PowerCode
An intuitive code specification for generating source code.
Type what really matters to declare members. The following is a simple PowerCode specification for code generation.
The Specification
The PowerCode specification must be wrapped in a multiline comment in order to work in Visual Studio. Press CTRL+(dot) to invoke refactoring actions and select "Execute from PowerCode" to generate code inserted after the multiline comment.
It's ok to have comment lines begin with an astrisk (*), it will be ignored.
Each line must start with a type specifier to tell the PowerCode parser what kind of tokens are expected next.
| Specifier |
Description |
Example |
| c |
class |
c Person, .name |
| i |
inteface |
i IRepository<T>, Add:T item:T, Update:T item:T, Delete id:int |
| s |
struct |
s Point, X:int, Y:int, m Clone:Point |
| e |
enum |
e Gender, Female=0, Male |
| p[n] |
property |
p Id, Name,DateOfBirth, This is optional. n represents the number of properties to produce with the same name by appending the index. i.e. p2 UserDefined will generate 2 UserDefined properties public string UserDefined0 {get;set;} and public string UserDefined1 {get;set;} . See the examples below to get a better idea. |
| m |
method |
m Add:int, a:int, b:int |
Contextual symbols
| Symbol |
Description |
| comma |
method, property, argument seperator |
| pipe |
CRLF. Line separator used to represent the specification in a single line |
| space |
initial separator to separate type specifier and the template body. Also used to separate method and arguments |
| colon |
separates identifier and type |
| dot / period |
denotes constructor arguments for class c |
NOTE:
p is optional for class and struct.m is optional for interface. For interface, methods are separated by comma and the method arguments are separated by space.- Any line without a type specifier is considered as
p. You can simply add comma separated <Identifier>[:<type>] to generate properties.
- Properties
p and methods m on separate lines will be added to the nearest class, struct or interface.
- Enum
e should be represented in a single line.
Examples
Example 1 - Classes
/*
c Person, .name
Id, Name, DateOfBirth, p5 UserDefinedField
m GetAge:int
*/
The code generated for the above PowerCode specification is as below:
public class Person
{
public Person(string name)
{
}
//type inferred automatically
public int Id { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
//type inferred automatically
public DateTime DateOfBirth { get; set; }
public string UserDefinedField0 { get; set; }
public string UserDefinedField1 { get; set; }
public string UserDefinedField2 { get; set; }
public string UserDefinedField3 { get; set; }
public string UserDefinedField4 { get; set; }
public string UserDefinedField5 { get; set; }
public int GetAge()
{
return default;
}
}
Example 2 - Interfaces
/*
i Repository<T>:IEntity<T>, GetAll:IEnumerable<T>, Get:T id:int
m Add:T, item:T
m Update:T, item:T
m Delete ,id:int
*/
... converted to
public interface Repository<T> : IEntity<T>
{
T Add(T item);
T Update(T item);
void Delete(int id);
IEnumerable<T> GetAll();
T Get(int id);
}
Example 3 - Structures
/*
s Point, X:int, Y:int, m Clone:Point
*/
... converted to
public struct Point
{
public int X { get; set; }
public int Y { get; set; }
public Point Clone()
{
return default;
}
}
Example 4 - Enums
/*
e Color, Red=0, Blue, Green, Yellow=10
*/
... converted to
public enum Color
{
Red = 0,
Blue,
Green,
Yellow = 10
}
NOTE:
You can also combine all the example specification together and generate the code at once.
NuGet Extension
You can install the NuGet extension to generate code for all your coding purposes by using C# Interactive or LinqPad.
Install the extension:
Install-Package PowerCode.CodeGeneration.Extensions -Version 1.0.0
Visual Studio Extension
You can execute the PowerCode specification directly from within Visual Studio. This extension installs a PowerCode refactoring.
Press CTRL+. in a multi-comment and you will get an option "Execute from PowerCode" refactoring context menu.
Install the editor extension from the Visual Studio Extensions dialog and search for PowerCode.CodeGeneration.EditorExtensions
