DTOMaker.CLI 0.64.3-dev

](https://github.com/datafac/dtomaker-core/actions/workflows/dotnet.yml)

Warning: This is pre-release software under active development. Breaking changes may occur.

• DTOMaker
  • Workflow
• Included Packages
  • DTOMaker.Models
  • DTOMaker.MessagePack
  • DTOMaker.Models.MessagePack
  • DTOMaker.MemBlocks
  • DTOMaker.Models.MemBlocks
  • DTOMaker.CSRecord
  • DTOMaker.Runtime
• Model features
  • MemBlocks features
• !Limitations
  • Single compilation unit
• Development
  • In progress
  • Coming soon
  • Coming later

DTOMaker

This repo includes model-driven compile-time source generators for quickly creating DTOs (Data Transport Objects) supporting the following serialization schemes:

• MessagePack
• MemBlocks

and related POCOs (Plain Old C# Objects).

Workflow

---
title: Workflow
---
flowchart LR
    def(Define models e.g. IMyDTO.cs)
    ref1(Reference DTOMaker.Models.*)
    ref2(Reference DTOMaker.Runtime.*)
    ref3(Reference one or more source generators e.g. DTOMaker.MessagePack)
    bld(VS/Code/MSBuild)
    pkg(Assembly)
    def-->ref1
    def-->ref2
    def-->ref3
    ref1-->bld
    ref2-->bld
    ref3-->bld
    bld-->pkg

Models are defined as C# interfaces with additional attributes. Here's a trivial example:

[Entity]
public interface IMyFirstDTO
{
    [Member(1)] string Name { get; }
}

If using the MessagePack source generator, the following implmentation will be generated (simplified):

[MessagePackObject]
public sealed class MyFirstDTO : IMyFirstDTO:
{
    [Key(1)] string Name { get; set; }
}

Included Packages

This repo includes the following packages:

DTOMaker.Models

Attributes for defining simple data models as interfaces in C#.

DTOMaker.MessagePack

A source generator that creates MessagePack DTOs (Data Transport Objects). See https://github.com/MessagePack-CSharp/MessagePack-CSharp.

DTOMaker.Models.MessagePack

Additional attributes used by the DTOMaker.MessagePack source generator, to manage MessagePack entity and member keys.

DTOMaker.MemBlocks

Generates DTOs whose internal data is a single memory block (Memory<byte>). Property getters and setters decode and encode values directly to the block with little-endian (default) or big-endian byte ordering.

DTOMaker.Models.MemBlocks

Additional attributes used by the DTOMaker.MemBlocks source generator, to manage entity and member memory layout.

DTOMaker.CSRecord

Generates basic POCOs (Plain Old C# Objects) that implement the model interfaces.

DTOMaker.Runtime

Common types used at runtime by DTOMaker generated entities.

Model features

• Member value types: Boolean, S/Byte, U/Int16/32/64/128, Double, Single, Half, Char, Guid, Decimal
• String member types.
• Binary member types:
  • Octets (model interfaces, CSRecord, MemBlocks)
  • ReadOnlyMemory<byte> (MessagePack)
• polymorphic types
• entity members
• Built-in freezability (mutable until frozen) support
• [Obsolete] members
• Fixed length arrays of above value types.
• IEquatable<T> support
• Templates as testable code, template-to-generator processing.

MemBlocks features

• auto-embedded string, binary and entity members when encoded ⇐ 62 bytes.
• fixed-length string and binary member types.

!Limitations

Single compilation unit

All models and generated DTOs are contained within a single assembly. Models cannot reference types in other projects or pacakges (other than native types). Generated classes are partial, which can help you mitigate the single assembly constraint.

Development

In progress

• C# records generator

Coming soon

• Json (NewtonSoft) generator
• Json (System.Text) generator
• upgrade source generators to IIncrementalGenerator
• global interface equality comparer
• reservation (hidden members)
• Orleans generator
• ProtobufNet 3.0 generator
• MessagePack 3.x generator
• NetStrux generator
• MemBlocks compact layout method
• Enum data types. Workaround - enums can be implemented with an underlying integer property and a cast.
• MemBlocks nullable types. Workaround - T? can be implemented with a pair of members (Boolean, T).

Coming later

• custom struct members (to avoid primitive obsession)
• C# records generator
• Google Protobuf .proto generation
• model.json generation
• command-line alternative
• generic model patterns: lists, trees, unions, etc.
• variable length arrays
• logical value equality
• Rune member types