I’m just being picky but I was researching how does Entity Framework generates the DLL from an EDMX file and I saw this on msdn:
The Entity Data Model Designer (Entity Designer) stores model and mapping information in an .edmx file at design time. At build time the Entity Designer uses the information in an .edmx file to create the .csdl, .ssdl, and .msl files that are needed by the Entity Framework at runtime.
I actually found strange it saying that “at build time” the .csdl, .ssdl, and .msl are created so I decided to test.
I know that the files are generated based on the TablePerTypeStrategy.xaml flow, so I removed it and tried to build my the application. It succeeded.
When I picked “generate database from model” I did get an error saying the TablePerTypeStrategy.xaml file was missing.
So I got confused, clearly from this test the generation is being made when I try to generate the database, not build the application.
What am I missing here?
Those files (.csdl, .ssdl, .msl) are generated at build time, and embedded as resources, into the assembly for use by the Entity Framework classes at runtime. Generating a database from a model is a different process that generates a database creation script.