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Using the NetSuite Records Browser

Created: September 17, 2017

The Records Browser defines the schema for all scriptable record types; it is an extremely critical reference tool for every SuiteScript developer. When you need to know how to reference a particular field on a specific record type in your script, the Records Browser is your guide.

Direct Link

You browse the Records Browser first by Record Type, i.e. "Sales Order", " Invoice", "Employee". There is no searching capability within the Records Browser, so all navigation is done manually. Record Types are organized alphabetically, so you first click on the first letter of the record type you are interested in, then select the Record Type itself at the left.

For example, if you wanted to see the schema for the Subisidary record type, you would first click on S at the top, then Subsidiary at the left.

Navigate to the Subsidiary record by first clicking S then selecting Subsidiary

Reading the Schema

Each schema provides you with an overwhelming amount of information about each record type. It is important to know how to break down all of this information.

At the top of the schema is the name of the Record Type followed by the Internal ID of the record type; this internal ID is the programmatic reference for the record type. The schema is then broken up into several sections:

  • Fields: The Fields section lists the details for all of the record's body fields. The fields described here can be used when you are working with the record currently in context, or with a direct reference to a record object.
  • Sublists: The Sublists section shows all of the sublists on the record and every scriptable column within each sublist. The fields in this section again apply when you are working with the record currently in context, or with a direct reference to a record object.
  • Tabs: The Tabs section describes all of the native subtabs on the record type.
  • Search Joins: The Search Joins section describes all of the related records through which you can build joins in your searches of this record type.
  • Search Filters: The Search Filters section describes all of the fields that are available as a search filter for this record type. The internal ID when using a specific field as a search filter does not always match its internal ID as a body field.
  • Search Columns: The Search Columns section describes all of the fields that are available as a search column for this record type. The internal ID when using a specific field as a search column does not always match its internal ID as a body field.
  • Transform Types: The Transform Types section describes all of the record types that this one can be transformed into using the record transformation API.

Finding a Field

As stated previously, there is no searching capability built in to the Records Browser. Once you've navigated to the appropriate Record Type, if you don't already know a particular field's Internal ID, the easiest way to find it is to use your browser's Find function (usually CTRL+F) to locate the field by its name in the UI.

Required

The Required column of the schema indicates whether this field is required to save the record. If this column says true, then you will need to provide a value for this field when saving any record of this type.

nlapiSubmitField

The nlapiSubmitField column is a critical piece to understand. This column indicates whether the field is available for inline editing. If nlapiSubmitField is true, then the field can be edited inline. This greatly impacts how this field is handled when trying to use the nlapiSubmitField or record.submitFields functions in your scripts.

When this column is true, you can safely use the Submit Fields APIs to update this field inline. When it is false, you can still use these functions to update the field, but what actually happens behind the scenes changes significantly.

When nlapiSubmitField is false for a particular field, and you utilize one of the Submit Fields APIs on it, the scripting engine behind the scenes will actually do a full load of the record, update the field, and submit the change back to the database. The end result is the same, but because the entire record is loaded and saved, your script will actually use a lot more governance than you might expect and will take longer to execute.

You can read about this in more detail on the Help page titled "Consequences of Using nlapiSubmitField on Non Inline Editable Fields."

Other Schema

You may also notice tabs at the top of the Records Browser for Schema Browser and Connect Browser. These are very similar to the Records Browser, but for different NetSuite APIs.

The Schema Browser provides the schema for the SOAP-based Web Services API, while the Connect Browser provides the schema for the ODBC connector, and the Analytics Browser provides the schema for Queries and Workbooks.