Improve Performance for slow retrieval of records in a grid

Sometimes there are forms that take a long time to load the data in a grid.  A common example of this would be for an AX interface where there is a grid that holds records in various statuses (e.g. Waiting, Error, Ended, etc) and carry data in the data source table that the user would normally not care about seeing (e.g. XML).  

I generally would not include a large field on a table that is used in something like an interface.  I have recommendations for designing one in my blog post called "Recommendation in designing an interface queue in AX".

The following fix may not be the best option for addressing the issue as there are lots of factors that can affect performance, but this fixed it for me.  Its fixed the issues for me in a few instances that I've seen and have remained stable with no issues for over 3 years.  

There is a property on a form's data source called 'OnlyFetchActive' that was able to resolve the problem for me.  I've included the exact information from MSDN to assist you in determining whether this could work for your issue.

From MSDN AX 4.0 - Form Data Source Properties      "Determines whether all fields in the data source should be fetched, or only those that are used by controls on the form.

This property is designed to be used in lookup forms. There is no code in these forms, and they open more quickly because the result set is smaller.

When the OnlyFetchActive property has been set to Yes, records cannot be deleted from within the form. This is to preserve data integrity by ensuring that a delete operation is never attempted on incomplete records. If the user attempts to delete a record, an error message is issued."