Entity Parsing

Entity parsing is the foundation of code generation. This document explains how the tool parses entity classes to extract information needed for code generation.

Parsing Methods

There are two main methods for parsing entities:

1. Roslyn Static Analysis: Parse entity class source code directly using Roslyn to extract property information, attributes, and relationships.

2. EntityFramework Core Design: Use EF Core's design-time services to model the database context and extract comprehensive entity information including:

   • Entity properties and types
   • Relationships (one-to-one, one-to-many, many-to-many)
   • Constraints and indexes
   • Navigation properties

XML Documentation

XML documentation comments are extracted using XmlDocHelper to provide descriptions for:

• Entity classes
• Properties
• Enums and their values

This information is used in generated code comments and API documentation.

Property Analysis

For each entity property, the parser extracts:

• Name and type
• Required/optional status
• Maximum length constraints
• Data annotations and attributes
• Relationships to other entities
• XML documentation comments

Usage in Code Generation

The parsed entity information is used by generators to:

• Create DTO models with appropriate properties
• Generate Manager methods for CRUD operations
• Build Controller endpoints with proper routing
• Produce accurate API documentation