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Converting EDMX v1 to v4; Release Notes missing?

Printed From: IdeaBlade
Category: DevForce
Forum Name: DevForce 2010
Forum Discription: For .NET 4.0
URL: http://www.ideablade.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=1719
Printed Date: 12-Mar-2025 at 10:13pm


Topic: Converting EDMX v1 to v4; Release Notes missing?
Posted By: pk55
Subject: Converting EDMX v1 to v4; Release Notes missing?
Date Posted: 18-Apr-2010 at 9:49am
Page 7 of the release notes talks about the need to start from scratch for the models since we can't just re-gen or convert our existing EDMX files but the notes just trail off when it looks like they were going to outline an approach to this other than starting from scratch:
 
Unfortunately, there is not yet a way to convert an EF v.1 EDM file (the XML representation known as EDMX) into the new EF v.4 format. The safest bet today is to regenerate your EDM model from the database … to start as if from scratch … and then reapply your customizations (e.g., re-naming, inheritance, custom associations, defining queries, etc.).

This conversion – imposed by Entity Framework, not DevForce – will likely be the most time consuming and error-prone aspect of a migration to .NET 4 and DevForce 2010. One approach

Was something left off after "One approach"?


Replies:
Posted By: WardBell
Date Posted: 19-Apr-2010 at 7:11pm
Oops.  I see that "One approach" fragment dangling, full of promise.
 
Sad to disappoint you but I don't think we have an approach.  I can't think of anything simpler than
  • Verify that you have everything safely recorded in Source Control
  • Take inventory of your present classes
  • Identify inheritance relationships
  • Build a new model from scratch
  • Copy over the partial classes with your custom business logic
  • Compile
  • Reconcile

The compiler will give you grandmotherly love, smacking you repeatedly until you have corrected every table name, every property name, and every inheritance hierarchy.

If you wrote custom validations, the compiler will slap you again until you've realigned them.
 
Unit tests would be nice ... maybe you'll use the occasion to write some this time.
 
Frankly, I'll be surprised if this is a long process for anyone. Most entities are mapped one-for-one to tables. Inheritance is the most overrated and dangerous feature in any ORM usage. In many years of model rustling, I've spent comparatively little time in the mapper. For all the lauded separation of conceptual and storage models, they are rarely far from each other.
 
Your mileage will vary.

Posted By: pk55
Date Posted: 19-Apr-2010 at 7:17pm
Funny guy.  Insert snare drum/cymbal crash here (well technically it's a couple of hits on the snare followed by a bass drum/choked crash cymbal but I digress).
 
Also noticed the Developer's Guide is gone.  I don't remember if that happened during the earlier 5.x releases when you switched the Learning Resources or if it disappeared for 6.0 but I do think a single developer doc was way more useful than trying to search 150 pdfs/help files.  Just my .02.
 

Posted By: WardBell
Date Posted: 19-Apr-2010 at 9:30pm
I hope I didn't come across as sarcastic. I wish the EF team had provided an EDMX migration tool. Until they (or some enterprising soul) does ... we're stuck.
 
The Dev Guide ceased to be a single document in 5.x.  The single doc was difficult to maintain. The web search is supposed to take you where you want to go.

I hear you about the single doc. It's a balancing act between maintenance and new material. We'll keep an eye on that balance. I certainly appreciate your opinion. 

Posted By: GregD
Date Posted: 20-Apr-2010 at 9:03am
Originally posted by pk55


 
Also noticed the Developer's Guide is gone.  I don't remember if that happened during the earlier 5.x releases when you switched the Learning Resources or if it disappeared for 6.0 but I do think a single developer doc was way more useful than trying to search 150 pdfs/help files.  Just my .02.
 


