Either way, I like that I now have the ability to get rid of the post build event.

 

The problem you're seeing with having to switch the metadata artifact processing back and forth between embedded and output files actually has nothing to do with DevForce; it's a limitation in EF beta3, and why we recommend against using the embedded option with it.  EF beta4 does not have this problem.

 

Adding some script to the begging/end of the post build event is a reasonable workaround.  Can I suggest that there be an option in future version of DEF to turn this off however?  Or better yet, automagically figure out if I've turned on "Embed in Output Assembly" and simply leave the post build actions out?

 

It appears that with EF Beta 3 each time I change my Model I have to build once with "Metadata Artifact Processing" set to "Copy to Output Directory" before I can build with the "Embed in Output Assembly" option.  Not that there's not a build failure... but without the extra step any changes I've made aren't persisted leaving me with a stale assembly.

 

Haven't tried this with EF Beta 4, but after reading the breaking changes (http://blogs.msdn.com/adonet/pages/entity-framework-breaking-changes-visual-studio-2008-net-3-5-sp1-beta.aspx) I can only assume that DEF Beta 1 isn't going to work with it.  Understandable.  Any idea on the timeframe for DEF Beta 2?

 

Is there anyway to turn off the addition of the post-build event.  I'd much rather set "Metadata Artifact Processing" to "Embed in Output Assembly" in my EDMX model... which I believe makes the post-build steps unnecessary.

 

So, double check that these files were generated, and if not, check that the BuildAction of the edmx file is correct.  And then, once generated, ensure that they are copied to your executable folder (by the post-build event). 

 

 

You need to ensure that the "EF entity model assembly" and the associated artifact files (*.msl, *.csdl, *.ssdl) can be found at runtime, usually in the working directory.

 

DevForce EF does add a post-build event to any project referencing the "DEF domain model assembly" to copy these files, but in Beta1 that post-build happens one step too late.  If you build a second time it should successfully copy the files.

 

It's possible that the post-build event was not successfully added to your project, in which case you'll need to either write your own, or manually copy the files to the executable directory.  If a post-build was not created for you, please let us know, since that's a bug.

 

Here's a sample post-build from one of the tutorials:

 

rem [IdeaBlade-begin]
copy  "C:\Head\Learning Units\100 Fundamentals\020 Retrieving Data\02 Tutorials\CS\Completed_Pt1\ServerModelNorthwindIB\bin\Debug\*.csdl" "$(TargetDir)"
if errorlevel 1 goto BuildEventFailed

copy  "C:\Head\Learning Units\100 Fundamentals\020 Retrieving Data\02 Tutorials\CS\Completed_Pt1\ServerModelNorthwindIB\bin\Debug\*.msl" "$(TargetDir)"
if errorlevel 1 goto BuildEventFailed

copy  "C:\Head\Learning Units\100 Fundamentals\020 Retrieving Data\02 Tutorials\CS\Completed_Pt1\ServerModelNorthwindIB\bin\Debug\*.ssdl" "$(TargetDir)"
if errorlevel 1 goto BuildEventFailed

copy  "C:\Head\Learning Units\100 Fundamentals\020 Retrieving Data\02 Tutorials\CS\Completed_Pt1\ServerModelNorthwindIB\bin\Debug\ServerModelNorthwindIB.dll" "$(TargetDir)"
if errorlevel 1 goto BuildEventFailed

copy  "C:\Head\Learning Units\100 Fundamentals\020 Retrieving Data\02 Tutorials\CS\Completed_Pt1\ServerModelAw2000\bin\Debug\*.csdl" "$(TargetDir)"
if errorlevel 1 goto BuildEventFailed

copy  "C:\Head\Learning Units\100 Fundamentals\020 Retrieving Data\02 Tutorials\CS\Completed_Pt1\ServerModelAw2000\bin\Debug\*.msl" "$(TargetDir)"
if errorlevel 1 goto BuildEventFailed

copy  "C:\Head\Learning Units\100 Fundamentals\020 Retrieving Data\02 Tutorials\CS\Completed_Pt1\ServerModelAw2000\bin\Debug\*.ssdl" "$(TargetDir)"
if errorlevel 1 goto BuildEventFailed

copy  "C:\Head\Learning Units\100 Fundamentals\020 Retrieving Data\02 Tutorials\CS\Completed_Pt1\ServerModelAw2000\bin\Debug\ServerModelAw2000.dll" "$(TargetDir)"
if errorlevel 1 goto BuildEventFailed

goto BuildEventOK
:BuildEventFailed
echo IdeaBlade post-build event for $(ProjectName) failed
exit 0
:BuildEventOK
echo IdeaBlade post-build event for $(ProjectName) completed Ok
rem [IdeaBlade-end]