30 Dec
2005

VS 2005 DataSet Annoyance

So MS wants us to use DataSets, DataTables and TableAdapters in the new ADO.Net 2.0.
I am very game for this, in fact I am all for it because it is pretty darn close to
Data Access Layer(DAL) auto generation. I pursued a solid solution for generating
a DAL all through the long, lonely years of .Net 1.*. Of course, there were options.
CodeSmith, RapTier, and others, but nothing really seamless.

So now we have the new XSD driven model baked into Vs2005 and it is pretty great.

  1. Create a new DataSet, represented by an XSD file.
  2. Drag your stuff (tables, sprocs, etc.) onto the XSD designer.
  3. Customize your XSD by adding new functioanlity to your DataTables.
  4. Generate your code.
  5. Repeat.

With all of that kick-butt functionality, would auto layout on the XSD designer have
really been that hard? Bottom line, when I drag 10 tables onto the designer and they
all land in a pile that I then have to separate by hand, it makes me think this whole
thing is clugy. C’Mon, Bill. It’s the little stuff, too.