C# – NHibernate Code Generation

ccode generationfluent-nhibernatenhibernate

I am working with NHibernate, and a few code generation tools. MyGeneration is one and SmartCode is the other.

This question has been asked before, but I have looked at some other responses and found that the code generation tools in the nHibernate space to be pretty poor.

I might be able to get away with MyGeneration and SmartCode, but are there any other possibilities out there that you have specifically used, and would recommend?

I guess my criteria is that they must work with MSSQL 2008, and tools that are currently being developed would be good too as it seems that some of the tools are not being actively developed any more.

Also the tools would ideally generate the domain objects, and also the nhibernate mapping files – Fluent nhibernate would be good but not essential. It would be good if the templates and method of code generation could be tweaked.

I am a developer so am happy to get my hands dirty on the right tool to make changes.

Thanks.

Best Answer

I strongly recommend you take a look at Visual NHibernate from Slyce. I have used all tools out there both free and commercial and found it to be the only one that does exactly what it says on the can and more.

It allows you to design your entities either from the ground up or from an existing database.
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It is compatible with most existing dbs

with future suport for Postgresql.

It allows you to customise your entities to your specs
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Other than its ability to go back and forth smoothly between entities and db during design, my most favorate feature is the Diff View

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which shows changes it will make to code before it generates the code. So not only can you see the effect of your changes but you can also cancel the codegeneration in time or simply output to a different folder.

This tool has many many fine features and is now mature. Lastly, there is a 30% discount going on so ;-)

Related Solutions

R – Are code generators bad

Code generated by a code-generator should not (as a generalisation) be used in a situation where it is subsequently edited by human intervention. Some systems such the wizards on various incarnations of Visual C++ generated code that the programmer was then expected to edit by hand. This was not popular as it required developers to pick apart the generated code, understand it and make modifications. It also meant that the generation process was one shot.

Generated code should live in separate files from other code in the system and only be generated from the generator. The generated code code should be clearly marked as such to indicate that people shouldn't modify it. I have had occasion to do quite a few code-generation systems of one sort or another and All of the code so generated has something like this in the preamble:

-- =============================================================
-- === Foobar Module ===========================================
-- =============================================================
--
--         === THIS IS GENERATED CODE.  DO NOT EDIT. ===
--
-- =============================================================

Code Generation in Action is quite a good book on the subject.

C# – Programming to interfaces while mapping with Fluent NHibernate

I realise this is a diversion, and not an answer to your question (although I think mookid has got that covered).

You should really evaluate whether interfaces on your domain entities are actually providing anything of worth; it's rare to find a situation where you actually need to do this.

For example: How is relying on IMessage any less coupled than relying on Message, when they both (almost) undoubtedly share identical signatures? You shouldn't need to mock an entity, because it's rare that it has enough behavior to require being mocked.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

R – Are code generators bad

C# – Programming to interfaces while mapping with Fluent NHibernate

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