Sql – How to regenerate (update) LINQ to SQL DataContext

datacontextlinq-to-sqlvisual-studio-2008wpf

I use LINQ to SQL in a WPF project. I have made small changes in the database (changed datatype of the fields, which contain no data).

Now I want to regenerate (refresh) the LINQ to SQL DataContext of this project (I use VS 2008). I try to right-click on .dbml item in my Solution Explorer and choose "Refresh", but nothing happens.

How could I update the DataContext in a Visual Studio 2008 WPF project?

Best Answer

Without resorting to some 3rd party tools, the easiest way is just to delete the modified tables from the designer and drag them back in from Server Explorer.

Unfortunately, if you've made any manual modifications in the L2S designer they wont be preserved and you'll have to manually make the changes again.

huagati has a tool that claims to be able to refresh changes but I haven't tried it myself.

Related Solutions

.net – Entity Framework vs LINQ to SQL

LINQ to SQL only supports 1 to 1 mapping of database tables, views, sprocs and functions available in Microsoft SQL Server. It's a great API to use for quick data access construction to relatively well designed SQL Server databases. LINQ2SQL was first released with C# 3.0 and .Net Framework 3.5.

LINQ to Entities (ADO.Net Entity Framework) is an ORM (Object Relational Mapper) API which allows for a broad definition of object domain models and their relationships to many different ADO.Net data providers. As such, you can mix and match a number of different database vendors, application servers or protocols to design an aggregated mash-up of objects which are constructed from a variety of tables, sources, services, etc. ADO.Net Framework was released with the .Net Framework 3.5 SP1.

This is a good introductory article on MSDN: Introducing LINQ to Relational Data

Autogeneration of a DataContext designer file when using SqlMetal and Visual Studio

The designer.cs file is normally maintained automatically as you make changes to the DBML within Visual Studio. If VS isn't running when you recreate the DBML it may not know.

Check that the .DBML file in Visual Studio has Custom Tool property set to MSLinqToSQLGenerator. If it isn't, then set it to that. If it is try right-clicking on the DBML after making changes and choosing Run Custom Tool to see if that updates the .designer.cs.

You can also generate the class file using SqlMetal:

sqlmetal /code:DataContext.designer.cs /language:csharp DataContext.dbml

Best Answer

Related Solutions

.net – Entity Framework vs LINQ to SQL

Autogeneration of a DataContext designer file when using SqlMetal and Visual Studio

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