(and please next time, start a different thread, this thread wasn't about your particular problem)

Done

Also, can you help me with getting custom properties into the designer? I put a description on a column in a table in the database. In MSQL, this creates an Extended Property called MS_Description.

No matter what I do, I cannot get this to come over as a custom property.

File | Preferences: UpdateCustomPropertiesAfterRefresh=True RetrieveDBCustomProperties=True

Project | Properties: RetrieveDBCustomProperties=True

Refresh All Catalogs: Custom Properties=Checked

How do I get it to show up?

They're initially read from the meta-data when creating an entity, not again and again. so if you first create an entity, then refresh the catalog, they're not updated.

If you want to have that, please customize the customproperties plugin a bit.

I now have a plug-in that will refresh all of them. In addition it optionally ignores the MS designer stuff (except for MS_Description of course) and can optionally map the custom properties from the actual field to the referenced field in a typed list.

I have emailed you the project for 3rd party add-ons if you would like to put it there.

The reason this isn't automatic is that in general custom properties are more of a burden then a blessing. The thing is that MS designers store application specific info in the extended properties as well, which can lead to problems later on if these custom properties are synced automatically.

I am unsure why updating what you have stored with what the MS Designers have stored in there could have any issues. Also, all MS properties look like MS_* so it would be easy to ignore them (or keep only the ones you want - like MS_Description).

WayneBrantley wrote:

Also, can you help me with getting custom properties into the designer? I put a description on a column in a table in the database. In MSQL, this creates an Extended Property called MS_Description.

No matter what I do, I cannot get this to come over as a custom property.

File | Preferences: UpdateCustomPropertiesAfterRefresh=True RetrieveDBCustomProperties=True

Project | Properties: RetrieveDBCustomProperties=True

Refresh All Catalogs: Custom Properties=Checked

How do I get it to show up?

They're initially read from the meta-data when creating an entity, not again and again. so if you first create an entity, then refresh the catalog, they're not updated.

If you want to have that, please customize the customproperties plugin a bit.

I now have a plug-in that will refresh all of them. In addition it optionally ignores the MS designer stuff (except for MS_Description of course) and can optionally map the custom properties from the actual field to the referenced field in a typed list.

I have emailed you the project for 3rd party add-ons if you would like to put it there.

Thanks, I've received it and will look into it later today

The reason this isn't automatic is that in general custom properties are more of a burden then a blessing. The thing is that MS designers store application specific info in the extended properties as well, which can lead to problems later on if these custom properties are synced automatically.

I am unsure why updating what you have stored with what the MS Designers have stored in there could have any issues. Also, all MS properties look like MS_* so it would be easy to ignore them (or keep only the ones you want - like MS_Description).

It's cumbersome: what if there's already a custom property with that name, does it have to be overwritten, or appended or left alone? What if that differs per entity? That's why I decided to leave it at that.