTRING(@container, @pos, 4)) AS binary(4)) AS int);
					SET @pos = @pos + 4;
					declare @blob as varbinary(max);
					SET @blob = CAST(SUBSTRING(@container, @pos, @offset) AS varbinary(max));
					SET @pos = @pos + @offset;
					set @result = @result + replicate(' ', @indent) + '<blob>' + CONVERT(VARCHAR(max), @blob, 2) + '</blob>' + char(13);
				END
			ELSE IF SUBSTRING(@container, @pos, 1) = 0x31 --INT64
				BEGIN
					SET @pos = @pos + 1;
					declare @bigint as bigint;
					SET @bigint = CAST(CAST(REVERSE(SUBSTRING(@container, @pos, 8)) AS binary(8)) AS bigint);
					SET @pos = @pos + 8;
					set @result = @result + replicate(' ', @indent) + '<int64>' + cast(@bigint as varchar(max)) + '</int64>' + char(13)
				END
			ELSE IF SUBSTRING(@container, @pos, 1) = 0xFC --ENUMLABEL
				BEGIN
					SET @pos = @pos + 1;
					DECLARE @value int;
					DECLARE @name varchar(40);
					SET @value = SUBSTRING(@container, @pos, 1);
					SET @pos = @pos + 1;
					SET @offset = 0;
					SET @name = '';
					WHILE SUBSTRING(@container, @pos + @offset, 2) <> 0x0000
						BEGIN
							SET @name = CAST(@name AS varchar(40)) + 
								CHAR(CAST(REVERSE(SUBSTRING(@container, @pos + @offset, 2)) AS binary(2)))
							SET @offset = @offset + 2;
						END
					declare @enumlabel as varchar(max);
					SET @enumlabel = CAST(@name + ':' + CAST(@value as varchar(3)) as varchar(44));
					SET @pos = @pos + @offset + 2;
					set @result = @result + replicate(' ', @indent) + '<enumlabel>' + @enumlabel + '</enumlabel>' + char(13)
				END
			ELSE
			begin
			declare @errormsg varchar(max);
			set @errormsg = 'Unexpected type ' + CONVERT(VARCHAR(1000), SUBSTRING(@container, @pos, 1), 2);
			throw 50000, @errormsg, 1;
			end
		END
	END
print @result
END

Hope this helps!

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 - some of the new development features

Alexei Eremenko from Microsoft Russia has posted a number of articles about the new features that will be available in DAX 2009.
The original link, which is in Russian (but the main thing to look at is the code, which is universal): http://blogs.msdn.com/aeremenk/archive/2008/01/15/7118429.aspx

I would like to make a brief review of the features he talked about for the English-speaking population and another feature I liked that Alexei did not mention.

Let's start with the support for union in SQL statements (but only when using Query* classes).

    query = new Query();  
    query.queryType(QueryType::Union); // The other value of QueryType is "Join"

Another Exception type has been introduced, which now actually allows to catch the DuplicateKey exception:

   Table t;

    try   
   {      
        while select forupdate t
       {
            test.Field1 = ‘xyz’;
            t.update();
        }
   }
   catch ( Exception::DuplicateKeyException, t )
   {
       infolog(‘Record already exists - ‘ + t.Field1 );  
   }

The bulk DML statements now allow using inner/outer joins, and you can access the result of the update_recordset operation to get the number of rows that were updated:

update_recordset batchJob setting
      Status = BatchStatus::Canceled,
      EndDateTime = thisDate,
      Finishing = 1
  where batchJob.Status == BatchStatus::Cancelling
  notexists join batch
  where (
          (batch.Status == BatchStatus::Ready ||
               batch.Status == BatchStatus::Executing ||
               batch.Status == BatchStatus::Hold ||
               batch.Status == BatchStatus::Cancelling)
          && batch.BatchJobId == batchJob.RecId
          );

  rowsUpdated = (batchJob.RowCount() > 0); // get the number of updated rows with rowCount()

And, the feature I enjoyed, is that we now have crossCompany support in X++. Meaning you can access data from tables from a number of companies in one query.
Here are code snippets to explain what I mean:

static void DataBaseAccess_CrossCompany(Args _args)
{   
    InventTable inventTable;   
    container   companyContainer = ['IN1', 'QMS'];   
    ;   
    while select crossCompany : companyContainer inventTable       
        where inventTable.ItemId == "B-R14"   
    {       
        print inventTable.ItemId, " -- ", inventTable.dataAreaId;   
    }   
    pause;
}

This code will print ItemId from 2 companies, even though InventTable has the property SaveDataPerCompany set to Yes.

The same functionality is available with the Query classes:

static void DataBaseAccess_CrossCompany_Query(Args _args)
{   
    Query                   query = new Query();   
    QueryBuildDataSource    qbds  = query.addDataSource(tableNum(InventTable));
    QueryRun                queryRun;
    InventTable             inventTable;
    ;
    qbds.addRange(fieldNum(InventTable, ItemId)).value(queryValue("B-R14"));

    query.allowCrossCompany(true);
    query.addCompanyRange("IN1");
    query.addCompanyRange("QMS");

    queryRun = new QueryRun(query);
    while (queryRun.next())
    {
        inventTable = queryRun.get(tableNum(InventTable));
        print inventTable.ItemId, " -- ", inventTable.dataAreaId;
    }
    pause;
}

If you don't add any specific company ranges, the data will be retrieved from all companies you have access to.

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009 has a lot more to offer, of course. But enough for today.