Windows Developer Power Tools

21.3 Easing the Burden of Creating O/RM Files with ObjectMapper

Object/Relational Mapping frameworks allow you to persist interrelated business objects without having to write all the code required to mash them into a relational database. These frameworks usually require some tricky modifications to business entities, however, in order to properly manage relationships between objects. Additionally, popular O/RM systems such as NHibernate and NPersist require XML mapping files to define how objects in the system behave.

Creating both the code and the mapping files by hand can be a real pain. ObjectMapper, a tool included in the Puzzle.NET project, eases that pain by providing a simple but powerful way to map classes to database tables. It allows you to work in either direction: you can create classes from an existing set of database tables, or you can start from scratch, creating classes via UML and then finishing up by creating tables in the database.

ObjectMapper at a Glance
Tool	ObjectMapper
Version covered	1.1.0
Home page	http://www.puzzleframework.com/wikiengine/WikiPageViewer.aspx?ID=78
Power Tools page	http://www.windevpowertools.com/tools/130
Summary	Excellent tool for quickly generating class and XML mapping files for O/RM frameworks. Also enables you to work in the other direction, starting with UML diagrams and moving through classes to database-creation scripts.
License type	LGPL
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