EntityFramework Reverse POCO Generator

Simon Hughes

|
417,552 installs
| (147) | Free
Reverse engineers an existing database and generates EntityFramework Code First POCO classes, Configuration mappings and DbContext.

EntityFramework Reverse POCO Code First Generator

Beautifully generated code first code that is fully customisable

  • Downloadable VSIX installer from the visual studio gallery.
  • Watch the v2 in-depth course at pluralsight logo I cover everything the v2 generator can do, and show you step-by-step how to reverse engineer your database properly.
  • A v3 course will be coming in 2020.

You will need a licence key

Go to the ReversePOCO website to obtain your licence key.

Project Description

Reverse engineers an existing database and generates Entity Framework Code First Poco classes, Configuration mappings and DbContext.

Please note, this is not the Microsoft reverse generator. This is one I created to generate beautiful code-first code, as if I had hand-crafted the code-first code myself. It also allows me to customise the generated code to my liking.

What's new

Click here to see what's new in this release.

Supported databases

  • SQL Server
  • SQL Server Compact 3.5 and 4.0
  • Coming soon: Oracle, PostgreSQL, MySQL

Highly customisable output

This generator was designed to be customisable from the very beginning, and not fixed and rigid like other generators. Go and play with the settings in the <database>.tt file, that's what it's there for.

If your database changes, simply re-save the <database>.tt file. That's it.

Click here to see a full list of features.

To install and use this project:

  • EF 6
    • For Visual Studio 2012 & 2013, install Entity Framework 6 Tools available here This installs the required EF6.Utility.CS.ttinclude which is used for pluralisation You only need to do this once.
    • Use Nuget and install EntityFramework.
    • Add a connect string to your app.config. Something like:
<connectionStrings>
  <add name="MyDbContext"
       providerName="System.Data.SqlClient"
       connectionString="Data Source=(local);Initial Catalog=MyDatabase;Integrated Security=True;" />
</connectionStrings>
  • .NET Core
    • Use Nuget and install the relevant nuget package for your database, such as Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.SqlServer
  • The connection string you use must have at least these privileges: ddladmin, datareader and datawriter. ddladmin is required for reading the default constraints.
  • In Visual Studio, right click project and select "add - new item".
  • Select Online, and search for reverse poco.
  • Select EntityFramework Reverse POCO Generator.
  • Give the file a name, such as Database.tt and click Add.
  • .NET Core
    • Edit the Database.tt file and specify the full connection string in Settings.ConnectionString. This is used by the generater to read your database schema and reverse engineer it.
    • Edit the Database.tt file and specify the connection string in Settings.ConnectionStringName which matches the ConnectionString key as specified in your appsettings.json, app.config or web.config.
  • EF 6
    • Edit the Database.tt file and specify the connection string as "MyDbContext" which matches your name in app.config.
  • Save the Database.tt file, which will now generate the Database.cs file. Every time you save your Database.tt file, the generator will run and reverse engineer your database.
  • There are many options you can use to customise the generated code. All of these settings are in the Database.tt files.

UI

A simple UI for the generator is available at GitHub which helps you to create a regex to filter your tables.

Editing TT (T4) Files

To have full syntax highlighting and intellisense when editing TT files, I use the Resharper plugin ForTea. I can't imagine editing TT files without it.

With the new v3, you no longer have to edit the EF.Reverse.POCO.v3.ttinclude file as this file is now generated from a C# project. This repository includes the BuildTT file which creates the EF.Reverse.POCO.v3.ttinclude from the Generator C# project.

Getting a pull request accepted

Have a read of [https://github.com/blog/1943-how-to-write-the-perfect-pull-request](How to write the perfect pull request)

My requirements are simple:

  1. Always keep the changes to a minimum, so I can see exactly what's changed in regard to the pull request. I.e. No whitespace tidy up, etc.
  2. No tabs, only spaces (4).
  3. Edit the Generator C# project, as this is what is used to create the EF.Reverse.POCO.v3.ttinclude file. This repository includes the BuildTT project which creates the EF.Reverse.POCO.v3.ttinclude from the Generator C# project.
  4. Don't be tempted to do a few different enhancements in one pull request. Have one pull request for one bug fix / enhancement.

Regards, Simon Hughes