PropertyNamesGenerator (source)

I recently wrote the post Replace strings for property names with type-safe version

This is the source code for the project it describes. I'm posting it because of a request, so hopefully you'll have use for it.

PropertyNamesGenerator

• Generates type-safe versions of property/field names.


• Generates C# or VB files


• The only parser implemented is for parsing NHibernate mapping-files

The NHibernate parser handles regular classes as well as subclasses.
Another parser which will probably get there is for regular domain classes.

Warning: This is not production-grade software, but a simple project I made for myself to handle a current need! This should not be used as a guideline for good design, nor expected to work flawlessly. No such thing have been attempted.

You can download it here.

The zip includes the source, the current binary, and a sample bat-file to use it.

How to use it:
To run the generator, start it with something like:

• "C:\path\PropertyNamesGenerator.exe" /lang:cs /files:"../../source/Domain/*.hbm.xml" /out:"Output"

An explanation of the various params can be found by running it with a -? switch. It prints:
Run like: PropertyNamesGenerator.exe /files:"path/*.hbm.xml" /out:"path/PropertyNames/" /lang:cs
Parameters:
/Files [Mandatory] - Must have both a directory and a search string.
/Out [Mandatory] - Must specify an output directory.
/lang [Optional] - Output-language. C# or VB. (C# is default)
-V - Verbose output.
Note: All directories can be relative.

It currently only supports searching for files in the directories explicitly specified, i.e. not subdirectories. This is a concious choice.

To integrate it with your build, typically use a bat-file in the same manner as the Generate.bat example file included in the zip.

To integrate it with your build, you can add something like the line below to your Domain Pre-build event: (Project/Build Events)
call "$(SolutionDir)\..\Tools\PropertyNamesGenerator\Generate.bat"
Note that you will need a full path to the PropertyNamesGenerator.exe-file in the bat-file to use it like this.

It will generate files on the form [ClassName].[lang] in the output directory specified. Using a PropertyNames folder to put all of these in is recommended.

You will of course have to include these file in your solution to integrate them. Do this every time you have added and parsed a new hbm-file.