How to: Generate the Object Model as an External File (LINQ to SQL)

As an alternative to attribute-based mapping, you can generate your object model as an external XML file by using the SQLMetal command-line tool. For more information, see SqlMetal.exe (Code Generation Tool). By using an external XML mapping file, you reduce clutter in your code. You can also change behavior by modifying the external file without recompiling the binaries of your application. For more information, see External Mapping Reference (LINQ to SQL).

Example

The following command generates an external mapping file from the Northwind sample database.

sqlmetal /server:myserver /database:northwind /map:externalfile.xml

The following excerpt from an external mapping file shows the mapping for the Customers table in the Northwind sample database. This excerpt was generated by executing SQLMetal with the /map option.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Database xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" Name="northwnd">
  <Table Name="Customers">
    <Type Name=".Customer">
      <Column Name="CustomerID" Member="CustomerID" Storage="_CustomerID" DbType="NChar(5) NOT NULL" CanBeNull="False" IsPrimaryKey="True" />
      <Column Name="CompanyName" Member="CompanyName" Storage="_CompanyName" DbType="NVarChar(40) NOT NULL" CanBeNull="False" />
      <Column Name="ContactName" Member="ContactName" Storage="_ContactName" DbType="NVarChar(30)" />
      <Column Name="ContactTitle" Member="ContactTitle" Storage="_ContactTitle" DbType="NVarChar(30)" />
      <Column Name="Address" Member="Address" Storage="_Address" DbType="NVarChar(60)" />
      <Column Name="City" Member="City" Storage="_City" DbType="NVarChar(15)" />
      <Column Name="Region" Member="Region" Storage="_Region" DbType="NVarChar(15)" />
      <Column Name="PostalCode" Member="PostalCode" Storage="_PostalCode" DbType="NVarChar(10)" />
      <Column Name="Country" Member="Country" Storage="_Country" DbType="NVarChar(15)" />
      <Column Name="Phone" Member="Phone" Storage="_Phone" DbType="NVarChar(24)" />
      <Column Name="Fax" Member="Fax" Storage="_Fax" DbType="NVarChar(24)" />
      <Association Name="FK_CustomerCustomerDemo_Customers" Member="CustomerCustomerDemos" Storage="_CustomerCustomerDemos" ThisKey="CustomerID" OtherTable="CustomerCustomerDemo" OtherKey="CustomerID" DeleteRule="NO ACTION" />
      <Association Name="FK_Orders_Customers" Member="Orders" Storage="_Orders" ThisKey="CustomerID" OtherTable="Orders" OtherKey="CustomerID" DeleteRule="NO ACTION" />
    </Type>
  </Table>
</Database>

See Also

Tasks

How to: Generate the Object Model in Visual Basic or C# (LINQ to SQL)

Reference

External Mapping Reference (LINQ to SQL)

Other Resources

Creating the Object Model (LINQ to SQL)