FAQs - ApexSQL Code

Use these controls to set the values for these ApexSQL Code object model properties:

These properties don't "do anything" on their own but you can use them in a template to make a programmatic decision. For example you can write one template to create Insert, Execute, Update, Delete and Select Procedures but embed checks for "if Code.Operations.DoDelete = True then ..." to see if the user wants to output the Delete. He/she might want to only create Insert procedures. This way you can avoid writing 4 separate templates each for a different procedure type.

Since this is such a common occurrence it was decided to feature these controls prominently on the interface.

ApexSQL Code supports ANY language used with SQL server, non languages like Documentation (just text) and SQL itself.

ApexSQL Code has built in support for .NET Data Type mapping.

Language syntax definitions exist for the following languages:

Visual Basic
ASP / VBScript
Java / Javascript
HTML
Pascal
Perl
PHP
C#
SQL
VBScript
XML
VB.NET
Documentation (all black text)

Yes. ApexSQL Code works seamlessly with all supported SQL Server versions.

Save Selection saves the state of IsChecked property (state of check boxes) and the value of Alias property for objects that are displayed in Schema Explorer.

Write it yourself! ApexSQL Code is built to allow users to create their own templates vs being an out of the box canned code generation tool. The power of ApexSQL Code is providing a value added environment to allow developers to create their own templates as easily as possible.

Actually ApexSQL Code templates are easy to write for a couple of reasons:

IntelliPrompt: IntelliPrompt built into the ApexSQL Code Template editor itself allows you to walk down the object model without referring to the documentation. You can select from a choice of properties that ApexSQL Code serves up to you automatically.

Powerful error handling: ApexSQL Code will handle compile-time errors and to display the EXACT line of code where the bad line of code exists. To point to the template source code, set Use Line Pragmas option in the Options dialog.

Popular .Net Languages: Templates can be written in one of the two most popular .Net languages - Visual Basic .Net or C#.

Good Support: If you have any problem or questions you can post them on the ApexSQL Support Forum and get timely responses and free support.

A good place to start is to take an existing template and modify it somewhat to suit your needs. You can also use the Template Wizard to walk through the steps of template creation.

A variety of example templates are included in the installation. Every template that begins with "Example" is an example template that illustrates a variety of objects, collections and concepts. Look for these templates in the Application Directory, Templates/v2005.10/Examples folder.

But there are many other templates as well that show real world code generation examples in ASP, C#, SQL and other languages. You just need to explore Templates/v2005.10 in the Template Explorer panel.

Yes, the ApexSQL Code installation includes lines of pre-written templates that cover Visual Basic, VB.NET, C#, SQL, Delphi and ASP. These are installed in the installation of the application.

Yes - set the FileOutputMode property in the Template Property panel to SingleFile / MultiFile and it will write all template output to one file for all the Checked objects.

You can set default file naming templates in the Options form using tags such as {Server}, {Type} and so on. For example, {Type}_{Owner}_{Name} will result in a code generated off the stored procedure byroyalty being called "procedure_dbo_byroyalty.sql".

If you append to a single file tags like {Type} and {Database} might be more appropriate, for example, {Database}_{Type} would render to "Northwind_Procedures.sql".

Also you can define filename template in template’s property OutputFileName or redefine it on File Output dialog.

The file extension is determined by the mapping in Options - File Extension and associated with the selected Language for the template. So if C# is chosen then the file extension will be .cs or whatever the file extension for C# is changed to in this Option tab. This is customizable by the user.

Please see the comprehensive online references:

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms228593(VS.80).aspx for C# and

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms234437(VS.80).aspx for VB.Net.

Simply type Code. and you can start the object model from the top and begin to walk down through it.

Make sure the Enable IntelliPrompt checkbox is checked.

1. <% code %> - defines code area to be processed

2. <%= expression %> - expression to evaluate at runtime. It is equal to:

<% Out.Write(expression) %>  for VB.Net or

<% Out.Write(expression); %>  for C#

3. <%# custom_class_members %> - code declaration (in term of C#/VB.NET – class members), allows you defining the custom class members (functions/procedures/variables).

Use the standard .Net classes to do your file processing instead of ApexSQL Code. Set the File Output Mode property in Template Property Page to Suppress and this will tell ApexSQL Code to suppress any File I/O operations allowing you to assume complete control.

Use Example_FileWriting.ptpx as an example of how to do this

Yes, ApexSQL Code supports unlimited count of the Include files.

Yes, first you should define you assemblies in the Import Assemblies property of a template and declare needed namespaces in the Import Namespaces property. Then you can instantiate your objects from the imported assemblies.

Use <%% instead of <% in template.

Use System.Diagnostics.Debug or System.Diagnostics.Trace classes from .Net Framework. To use System.Diagnostics.Debug please ensure that Generate Debug Info option is checked (Options dialog -> Processing tab). For example:

VB.Net

<%

Debug.WriteLine("My Debug Message!!!")

%>

C#

<%

Debug.WriteLine("My Debug Message!!!");

%>

See also the Example_Tracing.ptpx template.

Use code declaration delimiter and define it as you are writing in the class scope.

VB.Net

<%#

Private Const MyConstant As String = "constant"

%>

C#

<%#

private const string MyConstant = "constant";

%>

It is described in the help file: Templates -> Template Properties topic.

Find the Alias property in the Schema Browser Property Page. By default an alias value is the object name. This property is editable and you can overwrite that.

Custom Properties are accessible as members of your template. You just need to type the Custom Property name for accessing. For example, to obtain a value of the custom property MyCustomProperty of a string type you should write <%string customPropertyValue = MyCustomProperty%>.

1. In VB.NET you should use a sequence of two double-quote characters ( "" ).

Out.WriteLine("""") ' This prints out: "

2. In C# you should use an escape sequence \".

Out.WriteLine("\""); // This prints out: "

No, this is data-oriented approach, but our ApexSQL Code model is structure-oriented and it is not applicable for the described task.

To get a Table from Code.Database.Tables by name, you should pass a qualified name of table as a parameter:

currentTable = Code.Database.Tables("[dbo].[Employees]")

To determine, whether a particular column has an associated default value, you should check a value of Column.SQLDefault property. If Column.SQLDefault is not null (Nothing in VB), the Column.SQLDefault.TextBody property contains an expression of the bound Default and the Column.SQLDefault.Name contains a name of expression of the bound Default. This is shown in Example_Column.ptpx template. Below there is a sample (c - Column object):

If c.SQLDefault.Name IsNot Nothing Then

Out.WriteLine("Default Name:" & vbTab & c.SQLDefault.Name)

Out.WriteLine("Text body:" & c.SQLDefault.TextBody)

End If