The following is a simplified version of the ASP.NET Code Generator using a Web interface (the regular version is a standard Windows application). Please follow these steps to generate your code:

1. Preparation: Normally, you can start the code-generation cycle by creating a table in your SQL server with the fields that you need. Usually a table describes a real-world entity that you want to record information for. For example, you can create a table called "Customers" to record customer information. (If you are just testing out this code generator, you can skip this step and just use a fake table name in the next step.)
    
   
2. SQL Table Name: Enter the name of the table that you just created. For example, you can enter "Customers"
    
   
3. Entity Name: This is the name of the real-world entity that your data table describes. For example, you can enter "Customer" (preferrably a noun in singular form).
    
   
4. Data Table Schema: The code generator uses its own schema format that combines back-end data structure and frone-end user interface information. Each data field is described using the following format:

   <FieldName{OptionalDescription},DataType,IsRequired?,WebControlType>

   You can view a few schema samples by choosing one of them from the "Samples" drop-down list. There is a small stored procedure utility that can help you extract the data schema from the SQL database. View the stored procedure code here.
   

   CREATE PROC [dbo].[GenerateSchema]
   (@TableName varchar(50))
   AS
   BEGIN
   
   SET NOCOUNT ON
   
   SELECT ColumnSchema = ('<' + COLUMN_NAME + ',' + DATA_TYPE +
     (CASE DATA_TYPE
       WHEN 'nvarchar' THEN '(' + CAST(CHARACTER_MAXIMUM_LENGTH AS varchar) + ')'
       WHEN 'varchar' THEN '(' + CAST(CHARACTER_MAXIMUM_LENGTH AS varchar) + ')'
       WHEN 'nchar' THEN '(' + CAST(CHARACTER_MAXIMUM_LENGTH AS varchar) + ')'
       WHEN 'char' THEN '(' + CAST(CHARACTER_MAXIMUM_LENGTH AS varchar) + ')'
       WHEN 'decimal' THEN '(' + CAST(NUMERIC_PRECISION AS varchar) + ',' + CAST(NUMERIC_SCALE AS varchar) + ')'
       ELSE ''
      END) + ',' +
     (CASE IS_NULLABLE
       WHEN 'YES' THEN 'N'
       WHEN 'NO' THEN 'Y'
       ELSE ''
      END) + ',>')
   INTO #Columns
   FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS where table_name = @TableName
   
   DECLARE @ColumnCount int, @CurColumnNum int
   SELECT @ColumnCount = COUNT(*) FROM #Columns
   SELECT @CurColumnNum = 0
   
   DECLARE @Column varchar(100)
   
   DECLARE column_cursor CURSOR FOR
   SELECT ColumnSchema FROM #Columns
   
   OPEN column_cursor
   
   FETCH NEXT FROM column_cursor INTO @Column
   
   WHILE @@FETCH_STATUS = 0
   BEGIN
     SELECT @CurColumnNum = @CurColumnNum + 1
     IF @CurColumnNum < @ColumnCount
     BEGIN
       SELECT @Column = @Column + ', '
     END
     PRINT @Column
   
     -- Get the next column.
     FETCH NEXT FROM column_cursor INTO @Column
   END
   
   CLOSE column_cursor
   DEALLOCATE column_cursor
   
   DROP TABLE #Columns
   SET NOCOUNT OFF
   
   END
   
   

   
   You can copy-and-paste this stored procedure code into your SQL database, save it, and run it using the following syntax:

   EXEC GenerateSchema 'YourTableName'

   After the back-end data schema has been extracted, you can insert an optional description and the front-end web control type you want for each field. The applicable web control types include: TB (asp:TextBox), CB (asp:CheckBox), DDL (asp:DropDownList), LB (asp:ListBox), RB (asp:RadioButton), and RBL (asp:RadioButtonList). The TB control can be followed by an optional dimension clause, such as TB{40:2}, to indicate it is a multi-line textbox with 40 columns and 2 rows. It is recommended that you view the schema samples we provided in the drop-down list to familiarize yourself with the syntax.
    
   
5. Code Template: Select an appropriate code template to generate stored procedures, business class, HTML and code-behind files. Click "Show Template Content" to view the template code. (The templates used here are the same ones used for Veriview E-Business Suite. In the commercial version of ASP.NET Code Generator, you can modify the templates yourself.) There is an option to replace tabs with white spaces. When you are ready, click "Generate Code" to run the generator.
    
   
6. Touch-Up and Customization: After you have completed the above steps, you should have a three-tier module that allows you to display all the records in a table, add new record to the table, edit a particular record, or delete a record from the table. Now is the time to further enhance this module by adding customized presentation and logic. Because real-world entities are complex, dynamic and associated with many rules and exceptions, it is impossible for a code generator to cover all of the complexities. The philosophy is, if a code generator is sophisticated enough to cover all real-world complexities, then learning the code-generator itself can be as time-consuming as, or even more so than, writing the code yourself. On the other hand, some code generators promise round-tripping between models and code, but they contain so much metadata and redundancy that it is very difficult to understand or manually customize the code (not to mention the code running slow). Therefore, our code-generator solution is designed to be easy-to-use and to take care of the most tedious, repetitive aspects of ASP.NET coding, allowing you to focus more on the business rules and the "payload" code.
    
   When you customize the generated code, there are certain practices that can help you manage these changes more efficiently. Click here for tips and tricks on code customization.
   

   In the ever-changing business environments, most information systems need to update their code at regular intervals to add new data fields, new logic or a different presentation. That means, you may need to re-generate code for the same module sometime in the future. Trying to update generated code while keeping all the customizations intact can be a time-consuming and error-prone challenge. Here are a few tips and tricks on managing these scenarios efficiently with our code generator:

   • Separate generated and customized code. ASP.NET 2.0 provides a new "partial class" feature that allows you to break a class into multiple code files. It is recommended that you save generated code and customized code in separate files. For example, our default business class file is named {EntityName}.codegen.cs (such as Customer.codegen.cs). If you need to add customization to this business class, you are encouraged to create another code file called Customer.extension.cs and add your customization there. In this "extension" file, you can add new fields, properties, constructors and methods very easily. What if you want to have a field initialized to a different value than the one chosen by the code generator? We provide a solution to that too. If you look at our Business Class generated code, you will see a call to "InitializeCustomFields()" at the end of the default constructor. This method has no implementation by default. You can override this method in your "extension" file to initialize fields to whatever values you want. The next time you need to re-generate your code, you can completely overwrite your "codegen" file without jeopardizing your customizations, because all customizations reside in the extension file.
   • Use inheritance. A variation of the code separation technique is to use the generated code as a base class, and add customizations to a derived class. This also creates an effective separation between generated and customized code.
   • Comment clearly. In cases where it is not possible to use the separation or inheritance technique (like stored procedures and HTML files), comment your customization clearly in a consistent manner. If you look at the stored procedures and HTML files generated by our generator, you will see a comment (like /* codegen */ or <!-- codegen -->) at the beginning of the code segment. When you add customizations, simple remove this "codegen" comment, and add a new comment next to your customization, so you can identify the changes easily in the future.

   

SQL Table Name: Entity Name: (no space)

Data Table Schema: (The first field needs to be an IDENTITY field) Samples: CustomerTypes Customers Products Users

Code Template: SQL Stored Procedures Business Class C# Listing Page HTML Listing Page Code File C# Modifier Page HTML Modifier Page Code File C# Show Template Content

Generated Code: (Replace tabs with white spaces.)

Suggested File Name: