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HowTo:CreateEntitieswithInertiainLASG|FiredancerUnleashed!

How-To: Create Entities with Inertia in LASG

This walkthrough will get you started with the Inertia: Business Entity Component
Generator that is available in Layered Architecture Solution Guidance 2013
[http://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/caa8f808d4a54f48a88eda572834f37e]
.
The first step in creating layered applications after designing the database is to
create the entity classes. Before beginning this guide, please make sure that you
have completed the previous tutorial on Getting Started with LASG [http://serena
yeoh.blogspot.com/2014/02/lasggettingstarted.html] .
ThiswalkthroughalsousestheLeaveSampledatabase that is part of the Layered
ArchitectureSamplefor.NET [http://layersample.codeplex.com/] butyoumayuseyour
owndatabasetofollowthrough.

[./HowToCreateEntitieswithInertiainLASGFiredancerUnleashed!_files/01Guide.png]

1. InSolutionExplorer,expandtheTutorialsolution,gototheSharedfolder,right
clickontheTutorial.EntitiesprojectandclickAddEntities...

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[./HowToCreateEntitieswithInertiainLASGFiredancerUnleashed!_files/01
Launch.png]

2. TheInertia:BusinessEntityComponentGeneratorwilllaunch.Thecode
generatorisdividedinto3sections.

[./HowToCreateEntitieswithInertiainLASGFiredancerUnleashed!_files/01
Inertia.png]
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Tip:Noticethecodegeneratoriscolourcodedtothecodegenerationguide.
3. Atthe1.ChooseDataSourceandColumnssection,clicktheConnectbutton
toconnecttoaMicrosoftSQLServer.
4. IntheConnect...dialog,entertheServernameandselecttheappropriate
authenticationmethod.ClickConnecttoconnecttotheSQLserver.

[./HowToCreateEntitieswith
InertiainLASGFiredancerUnleashed!_files/01Connection.png]

Note:LASGusestheSQLServerManagementObjectsandtherefore,only
MicrosoftSQLServerissupported.YoucanuseanyeditionsofSQLServer
includingtheExpressedition.
5. SelecttheLeaveSampledatabasefromthedatabaselistlocatedbesidethe
Connectbutton.
6. IntheSourcetab,selecttheLeavestablefromtheSourcesdropdownlist.Allits
columnswillbelistedinthelistboxbelowtheColumnscheckbox.
Tip:Inertiawillattempttosuggesttheentityclassnameforyoubasedonthe
selectedtablesname.Ifyourtableshavepluralnames,theSingularizeclass
namesoptionwillattempttosuggestsingularentityclassnamesforyou.
7. IfyouarenotusingtheLeaveSampledatabasetablesandhaveabbreviated
columnnamesi.e.hr_wkflowID,PrdName,StdMercNameetc.,youcancreate
meaningfulpropertynamesforthembyclickingonthebarabovethecolumnlist.
ThislaunchestheDefineColumnMappingsdialog.Makeanynecessary
changestothePropertyNameandclickOKwhendone.

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[./HowToCreate
EntitieswithInertiainLASGFiredancerUnleashed!_files/01DefineMap.png]

Note:Itisrecommendedthatyouhavewelldefinedmeaningfulcolumnnames
inthetablesthantorelyonthecolumnmappings.
8. CheckontheColumnscheckboxtoselectallthecolumnsandclickonthe
[./HowToCreateEntitieswithInertiainLASGFiredancerUnleashed!_files/01Right
Button.png] buttontoaddthemtothe2.DefineEntitySettingssection.

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[./HowToCreateEntitieswithInertiainLASGFiredancerUnleashed!_files/01
Selected.png]

