Question

Is there a way with dapper-dot-net to use an attribute to specify column names that should be used and not the property name?

public class Code
{
    public int Id { get; set; }
    public string Type { get; set; }
    // This is called code in the table.
    public string Value { get; set; }
    public string Description { get; set; }
}

I’d like to be able to name my properties whatever I choose. Our database has no consistent naming convention.

If not with dapper, are there any additional similar options?

Answer 1

You can also check out Dapper-Extensions.

Dapper Extensions is a small library that complements Dapper by adding
basic CRUD operations (Get, Insert, Update, Delete) for your POCOs.

It has an auto class mapper, where you can specify your custom field mappings. For example:

public class CodeCustomMapper : ClassMapper<Code>
{
    public CodeCustomMapper()
    {
        base.Table("Codes");
        Map(f => f.Id).Key(KeyType.Identity);
        Map(f => f.Type).Column("Type");
        Map(f => f.Value).Column("Code");
        Map(f => f.Description).Column("Foo");
    }
}

Then you just do:

using (SqlConnection cn = new SqlConnection(_connectionString))
{
    cn.Open();
    var code= new Code{ Type = "Foo", Value = "Bar" };
    int id = cn.Insert(code);
    cn.Close();
}

Keep in mind that you must keep your custom maps in the same assembly as your POCO classes. The library uses reflection to find custom maps and it only scans one assembly.

Update:

You can now use SetMappingAssemblies to register a list of assemblies to scan:

DapperExtensions.SetMappingAssemblies(new[] { typeof(MyCustomClassMapper).Assembly });