The latest version of DesiGen is now released, containing the latest improvements and bugfixes.
User feedback is most welcome.
Details on how to install this version can be found on the installation page of the documentation.
New in this release:
Upgrade to run on .NET 6, using a WPF host. This removes the reliance upon the experimental Mobile Blazor Bindings framework on which earlier versions of the application were built. NOTE: You must install the .NET 6 runtime for this version to execute against; failure to install this runtime will result in failure to run.
Various template bugfixes.
Upgrade CSLA templates to use latest release of CSLA.
Added EF Core Repository template.
Additional template unit tests for greater reliability.
Use of latest package versions to minimise the risk of vulnerabilities.
Known issues/limitations in this release:
The application will not run if installed inside of the "Program Files" or "Program Files (x86)" folders. This is a permissions problem that is out of my control. Please workaround this by installing it outside of these folders. The default location is C:\DotNotStandard\DesiGen.
Clicking on a link in the design menu causes unsaved changes made on the current page to be lost. The workaround is to click either the Next or Back button before navigating away from the design section.
There is still a slightly limited set of templates at the moment. We do not intend that we deliver all of the templates you will ever need; instead you are able to create your own. However, there are a number of solution quickstarts that we still intend to add, such as a template for a hybrid MAUI solution.
There is limited functionality to assist with collaboration between team members, including design reviews. We will assess what extra work is required in this area as part of a future development phase. The workaround for the moment is to interact via other channels. If you wish to do offline collaboration, we suggest generating a Word document, which you could print and review by hand, or use the notation features in built into Word to enable collaboration upon it.
There is no data management in place, such as the scheduled deletion or archiving of old designs, or log entries. The failure to clean up old log entries may cause your database to grow beyond your expection; please be mindful and allow sufficient space in your database for this slow growth.
All child CSLA objects are code generated to have async data access code. However, a limitation in CSLA 5.5 makes async inserts and updates unreliable in some UI technologies, especially WPF applications built using Mobile Blazor Bindings. It is recommended that repository interfaces and classes for child CSLA objects are changed to use synchronous methods for Insert, Update and Delete if any application hangs are encountered with generated code. This issue does not affect Fetch methods/operations, which can still benefit from async data access for maximum scalability. This limitation does NOT apply in CSLA 6, which has full async handling for child Insert, Update and Delete operations.
Whilst custom artefact templates can make use of artefact template helper types, at this stage only built-in helper types can be used. This is an intentional limitation because importing user-defined helper types needs careful consideration; importing external code could represent a security vulnerability if not handled correctly. This limitation will be removed in a future release, once the code to mitigate the security risk has been completed.