The Type System

Some of CodeModeler design concepts are strongly typed. Those concepts are referred to Typed Objects Concepts:

• Entity and View Properties

• Method and Rule Parameters.

CodeModeler Types

CodeModeler type system is a composite one, because it must adapt to the underlying target type systems:

• the .NET type based on the Common Language Runtime type system

• the Persistence type based on .NET’s System.Data.DbType enumeration

• the target producers’ Persistent type (SQL Server, MySQL, etc.)

Here is a summary of CodeModeler types and their equivalent types:

CodeModeler Type and alisases	.NET Type	Persistence Type
bool boolean, bit	System.Boolean	DbType.Boolean
byte	System.Byte	DbType.Byte
char	System.Char	DbType.Byte if “Is Persistence Unicode” is set to false DbType.Int16 if “Is Persistence Unicode” is set to true
currency money, cost, price	System.Decimal	DbType.Currency
datetime date, time	System.DateTime	DbType.DateTime
double real	System.Double	DbType.Double
single float	System.Single	DbType.Single
object any, anyvalue	System.Object	DbType.Object
guid uniqueidentifier	System.Guid	DbType.Guid
decimal	System.Decimal	DbType.Decimal
sbyte	System.SByte	DbType.Sbyte
elapsedtime timespan	System.TimeSpan	DbType.DateTime
Int int32, integer	System.Int32	DbType.Int32
long int64	System.Int64	DbType.Int64
short int16	System.Int16	DbType.Int16
uint uint32	System.UInt32	DbType.UInt32
ulong uint64	System.UInt64	DbType.UInt64
ushort uint16	System.UInt16	DbType.UInt16
byte	System.Byte	DbType.Byte
xml	System.String	DbType.AnsiString if “Is Persistence Unicode” is set to false DbType.String if “Is Persistence Unicode” is set to true Note: some persistence producers may handle this type specifically.
string text	System.String	DbType.AnsiString if “Is Persistence Unicode” is set to false DbType.String if “Is Persistence Unicode” is set to true
email mail	System.String	DbType.AnsiString if “Is Persistence Unicode” is set to false DbType.String if “Is Persistence Unicode” is set to true
password	System.String	DbType.AnsiString if “Is Persistence Unicode” is set to false DbType.String if “Is Persistence Unicode” is set to true
url hyperlink	System.String	DbType.AnsiString if “Is Persistence Unicode” is set to false DbType.String if “Is Persistence Unicode” is set to true
richstring richtext	System.String	DbType.AnsiString if “Is Persistence Unicode” is set to false DbType.String if “Is Persistence Unicode” is set to true
data byte[], binary	System.Byte[]	DbType.Binary
file attachment, document	CodeModeler Runtime provided	DbType.Binary
blob largebinary	CodeModeler Runtime provided	DbType.Binary
film video	CodeModeler Runtime provided	DbType.Binary
image picture, photo	CodeModeler Runtime provided	DbType.Binary
audio sound	CodeModeler Runtime provided	DbType.Binary

Specific and Model Types

Beyond the types above, CodeModeler also supports .NET types and types defined in the model itself:

CodeModeler type	.NET Type	Persistence Type
Full .NET type name	The specified type name	DbType.Object
Model defined entity or entity collection	The entity or collection .NET type name	Depends on the relation implicitly defined
Model defined enumeration	The generated Enum .NET type name	The enumeration's DbType (DbType.Byte, DbType.SByte, DbType.Int16, DbType.UInt16, DbType.Int64, DbType.UInt64, DbType.UInt32, or DbType.Int32).
User Type	The specified type name	The specified persistence type

User Type

A UserType is a CodeModeler concept, just like entity, enumeration, property, etc. A user type has the following characteristics:

• Name. This is how the user type is referenced.

• Type Name: The user type’s type name. It must be another CodeModeler type name this user type “derives from”.

• Other persistence related properties (“DbType”, “Is Nullable”, “Default Value”, etc.).

• A list of rules.

Note: a UserType can be also used to override another type. You must name the user type with the same name as the type you want to override.