J
jheising
Why has the VS.NET 2005 dataset designer changed so much from the 2003
designer? The 2003 designer gave you so much more power over the way
the dataset was represented in XML.
It seems like the designer has gone to a much more Database-centric
approach, rather than an XML-centric approach. While I can understand a
need for this for users who use datasets as way to work with remote
databases, we typically use datasets as convenient ways to store
structured data on the local disk (using the ReadXml and WriteXml
commands on the dataset). In our case, a traditional database is never
involved. As a result it is very nice to have control over how the XML
is stored. It seems like all this control has been removed or hidden
from the VS.NET 2005 dataset designer. Here's what I've found:
- You can no longer define if columns are stored as elements or
attributes. It seems to default to elements (which result in larger XML
files)
- Nested elements/tables are cumbersome. You can define a nested table
as a DataRelation but it requires a common key between the two tables.
Seems like a foreign key in the child element is repetitive and a waste
of space. In the 2003 designer you could just drag a child table unto a
parent table and be done with it.
- I always liked the ability to set the table primary key and have the
Dataset code generator create a function called "FindByXXXX". VS.NET
2005 doesn't seem to do this when you use a dataset generated by the
2005 designer.
Is there a way within VS.NET 2005 to get these features back? The 2005
XSD designer seems to still have all this, but I can't seem to find a
way to convert the XSD file into a dataset. In 2003 you could right
click the screen and select "Generate Dataset". Where has all this
gone????
-alpha
designer? The 2003 designer gave you so much more power over the way
the dataset was represented in XML.
It seems like the designer has gone to a much more Database-centric
approach, rather than an XML-centric approach. While I can understand a
need for this for users who use datasets as way to work with remote
databases, we typically use datasets as convenient ways to store
structured data on the local disk (using the ReadXml and WriteXml
commands on the dataset). In our case, a traditional database is never
involved. As a result it is very nice to have control over how the XML
is stored. It seems like all this control has been removed or hidden
from the VS.NET 2005 dataset designer. Here's what I've found:
- You can no longer define if columns are stored as elements or
attributes. It seems to default to elements (which result in larger XML
files)
- Nested elements/tables are cumbersome. You can define a nested table
as a DataRelation but it requires a common key between the two tables.
Seems like a foreign key in the child element is repetitive and a waste
of space. In the 2003 designer you could just drag a child table unto a
parent table and be done with it.
- I always liked the ability to set the table primary key and have the
Dataset code generator create a function called "FindByXXXX". VS.NET
2005 doesn't seem to do this when you use a dataset generated by the
2005 designer.
Is there a way within VS.NET 2005 to get these features back? The 2005
XSD designer seems to still have all this, but I can't seem to find a
way to convert the XSD file into a dataset. In 2003 you could right
click the screen and select "Generate Dataset". Where has all this
gone????
-alpha