InsertClass Merge Strategy

Use the InsertClass merge strategy to insert your template output into an existing class in the output file. It's similar to the InsertRegion merge strategy, but instead of looking for region markers, CodeSmith Generator parses the existing C# or Visual Basic file, finds the class by name and replaces it. Settings let you keep the class's attributes, merge using/Imports statements, and decide what happens when the class isn't there.

Settings

Use the alias InsertClass and an initialization string of Name=Value settings separated by semicolons:

Setting	Type	Default	Description
ClassName	String	None (required)	Name of the class to replace.
Language	String	The template's TargetLanguage	C# or VB. The only supported languages.
PreserveClassAttributes	Boolean	False	Keep the attributes on the existing class. By default, the whole existing class is replaced, including its attributes.
OnlyInsertMatchingClass	Boolean	False	Insert only the matching class from the template output, instead of the whole output.
MergeImports	Boolean	False	Merge the using/Imports statements of the existing file and the template output.
NotFoundAction	Enum	None	What to do when the existing file doesn't contain the class (see below).
NotFoundParent	String	None	With NotFoundAction=InsertInParent, the name of the region or class to insert into.

NotFoundAction takes one of these values:

Value	Result
None	Don't merge anything; leave the existing file as it is.
InsertAtBottom	Append the template output to the end of the existing file.
InsertInParent	Insert the template output at the bottom of the region or class named by NotFoundParent.

If the output file doesn't exist yet or is empty, Generator writes the template output as it is. If the existing file can't be parsed, Generator leaves it unchanged and logs an error.

Example

This example uses the following initialization string:

ClassName=Pet;Language=C#;PreserveClassAttributes=True;OnlyInsertMatchingClass=True;MergeImports=True

The existing file:

using System;
using System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations;
namespace Petshop
{
    [ScaffoldTable(true)]
    public class Pet
    {
        public int Age { get; set; }
        public string FirstName { get; set; }
        public string LastName { get; set; }
    }
}

The template output:

using System;
using System.Text;
namespace Petshop
{
    public class Pet
    {
        public string FirstName { get; set; }

        public string LastName { get; set; }

        public string FullName
        {
            get { return String.Format("{0} {1}", FirstName, LastName); }

        }
    }
}

The merged result:

using System;
using System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations;
using System.Text;
namespace Petshop
{
    [ScaffoldTable(true)]
    public class Pet
    {
        public string FirstName { get; set; }

        public string LastName { get; set; }

        public string FullName
        {
            get { return String.Format("{0} {1}", FirstName, LastName); }

        }
    }
}

The using statements from both files are combined, the [ScaffoldTable(true)] attribute is kept, and the class body comes from the template, so the Age property is gone.