DotNetKicks.com - Stories tagged with CodeGeneration

EntitySpaces 2009 Video Preview

Sun, 09 Nov 2008 00:46:02 GMT

We have created a video preview of our EntitySpaces 2009 Plugin for Visual Studio. The video is approximately 6 meg in size so give it a moment to get started. The video has sound and you might need to adjust your volume. We hope that you enjoy this video. It really gives you a feel for what it's going to be like to use EntitySpaces 2009, and it's really nice never having to leave Visual Studio.

EntitySpaces 2009 - Running under Visual Studio (Part 2)

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 03:46:03 GMT

In this post we'll take a look at both the Template Browser and the template user interface mechanism. The Template Browser lists the templates in a tree based on each template's Namespace located in the template header (shown left). You can see from the TemplateInfo tag in the template header that there is both a Namespace and a UniqueID attribute. The UniqueID will be discussed later when we dig into the user interface. Now, however, let's take a look at the Template Browser. The Template Browser is shown below (while running under Visual Studio).

Creating complex code generators

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 13:36:56 GMT

This article is a part of a series that introduces code generation using C# and Text Templates (also known as T4 Templates) in Visual Studio; explains how to create reusable templates and combine them in complex code generators.

DSL Tools, Software Factories and Oslo - Model-driven .NET

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 15:57:49 GMT

Suddenly, at least it seams so, Microsoft is excited about modeling. At least they joined OMG! Here the summarized current state as well as a lot of links to articles, people and webcasts arround dsl, software factories and codename "Oslo".

Creating reusable code generation templates

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 14:19:28 GMT

Debugging Code Generation Files

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 14:18:31 GMT

EntitySpaces 2009 Preview - New Code Generation

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 16:16:10 GMT

EntitySpaces has teamed up with Justin Greenwood (shown left) of MyGeneration Software to create a brand new code generation engine for EntitySpaces 2009. Because of Justin's code generation expertise we contaced Justin and asked him to create a very simple, lightweight code generation engine whose only job is to execute templates (there is no user interface support by design). The code generation engine makes the EntitySpaces MetdataEngine available as an intrinsic object available to all templates through the "esMeta" property. We already have a working version of the code generation engine and thought we would share our progress with you.

EntitySpaces 2008 - 09/15 Released

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 17:30:27 GMT

We are pleased to announce that the official EntitySpaces 2008 0915 release is now available for download. This will be the final EntitySpaces 2008 release. Work is already underway on EntitySpaces 2009 and we will make a blog post filling you in on the some of details very shortly. Major Performance Enhancements are just a part of this release ....

Troubleshooting Code Generation Errors

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 21:57:06 GMT

Creating your first code generator

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 21:56:16 GMT

This is the first post in a series that introduces code generation using C# and Text Templates (also known as T4 Templates) in Visual Studio; explains how to create reusable templates and combine them in complex code generators.

Extending T4: <#@ xsd #> directive

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 02:33:46 GMT

This article describes a custom T4 directive processor for converting XML schema definitions into .NET classes, which allows using strongly-typed code to extract information from various XML files. In particular, this simplifies creating custom T4 code generation templates for LINQ to SQL .dbml files and ADO.NET Entity Framework .edmx files. The article includes links to ready to use xsd directive processor and sample source code.

T4 template for generating SQL view from C# enumeration

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 04:15:23 GMT

Database tables often contain columns that store "codes", or values with special meaning. In application code, these special values can be encapsulated as enumerations. This article demonstrates how to use T4 code generation templates and Visual Studio CodeModel API to generate SQL views that encapsulate the special values for use in SQL code.

Have fun with MDA: modeling business logic

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 14:10:53 GMT

This is part three of my five-part tutorial that shows how to implement a web-based database application with a powerful MDA-Tool called OlivaNova Modeler. In this part, I'll explain how to implement nearly any business logic within the software model. When generating the code, the business logic is also transformed into C# code that matches the business logic defined in the model - and of course - you could also transform it into Java J2EE code that behaves identically.

Building a web-based database application within 8 hours, Part Two

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 10:04:22 GMT

This is part two of my five-part tutorial about implementing a web-based database application with the OlivaNova Modeler. In this part, we're going to discuss a rather simple task, the creation of classes, attributes, associations and inheritance. Modeling the class diagram is the foundation of modeling all other logics and user interface features, such as transactional business logic and AJAXified data views, filters and service forms.

Building a web-based database application within 8 hours

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:51:52 GMT

This article shows you how to implement a rock-solid, multi-tier, scalable, AJAXified C# ASP.NET client/server-application with ease. The tutorial consists of five parts that show how the application has been modeled. Today, I'd like to start with a short introduction and the specification of the application.

Test runner for T4 unit tests

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 12:05:15 GMT

This post shows how to create unit tests that run during T4 template transformation. This approach allows creating automated tests for template code that relies on specific capabilities of a T4 host, such as access to Visual Studio extensibility APIs. The post includes a ready to use test runner for T4 unit tests.

Unique Index Schema Information in SQL Server

Thu, 22 May 2008 21:28:11 GMT

Javi shows how unique index information can be retrieved from SQL Server catalog in order to determine the relationship type (One-To-One or One-To-Many) in a code generation scenario.

T4 Architecture

Sun, 18 May 2008 19:56:21 GMT

This article provides an in-depth look at the architecture of T4 template transformation process, discusses some constraints that limit template design, describes techniques that can be used to work around these limitations and points out some (sometimes undocumented) mechanisms for making your T4 templates more powerful.

T4 Template Design

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 01:31:49 GMT

This article discusses design challenges developers face as complexity of their T4 templates increases; defines qualities of a reusable T4 templates; discusses techniques that can be used to achieve these qualities and compares their pros and cons.

How to generate multiple outputs from single T4 template

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 00:32:09 GMT

For some code generation tasks, like generating SELECT stored procedures based on indexes of a given database table, number of output artifacts may not be known upfront. Because T4 was designed to generate a single output file from one template file, developers are forced to generate multiple code artifacts in the same source file. This conflicts with the widely used practice of using one source file per code artifact. This article demonstrates how to work around this limitation of T4, generate multiple files from a single template and automatically add them to a Visual Studio project.

How to use T4 to generate strongly-typed AzMan wrapper

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 10:33:58 GMT

Very good article on how to use T4 to generate strongly typed class for AzMan instead of accessing it using security application block

Links to How To of Text Template Transformation Engine

Sun, 16 Mar 2008 05:46:51 GMT

This post links to all "How to" articles of Text Template Transformation Toolkit, on MSDN.

T4 - Built In Directives

Sun, 16 Mar 2008 05:40:19 GMT

Details on Built-In Directives of Text Template Transformation Engine

T4 How-to video and Visual Studio project items

Sat, 15 Mar 2008 22:34:56 GMT

Hilton Giesenow posted a link to the new MSDN how-to video about creating T4 templates and several ready-to-use project item templates that make T4 items available in the Add New Item dialog box of Visual Studio.

EntitySpaces 2008 and CodeSmith Together At Last

Fri, 15 Feb 2008 12:53:49 GMT

Imagine never having to leave Visual Studio while creating and shaping your EntitySpaces based application. Simply pop into the "CodeSmith Explorer", right mouse on our "Master Template", execute it, include the newly generated files into your solution, compile, and you're off and running in a matter of a few minutes. So Sweet.