Schema Code Generator

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Version 0.57ß - 13 Jul 2006
Copyright © 2006 Businessware Architects		START

Code-XS adds the following features to the code generated by XSD.EXE:

Corrected use of elements with reserved-keyword names.
Support for multi-included schemas using relative schemaLocation directory specifiers.
Support for single or multi-namespace, multi-file schemas.
Multi-file code generation where each schema file has a corresponding code file.
Fields are made private and set/get properties defined for each field.
Un-bounded schema element sets are held in typed collections which provide add, insert, remove functionality and indexed referencing.
Default construction of elements if they are referenced but not yet created.
Correct handling of defaulted schema attribute values.
Correct handling of both qualified and unqualified schema element and attribute forms.
Correct generation of the schemaLocation or noNamespaceSchemaLocation attribute in the root element mapping to the referenced schema used during code generation.
Some language fixup constructs to avoid compile errors. This is particularly important for the correct code generation in the VB.NET case.
Standard serialization support to easily serialize to and from XML strings. This includes methods in each class as well as a separate serialization support class.
Extensive VS/nDoc/MSDN compliant documentation comments.
Generates fully-compliant serialization classes that can be passed as parameters and accepted as return values to ASP.NET web-service methods.
Successfully generates code for very large and complex schemas.
Generates code for VS2005/.NET 2.0, and VS2003/.NET 1.1.

Update History

Version 0.57ß - 13 Jul 2006

Currently still provides complete support for VS2005/.NET 2.0, and VS2003/.NET 1.1.
Collection class bug-fixes

The following bugs-fixes are implemented:

Names for schema complex types an elements with multiple occurrences can now include the phrase 'Collection'.
Return types and parameters for the standard collection methods and properties now use the correct collection element type.
The ToArray and FromArray corrected for double-index ragged array return and parameter types, respectively.

Note: CodeXS supports ragged array serialization with a maximum array rank of 2.

Override modifier on sub-classed virtual methods and properties

A more general solution has been provided to correct the error where a virtual attribute is declared that should be an override attribute.

Type instantiation support

Type instantiation (vs. primitive non-instantable types) checking is enhanced. This should reduce the occurrence of the (usually recoverable) exception: "Cannot determine type <type>''. Type assumed instantiable.".

Additional documentation support

Documentation utility methods have been added to allow for more extensive and easier documentation of the generated code.

ISchemaObjectReader interface removed

This interface has been removed for the following reasons:

The ICodeModifer interface provides the correct entry points for code modifer enhancements requiring direct reading from the XML schemas.
The ICodeModifer interface now supports the .NET 2.0 SchemaImporterExtension class implementation in the ICodeModifier interface.
The ICodeModifer interface supports initialization, which can be used as an entry point to pre-read schemas.

Logging support for ICodeModifier implementers

Logging using the CodeXS logging implementation can be used directly from an ICodeModifier implementor in an external assembly.

Missing declarations and definitions in the code

A bug-fix was implemented to avoid this error, and appears to be working as expected.

Assembly and file version control

Assembly and file version numbers now correspond with the public release version numbers.

XML schema documentation add-in

An ICodeModifier implementation add-in has been provided which reads schema <xs:documentation/> tags and injects the documentation into the generated code documentation comments.

This add-in is implemented by reading the XML schema(s) for the generated code files, and matching schema-types to generated code types. This add-in is implemented to read and modify the CodeDOM's after the other code-generators have executed and therefore post-processes the CodeDOM. It has been implemented to work for both .NET 2.0, and .NET 1.1.

For .NET 2.0, the CXSC application commandline is:

cxsc {..} -m="CodeXS.Schema.StandardCodeModifier.dll","SchemaDocumentation.dll"

For .NET 1.1, the CXSC application commadline is:

cxsc {..} -m="CodeXS.Schema.StandardCodeModifier.Net1_1.dll","SchemaDocumentation.Net1_1.dll"

NOTE: The CodeXS online tool does not utilize this add-in.

