Practical Code Generation in .NET: Covering Visual Studio 2005, 2008, and 2010

Chapter 11. Case Study: Generating Data-Conversion Code

In this chapter:

• Defining the Problem

• Creating the Designer

• Enhancing Model Validation

• Generating Code

• Distributing Your Designer

• Visual Studio 2010 Additions

• Capturing Inputs

This case study looks at creating a class that parses a string of data consisting of a variable collection of items and converts that data into .NET data types. This case study uses T4 templates, but primarily you’ll see how to create a visual designer that developers use to generate the input specifications for code generation. Effectively, then, this chapter looks at one of the first steps in the code-generation process: How the developer enters the inputs to the code-generation process. At the end ...