Validate Code with Layer Diagrams

To make sure that code doesn't conflict with its design, validate your code with layer diagrams in Visual Studio Ultimate and Visual Studio Premium. This can help you:

• Find conflicts between dependencies in your code and dependencies on the layer diagram.

• Find dependencies that might be affected by proposed changes.

  For example, you can edit the layer diagram to show potential architecture changes and then validate the code to see the affected dependencies.

• Refactor or migrate code to a different design.

  Find code or dependencies that require work when you move the code to a different architecture.

You can validate code manually from an open layer diagram in Visual Studio or from a command prompt. You can also validate code automatically when running local builds or Team Foundation Build. See Channel 9 Video: Design and validate your architecture using layer diagrams.

Requirements

• Visual Studio Ultimate or Visual Studio Premium

• Visual Studio Ultimate on your Team Foundation Build server to validate code automatically with Team Foundation Build

• A solution that has a modeling project with a layer diagram. This layer diagram must be linked to artifacts in Visual C# .NET or Visual Basic .NET projects that you want to validate. See Create layer diagrams from code.

• See if an item supports validation

• Include other .NET assemblies and projects for validation

• Validate code manually

• Validate code automatically

• Troubleshoot layer validation issues

• Understand and resolve layer validation errors

See if an item supports validation

You can link layers to Web sites, Office documents, plain text files, and files in projects that are shared across multiple apps, but the validation process won't include them. Validation errors won't appear for references to projects or assemblies that are linked to separate layers when no dependencies appear between those layers. Such references are not considered dependencies unless the code uses those references.

1. On the layer diagram, select one or more layers, right-click your selection, and then click View Links.

2. In Layer Explorer, look at the Supports Validation column. If the value is false, the item does not support validation.

Include other .NET assemblies and projects for validation

When you drag items to the layer diagram, references to the corresponding .NET assemblies or projects are added automatically to the Layer References folder in the modeling project. This folder contains references to the assemblies and projects that are analyzed during validation. You can include other .NET assemblies and projects for validation without manually dragging them to the layer diagram.

1. In Solution Explorer, right-click the modeling project or the Layer References folder, and then click Add Reference.

2. In the Add Reference dialog box, select the assemblies or projects, and then click OK.

Validate code manually

If you have an open layer diagram that is linked to solution items, you can run the Validate shortcut command from the diagram. You can also use the command prompt to run the msbuild command with the /p:ValidateArchitecture custom property set to True. For example, as you make changes in the code, perform layer validation regularly so that you can catch dependency conflicts early.

To validate code from an open layer diagram

1. Right-click the diagram surface, and then click Validate Architecture.

   Note

   By default, the Build Action property on the layer diagram (.layerdiagram) file is set to Validate so that the diagram is included in the validation process.

   The Error List window reports any errors that occur. For more information about validation errors, see Understand and resolve layer validation errors.

2. To view the source of each error, double-click the error in the Error List window.

   Note

   Visual Studio might show a dependency graph instead of the source of the error. This occurs when either the code has a dependency on an assembly that is not specified by the layer diagram, or the code is missing a dependency that is specified by the layer diagram. Review the dependency graph or the code to determine whether the dependency should exist. For more information about dependency graphs, see Map dependencies across your code on dependency graphs.

3. To manage errors, see Manage validation errors.

To validate code at the command prompt

1. Open the Visual Studio command prompt.

2. Choose one of the following:

   • To validate code against a specific modeling project in the solution, run MSBuild with the following custom property.

     msbuild <FilePath+ModelProjectFileName>.modelproj /p:ValidateArchitecture=true
     

     - or -

     Browse to the folder that contains the modeling project (.modelproj) file and the layer diagram and then run MSBuild with the following custom property:

     msbuild /p:ValidateArchitecture=true 
     

   • To validate code against all modeling projects in the solution, run MSBuild with the following custom property:

     msbuild <FilePath+SolutionName>.sln /p:ValidateArchitecture=true 
     

     - or -

     Browse to the solution folder, which must contain a modeling project that contains a layer diagram, and then run MSBuild with the following custom property:

     msbuild /p:ValidateArchitecture=true
     

   Any errors that occur will be listed. For more information about MSBuild, see MSBuild and MSBuild Task.

For more information about validation errors, see Understand and resolve layer validation errors.

Manage validation errors

During the development process, you might want to suppress some of the reported conflicts during validation. For example, you might want to suppress errors that you are already addressing or that are not relevant to your particular scenario. When you suppress an error, it is a good practice to log a work item in Team Foundation.

To create a work item for a validation error

• In the Error List window, right-click the error, point to Create Work Item, and then click the type of work item that you want to create.

Use these tasks to manage validation errors in the Error List window:

Validate code automatically

You can perform layer validation every time that you run a local build. If your team uses Team Foundation Build, you can perform layer validation with gated check-ins, which you can specify by creating a custom MSBuild task, and use build reports to collect validation errors. To create gated check-in builds, see Use a gated check-in build process to validate changes.

To validate code automatically during a local build

• Use a text editor to open the modeling project (.modelproj) file, and then include the following property:

<ValidateArchitecture>true</ValidateArchitecture>

- or -

1. In Solution Explorer, right-click the modeling project that contains the layer diagram or diagrams, and then click Properties.

2. In the Properties window, set the modeling project's Validate Architecture property to True.

   This includes the modeling project in the validation process.

3. In Solution Explorer, click the layer diagram (.layerdiagram) file that you want to use for validation.

4. In the Properties window, make sure that the diagram's Build Action property is set to Validate.

   This includes the layer diagram in the validation process.

To manage errors in the Error List window, see Manage Validation Errors.

To validate code automatically during a Team Foundation Build

1. In Team Explorer, double-click the build definition, and then click Process.

2. Under Build process parameters, expand Compilation, and type the following in the MSBuild Arguments parameter:

   /p:ValidateArchitecture=true

For more information about validation errors, see Understand and resolve layer validation errors. For more information about Team Foundation Build, see:

• Build the application

• Use the Default Template for your build process

• Define a Build Using the Upgrade Template

• Customize your build process template

• Monitor Build Progress

Troubleshoot layer validation issues

The following table describes layer validation issues and their resolution. These issues differ from errors that result from conflicts between the code and the design. For more information about these errors, see Understand and resolve layer validation errors.

Understanding and Resolving Layer Validation Errors

When you validate code against a layer diagram, validation errors occur when the code conflicts with the design. For example, the following conditions might cause validation errors to occur:

• An artifact is assigned to the wrong layer. In this case, move the artifact.

• An artifact, such as a class, uses another class in a way that conflicts with your architecture. In this case, refactor the code to remove the dependency.

To resolve these errors, update the code until no more errors appear during validation. You can perform this task in an iterative manner.

The following section describes the syntax that is used in these errors, explains the meaning of these errors, and suggests what you can do to resolve or manage them.

See Also

Concepts

Validating Your System During Development