How can I add my attributes to Code-Generated Linq2Sql classes properties?

Question

I would like to add attributes to Linq 2 Sql classes properties. Such as this Column is browsable in the UI or ReadOnly in the UI and so far.

I\'ve thought about usi

Answer 1

This is a common problem with code-generation; while you can add members and class level attributes via an additional partial class, you can't add attributes to the generated members. To compensate, some attribute-based mechanisms allow you to specify the attributes at the class (naming the member), but not any of the ones you cite.

One hardcore option would be to write a TypeDescriptionProvider that supplies custom PropertyDescriptor definitions for the properties. This would allow you to fully control the metadata used by UI binding tools like PropertyGrid, DataGridView, etc.

However, this is possibly too much work simply to set a few UI propertiex if you can also set them by hand! But if you are interested in pursuing that option, let me know - it is a familiar area to me, but too much code to write an example if you don't want it.

Note: if you are using PropertyGrid, then you can't set the properties by hand, but you can write a TypeConverter, which is a bit less work than a full TypeDescriptionProvider; just inherit from ExpandableObjectConverter and override GetProperties(). You'll still need a shim PropertyDescriptor, so still not trivial...