Using model utilities(ODL V6.x)

Applies To: # OData Core lib v6 supportedOData Core lib v6 supported OData Core Lib V6

The model utilities are made up of many useful extension methods to various EDM classes and interfaces (e.g., IEdmModel, IEdmType, ...). The extension methods are intended to implement some commonly reusable logic to simplify the code handling the entity data models. These methods can be roughly classified into five categories:

  • Searching. The naming convention is Find<ElementName> (e.g., IEdmModel.FindDeclaredType());
  • Predicate. The naming convention is Is<ElementName> (e.g., IEdmOperation.IsFunction());
  • Information. The naming convention is <InformationName> (e.g., IEdmNavigationSource.EntityType());
  • Getter. The naming convention is Get<Name> (e.g., IEdmModel.GetTermValue<T>);
  • Setter. The naming convention is Set<Name> (e.g., IEdmModel.SetEdmVersion).

The mostly used parts are Searching, Predicate and Information. The extension methods of the latter two parts are trivial because they work literally as their names imply. So this section will mainly cover Searching. We will continue to use and extend the sample from the previous sections.

Add the Sample Code

In the Program.cs file, insert the following code into the Program class:

namespace EdmLibSample
{
    class Program
    {
        public static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            ...
            WriteModelToCsdl(model, "csdl.xml");
#region     !!!INSERT THE CODE BELOW!!!
            TestExtensionMethods(model);
#endregion
            var model1 = ReadModel("csdl.xml");
            ...
        }
        ...
        private static void TestExtensionMethods(IEdmModel model)
        {
            // Find an entity set.
            var customerSet = model.FindDeclaredEntitySet("Customers");
            Console.WriteLine("{0} '{1}' found.", customerSet.NavigationSourceKind(), customerSet.Name);
            // Find any kind of navigation source (entity set or singleton).
            var vipCustomer = model.FindDeclaredNavigationSource("VipCustomer");
            Console.WriteLine("{0} '{1}' found.", vipCustomer.NavigationSourceKind(), vipCustomer.Name);
            // Find a type (complex or entity or enum).
            var orderType = model.FindDeclaredType("Sample.NS.Order");
            Console.WriteLine("{0} type '{1}' found.", orderType.TypeKind, orderType.FullName());
            var addressType = model.FindDeclaredType("Sample.NS.Address");
            Console.WriteLine("{0} type '{1}' found.", addressType.TypeKind, addressType);
            // Find derived type of some type.
            var workAddressType = model.FindAllDerivedTypes((IEdmStructuredType)addressType).Single();
            Console.WriteLine("Type '{0}' is the derived from '{1}'.", ((IEdmSchemaType)workAddressType).Name, addressType.Name);
            // Find an operation.
            var rateAction = model.FindDeclaredOperations("Sample.NS.Rate").Single();
            Console.WriteLine("{0} '{1}' found.", rateAction.SchemaElementKind, rateAction.Name);
            // Find an operation import.
            var mostValuableFunctionImport = model.FindDeclaredOperationImports("MostValuable").Single();
            Console.WriteLine("{0} '{1}' found.", mostValuableFunctionImport.ContainerElementKind, mostValuableFunctionImport.Name);
            // Find an annotation and get its value.
            var maxCountAnnotation = (IEdmValueAnnotation)model.FindDeclaredVocabularyAnnotations(customerSet).Single();
            var maxCountValue = ((IEdmIntegerValue)maxCountAnnotation.Value).Value;
            Console.WriteLine("'{0}' = '{1}' on '{2}'", maxCountAnnotation.Term.Name, maxCountValue, ((IEdmEntitySet)maxCountAnnotation.Target).Name);
        }
    }
}

Run the Sample

From the DEBUG menu, click Start Without Debugging to build and run the sample. The console window should not disappear after program exits.

Screenshot of Microsoft Visual Studio's Debug tab, with the Start Without Debugging option being highlighted.

The output of the console window should look like the following:

Screenshot of the console window showing the output without debugging.