.NET 2.0 SchemaImporterExtension class

For .NET 2.0, the abstract class System.Xml.Serialization.Advanced.SchemaImporterExtension has been provided for sub-classing. A sub-classed instance receives call-backs via the sub-class implemented ImportSchemaType methods, and provides a context for the CodeDOM type/member and the System.Xml.Schema.XmlSchemaObject that is used for the CodeDOM construct. This allows a code-modifier to modify the CodeDOM while it is being constructed by the code generator. In general, this provides a much safer and simpler way to relate the XML schema objects to their CodeDOM counterparts.

CodeXS provides complete support for writing SchemaImporterExtension implementers.

Version 0.56ß - 19 Jun 2006

Currently still provides complete support for VS2005/.NET 2.0, and VS2003/.NET 1.1.
Updated collection object generated code

Updated the collection object generated code:

Re-implemented the FromArray method with less error prone code.

Re-implemented the ToArray method with less error prone code.

Corrected the return value for the Add method. Now returns int instead of void.

My thanks to Dave Waterworth for this fix - Willem Fourie

New field names

This version uses a different scheme when renaming class field members. This resulted from various XML schemas using elements with the name 'id' and 'Id', respectively. In prior versions this resulted in the same field name '__Id'. In this version they are distinct: '__id' and '__Id', respectively.

Export code exception fix

During the import/export of the XmlTypeMapping objects, the import/export sequence is now done via an explicit array list object. This avoids the exception: 'collection changed during iteration'.

Handling of XSD elements and XSD types with the same name

In prior versions, this caused a code generation exception. However, often XML schemas are defining elements with the same name as their type names. For those cases, the single class generated is correct, as it represents completely both the element and the type. For this reason, the prior exception has been changed to provide a warning message in the CodeXS.log file, and generation continues.

It is strongly recommended that these warning messages are noted, as they do provide notification of potential de-/-serialization problems when the generated code is used.

XmlChoiceIdentifierAttribute handling

This attribute was not handled correctly in prior versions, resulting in de-/-serialization exceptions. This is now working and relies on the following changes in this version:

The class properties intended for de-/-serialization now set/get the original field types: In prior versions, if the property set/get type was an ObjectCollection, it now sets/gets an object[] array object, which is the original type generated in the CodeDOM. The underlying field is still an ObjectCollection type, and the collection ToArray and FromArray methods are used to get/set (respectively) the field correctly. Using the original scalar types for de-/-serialization avoids the exception: 'ItemsElementName should be of type <type>[]'.
To support XML schemas that include an xs:any element as part of the enumeration choice types, all XmlAnyElementAttribute attributes for a member that also has an XmlChoiceIndentiferAttribute attribute are removed.
To support XML schemas that include an xs:any element as part of the enumeration choice types, all System.Xml.Serialization.XmlEnumAttribute("##any:") attributes are removed from the choice identifier enumerated type members.
The attribute name is changed from 'ItemsElementName' to '_ItemsElementName', and the normal property generation correctly generates the _ItemsElementName array set/get property, using the FromArray and ToArray methods of the referenced collection class.

Version 0.55ß - 14 Jan 2006

Generates code for VS2005/.NET 2.0, and VS2003/.NET 1.1

The code generated by the .NET 2.0 version of CodeXS WILL NOT build in VS2003/.NET 1.1, primarily because the generated objects are implemented using partial classes.

The code generated by the .NET 1.1 version of CodeXS WILL (almost always) build and execute correctly in VS2005/.NET 2.0.

'Type xxx:yyy not found' error during schema import operations

This error occurs as a result of the target schema not being compiled in all cases. Mostly, this error did not occur running under .NET 1.1 but occurs frequently in .NET 2.0. The error has been corrected for both versions of the code-generator.

Extensive file logging

CodeXS now logs its progress and any errors/warnings to a log file in the code generation output zip-file. The log file name is 'CodeXS.log'. Please check this file for info if you are experiencing problems.

Version 0.54ß - 03 Mar 2005

Naming of XmlArrayAttribute serialization attributes

Fixed to ensure that any pre-existing XmlArrayAttribute attributes are always named, to ensure correct tags when serializing.

Handling of elements containing arrays of arrays

This version correctly serializes arrays of arrays including user-types, and unbounded xs:base64Binary and xs:hexBinary types.

