CDS: Control Value Help Sort Order and Data Load Behavior

Two annotations that improve value help UX: control when data loads and how it’s sorted.

1. Lazy Load — Don’t Fetch on Open

By default, value help dialogs fetch all data when opened. For large datasets, this is slow. Force explicit user action first:

@Consumption.valueHelpDefault.fetchValues: #ON_EXPLICIT_REQUEST
define view entity ZVH_Customer
  as select from kna1
{
  key kunnr as CustomerID,
      name1 as CustomerName
}

Value	Behavior
#INITIAL_AND_EXPLICIT_REQUEST (default)	Loads all data on open
#ON_EXPLICIT_REQUEST	Loads only after user searches or clicks “Go”

Use #ON_EXPLICIT_REQUEST for value helps with 10k+ records.

2. Default Sort Order

@UI.presentationVariant: [{
  sortOrder: [{
    by:        'CustomerName',
    direction: #DESC
  }]
}]
define view entity ZVH_Customer
  as select from kna1
{
  key kunnr as CustomerID,
      name1 as CustomerName
}

Multiple sort fields:

@UI.presentationVariant: [{
  sortOrder: [
    { by: 'CountryCode', direction: #ASC  },
    { by: 'CustomerName', direction: #ASC }
  ]
}]

Combining Both

@Consumption.valueHelpDefault.fetchValues: #ON_EXPLICIT_REQUEST

@UI.presentationVariant: [{
  sortOrder: [{
    by:        'CustomerName',
    direction: #ASC
  }]
}]
define view entity ZVH_Customer
  as select from kna1
{
  key kunnr as CustomerID,
      name1 as CustomerName,
      land1 as CountryCode
}

Data only loads when the user explicitly requests it, and results are sorted alphabetically by name.