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Hi All,

I am new here so hello.

I am researching Entity Developer.

My needs are:

1) EF5 support
2) Use in VS2012
3) Model-First Database generation.
4) Database-First Model generation(Effectively a resync of the model).
5) Labelling of the Model with notes.
6) Labelling of associations.
7) IMPORTANT: Being able to migrate a database without loss of data when the model is changed. VS2010 with the Powerpack does this, but VS2012 does not since the Powerpack is not supported.
8) Generation of Model Partial Class files for use in MVC Web project. I have the slight issue at the moment of needing seperate Meta Partial classes to hold the "data annotations" for validation etc ie "[Required]". Not sure how Devart E.D handles this issue.
9) Can Entity Developer load a Entity Designer EDMX file or do I need to rewrite the model?

I would really appreciate advice as to whether Entity Developer 4.7 addresses the above, as if it does then I would be interested to move to E.D. from Visual Studio's Entity Designer.

Many thanks,

EdB wrote: EF5 support, Use in VS2012

Yes, Entity Framework 5.0 is supported as well as working in Visual Studio 2012

EdB wrote: Model-First Database generation.
Database-First Model generation(Effectively a resync of the model).

Please refer to http://www.devart.com/entitydeveloper/model-first.html and http://www.devart.com/entitydeveloper/d ... first.html

EdB wrote: Labelling of the Model with notes.

You could add new note by right-clicking on the diagram layout and selecting Add->New Note.

EdB wrote: Labelling of associations.

At the moment, there is no possibility to add labels/annotations to the associations. Thank you for the suggestion, we will consider the possibility of adding this option. However, you could look at the "Documentation" property of associations - it allows to add comments to your generated code. We are also implementing adding of diagram hints that allow displaying the information about associations and other items (at the moment, End1 и End2 are displayed for the associations).

EdB wrote: 7) IMPORTANT: Being able to migrate a database without loss of data when the model is changed. VS2010 with the Powerpack does this, but VS2012 does not since the Powerpack is not supported.

Yes, it is supported. The generation of the mapping and storage part of the model is produced with the turned on synchronization mode, and it allows to get the valid model when working with Model-First approach.
For more information please refer to http://www.devart.com/entitydeveloper/model-first.html

EdB wrote: Generation of Model Partial Class files for use in MVC Web project. I have the slight issue at the moment of needing seperate Meta Partial classes to hold the "data annotations" for validation etc ie "[Required]". Not sure how Devart E.D handles this issue.

At the moment it is not available. As a workaround you could try creating your own additional template, based on our one, which will generate only meta classes. To make the template available for editing, open Model Explorer, select used template, right-click on it and select "Copy to Model Folder". Now you are able to make changes there. After the changes made in the additional template, you should save it and add our original template to the model. In this way, you will work directly with the two templates at the same time.
If you encounter any difficulty with this, please let us know.

EdB wrote: 9) Can Entity Developer load a Entity Designer EDMX file or do I need to rewrite the model?

Yes, it is available.

Entity Developer has a lot of improvements comparing to EDM Wizard (*.edmx, the ADO.NET Entity Data Model item):
1. Visual editing of the storage part of the model
2. Embedded T4 Editor for customizing templates: http://www.devart.com/entitydeveloper/c ... ation.html
3. Handy EF Code First DbContext Template: http://blogs.devart.com/dotconnect/enti ... plate.html
4. Splitting a model into diagrams to improve its readability: http://blogs.devart.com/dotconnect/work ... loper.html
5. Data viewing/editing: http://www.devart.com/entitydeveloper/data.html
6. Visual enhancements: http://blogs.devart.com/dotconnect/visu ... r-4-1.html
7. All advanced Entity Developer functionality is available in all supported Visual Studio versions: 2008/2010/2012
8. The possibility of configuring data type mapping using Database-First approach
9. Wide range of settings for naming rules for model objects
10. The possibility to enable the synchronization of mapping and storage parts when editing the conceptual part