Ad-hoc serialization attribute errors

The following XSD code-generator errors have been corrected:

Removes the namespace qualifier in some XmlArrayItemAttribute's that produces the error: 'The Form property may not be 'Unqualified' when an explicit Namespace property is present'.

For multi-dimensional arrays, fixes the XmlArrayItemAttribute typeof argument to reflect the correct array-rank of the array item.

Handling of XSD elements and XSD types with the same name

It is valid to specify an XML schema using an xs:element and xs:<type> with exactly the same name. The schema constructs may also be related by setting the xs:element as a type of xs:<type>, or they can be completely independent.

In both cases, the XSD generator generates a single class, where the one class overwrites the existing class with the same name. As CodeXS takes the output of the XSD generator as input, this cannot be directly fixed. The current solution is to throw an InvalidOperationException with the message:

Namespace already contains type '<class-name>'

<class-name> can normally be referenced directly to the schema xs:element and xs:<type> by name.

Version 0.53ß - 22 Dec 2004

Serialization of typed collections as arrays

A problem was reported which occurs occasionally with the serialization of typed-collections, where CodeXS renames the class atribute by adding a leading underscore (as per Version 0.52ß Beta below). The serialization of the collection correctly as an XmlArray does not occur and serialization fails, or there is information loss. This is corrected by CodeXS now adding the following attribute to the code:

[System.Xml.Serialization.XmlArrayAttribute("Rows")]

where the collection to be serialized has to be tag-named as "Rows", and it is a typed-collection object.

Typed-collections for xs: types

Prior to this version, CodeXS generated typed-collections for only complex-types or collections which were generated of type System.Object (normally when XSD choice elements are specified). CodeXS now correctly generates typed-collections for all xs: primitives such as xs:string, xs:byte, etc.

schemaLocation, noNamespaceSchemaLocation attributes for XmlRootAttribute'd classes

CodeXS generates these attributes automatically for all XmlRootAttribute'd classes. However, in reality these do not always define root elements for XML generation correctly. CodeXS now checks the entire XSD set, and if the XmlRootAttribute'd class is referenced or instanced anywhere in the generated code, the schemaLocation/ noNamespaceSchemaLocation attribute code is not generated. In practice, this results in code which works for most cases.

Version 0.52ß - 21 Nov 2004

Default construction of elements

Turning off default construction in Version 0.51ß was a hasty and unwise decision. This option is now turned-on by default, and provides the following additional changes:

The field-names now are changed to have two leading underscores, and the first character of the name changed to lower-case. eg. the elment 'DefaultValue' will generate a field-name '__defaultValue'.
A serialization-only property is provided which when called by the XmlSerializer will NOT result in automatic instantiation of the oject. The property has the same name as the original element name with an added leading underscore. For the example above, the serialization property name will be '_DefaultValue'. A suitable serialization attribute is provided to ensure the correct serialization name ('DefaultValue') is used during serialization.
A get/set accessor property is also provided which will provide automatic instantiation if required, as before. The property is provided with an XmlIgnore attribute so that it is excluded during serialization. As before, this property name is the same as the orginal element. For the example above, the accessor property name would be 'DefaultValue'.

My thanks to Abe Weinograd for suggesting this elegant solution - Willem Fourie

Element/attribute form qualification

Form qualification now works correctly. In some instances, the previous versions did not generate correct attribute forms for all element attributes.

Version 0.51ß - 13 Nov 2004

Default construction of elements

Turned off now by default for the CodeXS online tool. A flag has been included in the generator source code which can enable/disable this feature. This solves the problem of null elements being constructed automatically during serialization - thus rendering them effectively 'non-optional' when the XML is generated.

Choice element handling

Choice elements now work correctly. For a single choice item (maxOccurs="1"), if default construction is turned on, a System.Object object is not instantiated. For a mutiple choice items (maxOccurs="unbounded", an ObjectCollection object is created (and new'ed if default construction is turned on). the ObjectCollection is a typed-collection for the type System.Object. The compiler error var = new object[]() obviously no longer occurs.

Version 0.50ß - 11 Sep 2004

First Release