Designing an Entity Data Model

Just published is my article on Designing an Entity Data Model with the Entity Framework tools. This article is part of my Data Points column in the February issue of MSDN Magazine. A few months ago I wrote an article discussing an overview of the Entity Framework and examining the CSDL, SSDL, and MSL that defines the EDM. When that article was published the tools were not available, so in this article I  decided to explain how the tools work which coincides nicely with the previous article's explanation of the XML files (CSDL, SSDL, MSL). The EDM designer sits  on top of the XML files and uses the XML information to represent the model. Likewise, the model can be changed using the designer tools which then updates the XML under the covers.

I will be having a few more articles in the upcoming months that explain more about the Entity Framework and its auxiliary parts. For next month's issue I plan on going through many of the Standard Query Operators that can be used with LINQ to objects/entities. Also, if you are planning on attending DevConnections in Orlando in the Spring (this April), I will be presenting 2 different 1:15 minute sessions on the Entity Framework there as well.

As always, if you want to review my history of articles, please visit my articles history page where you can find them all listed.