Question

I have the following problem to solve:

1. Currently we have a metadata tree of the databse schema that has a in-memory representation and a proprietary schema XML serialization as well (that is we can read/write all the in-memory data to an xml file).

Currently I am developing a Visual DSL solution (diagram-like), to allow easier operations with the datbase schema and need guidance in the following:

I want to populate the DSL model from the metadata tree that contains the database schema information, and I am not sure which is the best way (I am new to DSL so I am not sure whether I see all the possible ways of doing it). So far I know of the following:

1. On creating the DSL item in Visual Studio, I fetch out the schema creating a metadata tree, then I serialize it to a the DSL’s XML schema inside the DSL file created for the new item. That way when the DSL is opened it will deserialize correctly. However this requires a lot of code to translate our own data to such required by the DSL.

2. I would like, if possible to instantiate a metadat tree, to traverse it, changing the dsl model at the same time through code/API.

So any guidance into that direction (the way you are doing it) will be valuable for me.

Answer 1

You might try asking the DSL forum on MSDN: http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/dslvsarchx/threads