Hi Colin:
I've recently begun using OR/M tools aggressively, as has my partner at
devbuzz. Two exceptional products come to mind (although I'll mention
another one I liked but haven't tested exhaustively).
First is llbl Gen Pro
http://forums.devbuzz.com/Using_OR/M_and_Code_Generators/forumid_28/tt.htm
Derek was the first one to tip me off to them and I had been using Deklarit
exclusively. For the price, it's a steal It's a first rate product with
about a 3 day learning curve to get really good with it, about 10 days
before you start REALLY shaving off time. you'll be able to use it for most
stuff within 2 hours though. In the spirit of full disclosure, we did get a
free copy to test with and we loved it..but I believe they are going to be
an advertiser at
www.devbuzz.com in the near future. However, this has
absolutely nothing to do with my assessment
If you click here
http://www.knowdotnet.com/williamryan.html click on my
deklarit link. I've used deklarit for just over a year and a half and I'm
very partial to it. Both products are first rate, and I think deklarit is a
little more impressive, but it's also a bit more money.
You will not go wrong with either of these products. Most people are
superstitiously too scared to use ORM tools (I know I was) but once you get
the hang of them, you'll wonder how you lived without them. Sure, DAAB is
a great tool but it's not writing Procs for you and it's not generating
params for you (to some end it does some of this, but not anywhere in the
same league as either of the two products above).
I've hassled both companies with tech support questions and I have found
both to be first class when it comes to support. essentially, I'm wimping
out b/c I really like both products and I don't think one is notably better
than the other. I can tell you that if you do a lot of GUI based db apps,
either will pay for themselves within 30 hours b/c you will be that much
more productive.
I also played with a product called Objectz by Mongoose Solutions
http://www.mongoosesolutions.com/mg/objectz_net.aspx. From my dealings with
it, I found it very cool and pretty much like the other two. It may be
better, it may not be. It's definitely the cheapest. However, I didn't
test it enough to stick my neck out for it. I will stick my neck out for
either of the above two products, and I can tell you that for $50.00, you'll
get your money's worth with this (and maybe more, I just didn't test it
enough).
Glad to see you are looking into ORM b/c it's a hard paradigm shift.
However, once you do it, I'll bet you you'll be glad you did.
BTW, I posted the link to our ORM forum above. My partner at devbuzz has
used llblGen extensively and he does some very very heavy hitting
consulting. Drop him a a line in the forums if you have any specific
questions.
Cheers,
Bill
