this.FieldManager.UpdateChildren(...) vs await DataPortal.UpdateChildAsync(theChild, params)

[skeeler88]

I presently have been using this.FieldManager.UpdateChildren in parent business objects however I am not sure how this handles async data portal operations down the hierarchy of objects behind the scenes. I mean it 'seems' to work as expected but I am not sure how threading is treated when calling this.FieldManager.UpdateChildren(...) blocking call.

My question is if there is a DataPortal function that is async in the child should you call

await DataPortal.UpdateChildAsync(theChild, params);

or will this have negative results when calling async code?

this.FieldManager.UpdateChildren(...)

From what I researched I am leaning towards calling the DataPortal.UpdateChildAsync(...) method on each of of the child(ren) because I have a hunch keeping a blocking call could cause less performance or the like. But any insight into this would be appreciated!

[rockfordlhotka]

The default behavior should work correctly, but you don't have control.

In other words, UpdateChildren ultimately invokes each child's child update operation, and if that operation is async it will wait for the result. This means the operations will run in serial, and will work correctly within the context of a root async method.

If you want more control, such as updating multiple child objects in parallel, then you need to loop through the children and use DataPortal.UpdateChildAsync, as this does not call Wait and instead returns a Task so you can execute the operations in parallel or await them individually, or whatever you choose.