I'd like to weigh in on the single Developer Guide issue. It was retired for a number of reasons. Yes, it was technically difficult to maintain because, as it approached and passed 300, then 400, then 500 pages, it simply pushed the capabilities of the tools we used to maintain it. But far more importantly, its sheer size and volume of content created more subtle barriers to innovation and maintenance. Material that went into it would tend to stay in it, because it would simply get lost in the sea. Extra difficulty was added to the task of locating and updating all of the material on a given topic.

Atomizing the documentation makes it much easier both to add new and to update existing material. It also allows us, in our HTML menu over the Learning  Resources, to cross-reference topics that cross boundaries.  And while you may find it less convenient to search those Learning Resource directories than a single large document, the fact is that there are, and have been for quite some time, many highly pertinent resources that are not part of the Developers Guide or the individual topic documents into which it was atomized. One of those resources (such as a code solution or its cover document) might just be the one that gives you the answer you need and saves you many hours of wandering down blind alleys. We can add such resources as they are created, without waiting for someone to integrate them into a ponderous Developers Guide.

And the search tools provided by Windows keep getting better.

One additional effort we have undertaken, which you may not have noticed, is to begin creating code solutions to accompany the topic documents (formerly DevGuide chapters) that contain all code snippets quoted in the chapter. These snippets are embedded in a compilable and runnable context, so that (a) we can see quickly when they go out of date, and (b) you can exercise, tweak, and otherwise experiment with them while trying to internalize the material. You can see the first two instances of these "Topic Document Snippets" solutions accompanying the Business Object Persistence and Property Interceptors documents. Yes, of course, we could have done this while the Developers Guide was a single document, but I believe it to be quite helpful to have the related resources co-located and segregated from other resources; and something about atomizing the Developers Guide also made the snippets solution initiative a more approachable project. The chunks are more bite-sized, not just for us, but for you.  It is my hope that, over time, we can remove many of the existing stand-alone code solutions in the Learning Resources by transplanting their relevant core material into a Topic Document snippets solution. Those have the great advantage of being much more tightly integrated with the main body of documentation; that, we hope, will make it easier for you to find code that addresses your concern of the moment, and to understand its place in the grand scheme of DevForce.

Hope you'll try the new paradigm out for a while before you pass final judgment!

Greg

Posted By: pk55
Date Posted: 20-Apr-2010 at 9:52am
Originally posted by GregD



And the search tools provided by Windows keep getting better.

 
I'm not sure it's more convenient to open Windows Explorer and search the Learning Resources for "mergestrategy", for example, and get 14 documents (some pdf; some code files) and then go to each file and open each up and then search again within the doc to find each reference until I see something that answers the question rather than opening one document and searching once but I understand why it's easier for you to maintain smaller components.  I just personally find the structure of the learning resources to be less than useful.  Sometimes you go to a pdf; sometimes it opens a windows explorer with a list of pdfs and code examples
 
 
 
 
 

Posted By: ting
Date Posted: 20-Apr-2010 at 11:11am

We are also working on getting the Learning Resources on the web and using a google site search for it.  The cool thing is that the search will pick stuff up from the forums too.

Posted By: pk55
Date Posted: 20-Apr-2010 at 11:32am

Sounds great.  Any time frame for that?

Posted By: ting
Date Posted: 20-Apr-2010 at 12:27pm
Probably 2-3 weeks.  It's a pretty big job and we have to work through some issues with google indexing.

Posted By: WardBell
Date Posted: 20-Apr-2010 at 1:10pm
Link to a Recipe For Converting EDMX v.1 to EDMX v.4
 
The RIA Services team has been asked this same question. Apparently they don't know of an automated solution either.
 
Another fellow picked up their current recommendation and blogged about it. Here's the link:
 
http://blogs.msdn.com/xusun/archive/2009/11/13/tips-on-updating-existing-ef-models-to-ef-4-0.aspx - http://blogs.msdn.com/xusun/archive/2009/11/13/tips-on-updating-existing-ef-models-to-ef-4-0.aspx
 
We will keep our antennae up in hopes a better approach arrives.


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