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Documentation for Entity Framework Core and Entity Framework 6
https://docs.microsoft.com/ef/
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Document using argument files for `dotnet ef dbcontext scaffold` Command #4381

Open jmrtnz94 opened 1 year ago

jmrtnz94 commented 1 year ago

The problem I am trying to solve is the repetitive and cumbersome process of providing command-line options every time I need to refresh my entities using the dotnet ef dbcontext scaffold command. Currently, developers are required to pass various options, such as connection strings, provider names, table names, and more, as command-line arguments each time they scaffold or update their entities.

This approach becomes inconvenient, especially when working on large projects with frequent updates to the database schema or when multiple developers are involved. It can lead to errors, inconsistency in options, and a lack of centralized configuration management.

To address this problem, I propose introducing support for a configuration file, such as a JSON or YAML file, where developers can store commonly used options and settings for the dotnet ef dbcontext scaffold command. By utilizing a configuration file, developers can define the required options and customize the scaffolding process in a centralized manner, reducing the need to repeatedly provide command-line arguments.

This enhancement would simplify the process of refreshing entities by allowing developers to reference a configuration file that contains the desired options, eliminating the manual input of command-line arguments and providing a more streamlined and efficient experience.

The configuration file should be similar to EF Core Power Tools configuration.

This may be a separate feature request as I do not believe the tool support this but in the configuration we should also allow certain columns to be excluded and thus not imported into our entities.

ErikEJ commented 1 year ago

@jmrtnz94 there is now a CLI version of EF Core Power Tools!

ErikEJ commented 1 year ago

You can always put command line parameters in a file...

jmrtnz94 commented 1 year ago

@jmrtnz94 there is now a CLI version of EF Core Power Tools!

That is great news! The tool is great, a lot of engineers at the company use it. The reasoning behind this request is that some of us use Rider and well the tool is not available via Rider's plugins. Just wanted a consistent way for all engineers to refresh their entities regardless of their IDEs. The CLI version of EF Core Power Tools should help us.

@ErikEJ is there a wiki on how to install & setup?

jmrtnz94 commented 1 year ago

Nvm I found the wiki - https://github.com/ErikEJ/EFCorePowerTools/blob/master/src/GUI/efcpt/readme.md

Thanks a ton!

ErikEJ commented 1 year ago

@jmrtnz94 of course: https://github.com/ErikEJ/EFCorePowerTools/tree/master/src/GUI/efcpt

ajcvickers commented 1 year ago

Note from triage: outside of using the Power Tools, the recommended way to handle this is through argument files. However, we should doc this.