This is a great question which, as you know, we're struggling with too.  You may want to also post your question to the MSDN forum covering Entity Framework, since the problem is not DevForce-specific.  That forum is at http://forums.microsoft.com/MSDN/ShowForum.aspx?ForumID=533&SiteID=1.

 

 

Is there anyone like to share, in a real-world scenario, where there can be more than 50 entities and beyond, how entities can be "normalized" into different EDM "packages/modules", i.e. different edmx files.

 

Theoretically, if we were to split edmx, either in one assembly or in separate assembly, the "normalized" edmx would contain the only entities "of interest" in its module/package.

Let's say after design phase we have Order and Supplier packages, where each package houses it own entities/classes. 

The issue I can think of is when Order associates Supplier(which is in another edmx or assembly) for example, we may end up with duplicate Supplier type because it comes from the same database table. Having Supplier type in 2 assemblies can result in ambiguity. Even if we use namespaces, client-side developer could be confused.
 
In addition, we then need discipline to only maintain Supplier from its original edmx/assembly. Order edmx/assembly may also later update model from database. Though you can select what tables not to update, it is still lots of careful detailed handling, which is error-prone.

 

Any ideas to share are welcomed!

 

Best regards

Sebastian