I often have a need to create input files for batch processes and to validate outputs from similar processes.
The format of these files varies, e.g. they could be fixed-width, csv or sometimes XML.
In the past I have created a little application in C# to help me work with a particular task. The application generally consists of a TreeView on the left and a PropertyGrid on the right. The user can then add elements to the tree, and then edit the values of each element in the propertygrid. Once they have finished, they can then save the file.
Previously I created the data layer specific to my task, normally using a generated data layer with some manual additions. This is obviously very time consuming and often means that it isn't worth it except for the biggest tasks.
So, what I would like to do is instead of creating a data layer specific to a particular task, I would like to pass in a schema of some description at runtime (probably an XSD).
The schema would contain all the information about field names, lengths, allowed values etc, which the GUI would use to validate/parse and input file, and create an output file.
So.... my questions are:
- Has anyone ever seen anything like this so that I don't have to write one?
- Has anyone any examples of things similar to this that I could look at, as I am at a bit of a loss as to where to start.
Any help will be gratefully received!
Many thanks
Kevin