SQL Server Compact + Entity Framework Design Time Data

Question

I have an application being designed with SQL CE and Entity Framework. Is there a practical way to make that data available at design time to databound controls in Visual Studio Express 2012 for Desktop?

Answer 1

Assuming you're using an MVVM framework such as Caliburn.Micro, you can set the designer datacontext like so :

xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
xmlns:vm="clr-namespace:CaliburnDesignTimeData.ViewModels"
xmlns:cal="clr-namespace:Caliburn.Micro;assembly=Caliburn.Micro"
mc:Ignorable="d" 
d:DataContext="{d:DesignInstance Type=vm:YourViewModel, IsDesignTimeCreatable=True}"
cal:Bind.AtDesignTime="True"

There are similar ways to do this using other MVVM frameworks.

Example:

public class YourViewModel : PropertyChangedBase
{
    public BindableCollection<Employee> Employees { get; set; }

    public YourViewModel
    {
        Employees = new BindableCollection<Employee>();

        if(Execute.InDesignMode)
        {
            // Add an employee when in design mode, this data will show up in design time
            Employees.Add(new Employee 
            {
                Name = "Sample Data Employee"
            });
        }
    }
}

Then bind it in XAML (if the designer datacontext added correctly, the VM's properties will even show up in Intellisense):

<Window
    ...
    xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
    xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
    xmlns:vm="clr-namespace:CaliburnDesignTimeData.ViewModels"
    xmlns:cal="clr-namespace:Caliburn.Micro;assembly=Caliburn.Micro"
    mc:Ignorable="d" 
    d:DataContext="{d:DesignInstance Type=vm:YourViewModel, IsDesignTimeCreatable=True}"
    cal:Bind.AtDesignTime="True"
    >
    <Grid>
        <DataGrid
              AutoGenerateColumns="True"
              ItemsSource="{Binding Employes}" />
    </Grid> 
</Window>