Article
11/18/2011

TableAttribute Class

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Designates a class as an entity class that is associated with a database table.

Inheritance Hierarchy

System.Object
System.Attribute
System.Data.Linq.Mapping.TableAttribute

Namespace: System.Data.Linq.Mapping
Assembly: System.Data.Linq (in System.Data.Linq.dll)

Syntax

'Declaration
<AttributeUsageAttribute(AttributeTargets.Class, AllowMultiple := False, Inherited := False)> _
Public NotInheritable Class TableAttribute _
    Inherits Attribute

[AttributeUsageAttribute(AttributeTargets.Class, AllowMultiple = false, Inherited = false)]
public sealed class TableAttribute : Attribute

The TableAttribute type exposes the following members.

Constructors

	Name	Description
	TableAttribute	Initializes a new instance of the TableAttribute class.

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Properties

	Name	Description
	Name	Gets or sets the name of the table or view.

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Methods

	Name	Description
	Equals	Infrastructure. Returns a value that indicates whether this instance is equal to a specified object. (Inherited from Attribute.)
	Finalize	Allows an object to try to free resources and perform other cleanup operations before the Object is reclaimed by garbage collection. (Inherited from Object.)
	GetHashCode	Returns the hash code for this instance. (Inherited from Attribute.)
	GetType	Gets the Type of the current instance. (Inherited from Object.)
	Match	When overridden in a derived class, returns a value that indicates whether this instance equals a specified object. (Inherited from Attribute.)
	MemberwiseClone	Creates a shallow copy of the current Object. (Inherited from Object.)
	ToString	Returns a string that represents the current object. (Inherited from Object.)

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Remarks

Use this attribute to designate a class as an entity class that is associated with a database table or view. LINQ to SQL treats classes that have the TableAttribute attribute as persistent classes.

LINQ to SQL supports only single-table mapping. That is, an entity class must be mapped to exactly one database table, and you cannot map a database table to multiple classes at the same time.

You can use the Name property of the TableAttribute attribute to specify a name for the table, and you can optionally use the schema name to qualify a table name. If you do not specify a name by using the Name property, the table name is assumed to be the same as the class name.

Schema-qualified Names

You can optionally use the schema name to qualify a table name. By default, the token to the left of the first period in the Name string is considered to be the schema name. The remainder of the name is considered to be the table name. The provider quotes the table name as appropriate. For example, the LINQ to SQL provider for SQL Server makes sure that brackets are used at least where they are needed.

Note:
In some cases, you must explicitly quote attributes because the SQL Server provider cannot auto-quote. The following table shows some examples.

Case	Example: Identifier Name	Example: Expected String in Attributes	Otherwise…
Schema name contains a period	Schema: "A.B" Table: "C"	"[A.B].C"	The first period is assumed to separate the schema name from the table name.
Schema/Table name starts with @	"@SomeName"	"[@SomeName]"	Assumed to be a parameter name.
Schema starts with [ and ends with ]	"[Schema.Table]"	"[[Schema].[Table]]]"	The unquoted identifier resembles a quoted identifier.
Table starts with [ and ends with ]	"[Table]"	"[[Table]]]"	The unquoted identifier resembles a quoted identifier.

Topic	Location
Attribute-Based Mapping (LINQ to SQL)	LINQ to SQL
The LINQ to SQL Object Model	LINQ to SQL
How to: Represent Tables as Classes (LINQ to SQL)	LINQ to SQL
How to: Map Inheritance Hierarchies (LINQ to SQL)	LINQ to SQL
Attribute-Based Mapping (LINQ to SQL)	LINQ to SQL
The LINQ to SQL Object Model	LINQ to SQL
How to: Represent Tables as Classes (LINQ to SQL)	LINQ to SQL
How to: Map Inheritance Hierarchies (LINQ to SQL)	LINQ to SQL

Version Information

Silverlight for Windows Phone

Supported in: Windows Phone OS 7.1

Platforms

For a list of the operating systems and browsers that are supported by Silverlight, see Supported Operating Systems and Browsers.

Thread Safety

Any public static (Shared in Visual Basic) members of this type are thread safe. Any instance members are not guaranteed to be thread safe.