Is there a simple Linq to SQL generator with bi-directional serialization attributes?

Question

I'm trying to find a way to generate Linq to SQL classes with bi-directional serialization attributes. Basically I want a DataMember tag (with an appropriate order) on every association property, not just the ones where the class is the primary key (like the Visual Studio generator and SQL Metal do). I checked MyGeneration, but didn't really find anything that worked for me. I thought the T4 Toolbox was going to be my solution, it would be quite easy to modify it to add the attributes, but I get an exception on the calling side of my WCF service, and I've gotten no response back on the issue. I'm about to try installing CodeSmith and using PLINQO, but I'd prefer something free.

I'm pretty close to just writing my own T4 generator, but before I do that, I was hoping to find an pre-built solution to this rather simple problem first.

Answer 1

I ended up writing my own code generator for our L2S classes. We actually generate two sets of classes. One is a "lightweight" set of entities for client application use. These classes have no L2S plumbing. But they have the full datamember attributes with proper order. Then we have our L2S entities, which are strictly for backend use. This has worked out quite well.

Be careful using PLINQO. I've looked at that product extensively. In fact, much of my code generator is based on the code PLINQO generates. However, they have a "major flaw" (their words) in how they have implemented many to many relationships.

You might want to also look at a product named "Reegenerator".

Randy

Answer 2

This turned out to be the solution to my problem. I had just resigned myself to start researching my own generator when I stumbled upon that. It has a bidirectional serialization option and it works great! Here's a link to the author's bog, which contains a great video example of how to get started.