Tip:Youcanalsoindividuallyselectordeselectcolumns.PresstheCtrlkey
whileclickingonthecolumnstoselect/deselectindividualcolumnsorusethe
Shiftkeytoselect/deselectarangeofadjacentcolumns.
Note:Notalldatatypesaresupported.Complexdatatypesarecurrentlynot
supported.
9. TheReferenceTotabwillshowallthetablesthatthecurrenttableisreferencing
towithaforeignkey.Youcanchoosetorelatetotheentiretableasareference
objectorindividuallyselectthecolumnswhichyouwanttoincludeaspartofthe
currententity(a.k.a.borrowedcolumns).Onceyouaredonewithyour
selections,clickonthe [./HowToCreateEntitieswithInertiainLASGFiredancer
Unleashed!_files/01RightButton.png] buttontoaddthemtotheEntity
propertiesgrid.Forsimplicity,weshallnotaddanythingfromhereinthistutorial.
10. TheReferenceBytabshowsallthetablesthatisreferencingthecurrenttable
withaforeignkey.Youcanchoosetorelatethetableshereasacollectionof
Entities.Clickonthe [./HowToCreateEntitieswithInertiainLASGFiredancer
Unleashed!_files/01RightButton.png] buttontoaddthemtotheEntity
propertiesgrid.YouwillalsoneedtogeneratetheEntityclassesindividuallyfor
thetablesyouselectedherelater.Forsimplicity,weshallnotaddanythingfrom
hereinthistutorial.
11. ThecolumnsthatyouchoosewillappearintheEntitypropertiesgridunderthe
2.DefineEntitySettingssectionaspropertiestobegeneratedfortheEntity.
Youcanmakeadjustmentsherei.e.changingthecommentsormarkinga
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propertytoacceptnulls.
Tip:Incaseyouwanttoremoveanycolumnsfromthepropertieslist,justselect
therowandpresstheDeletekeyonthekeyboardoryourcanrightclickonthe
selectedrowtoinvokeacontextmenutodeleteit.
12. Onceyouareready,clickontheAddtoCodeGenerationbuttontoqueuethe
definitiontothe3.GenerateEntitiessection.Youcanqueueasmanyentities
forcodegenerationasyouwish.Tocreateanotherentity,simplyclickonthe
Newbutton.Forthistutorial,weshallcreate2entitiesLeaveand
LeaveStatusLog.
13. Eachqueuedentitydefinitionwillbelistedinthe3.GenerateEntitiessection.
Youcanreviewthedefinitionsandmakeanylastmomentchangesinthe
propertygridlocatedatthebottomofthesection.Youcandeleteanyentity
propertiesbyselectingtherowandpressingtheDeletekey.

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[./HowToCreateEntitieswith
InertiainLASGFiredancerUnleashed!_files/01Generate.png]

Caution!Tamperingwiththepropertiesinthepropertygridmaycause
unexpectedresultsorerrorsincodegeneration.Makesureyouunderstand
thebehaviourofthecodegeneratorbeforemessingwiththevaluesinthe
propertygrid.
14. Youcanperformvariousactionfromthetoolbaratthe3.GenerateEntities
section.YoucanPreviewthecodethatwillbegenerated,setOptions,reposition
theproperties,Resetthedefinitionssothattheywillbecodegeneratedagainor
Deletethedefinitions.

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[./HowToCreateEntities
withInertiainLASGFiredancerUnleashed!_files/01Toolbar.png]

Warning!Deleteddefinitionswillnotberecoverable.
Note:Alldefinitionswillbemarkedascodegenerated(indicatedbythe
IsUpdatedproperty)aftercodegeneration.Theywillcontinuetoappearinthe
listbutwillnotbecodegeneratedthenexttime.ClickingResetwillchangeone
ormoredefinitions'IsUpdatedvaluetotrueandmarkthemforcodegeneration
again.
YoucanalsoDeleteanentityproperty,anentitydefinitionorallentitydefinitions
fromthetoolbar.ClickingontheOptionsiconwillopentheCodeGeneration
Optionsdialogthatwillallowyoutosetafewstandardoptions.Leavethe
settingsaloneandclickOK.

[./HowToCreateEntitieswithInertiain
LASGFiredancerUnleashed!_files/01Options.png]

15. Finally,clicktheGeneratebuttontogeneratetheentityclasses.
16. AttheCodeGenerationCompleteddialog,clickOK.
17. TheTutorial.Entitiesprojectshouldcontainthegeneratedcodefilesforthe
entities.

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[./HowToCreateEntities
withInertiainLASGFiredancerUnleashed!_files/01Project.png]

Summary
WehavebasicallygonethroughhowtousetheInertia:BusinessEntityComponent
Generator to create Entity classes for our layered application. You can make any
necessarychangestothecodebuttakenotethatanychangesmadeinyourcode
will not be reflected in the definitions stored in Inertia. Therefore, practice caution
whenyouareregeneratingcodeonexistingcodefile.
Coming up next HowTo: Create Data Access Components with Momentum in
LASG[http://serenayeoh.blogspot.com/2014/03/lasgcreatingdataaccesscomponents.html]
.
Posted5thMarchbySerenaYeoh
Labels:.NET,3tier,C#,DeveloperCommunity,LASG,LayeredArchitecture
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