How Can I Automatically Generate C# Enums from Database Lookup Tables?

Automatically generate C# enumerations from database lookup tables

Background:

In enterprise applications, commonly used lookup values ​​are often stored in database tables for easier maintenance. When working with such data in C# code, you may want to define an enumeration that reflects the values ​​in the table for type safety and code clarity. However, manually maintaining this enumeration can become tedious when changes are made to the lookup table.

Dynamic enumeration generation:

To address this challenge, enumerations need to be automatically created and updated based on values ​​in database lookup tables. This can be achieved through code generation, although a fully automated solution is preferred.

Code generation method:

An efficient approach is to create a separate project for generating enumerations. This project will contain code that extracts values ​​from the database, constructs the enumeration definition, and compiles it into an assembly.

Sample code:

// 基于数据库值动态定义枚举
AssemblyName assemblyName = new AssemblyName("MyEnums");
AssemblyBuilder assemblyBuilder = AppDomain.CurrentDomain.DefineDynamicAssembly(assemblyName, AssemblyBuilderAccess.RunAndSave);
ModuleBuilder moduleBuilder = assemblyBuilder.DefineDynamicModule(assemblyName.Name, assemblyName.Name + ".dll");

EnumBuilder myEnum = moduleBuilder.DefineEnum("MyEnum", TypeAttributes.Public, typeof(int));

// 从数据库检索数据
MyDataAdapter dataAdapter = new MyDataAdapter();
MyDataSet.MyDataTable myData = dataAdapter.GetMyData();

// 基于数据库行定义枚举文字
foreach (MyDataSet.MyDataRow row in myData.Rows)
{
    myEnum.DefineLiteral(row.Name, row.Key);
}

// 创建枚举类型
myEnum.CreateType();

// 保存程序集
assemblyBuilder.Save(assemblyName.Name + ".dll");

Advantages of code generation:

By dynamically generating the enumeration, you ensure it stays in sync with the database lookup table. This eliminates the need for manual maintenance, reduces code duplication, and provides better flexibility.

Integration with other projects:

Once an enum assembly is generated, it can be referenced by other projects, allowing developers to work with dynamically defined enum values ​​and get IntelliSense support.

For automatically generated post-build events:

To fully automate this process, you can add a post-build event to your enumeration build project that triggers the build process after every build, ensuring that the enumeration is always up to date.

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