Data Dictionary Generator

This library creates a rich data dictionary from a provided Entity Framework Core DbContext.

The intended use case is to provide users with a thorough description of a database without needing to read code. The generated data dictionary includes information from System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations annotations that provides greater detail than just inspecting the SQL schema.

Generated fields include:

• Entity name
• Table name (for table per hierarchy)
• Field display name
• Field description
• Mapped SQL column type
• CLR type
• Constraints (validation attributes)
• Collected from/until dates (using additional attributes)
• Nullability
• Foreign keys (non-composite)
• Options (when using enum fields)
• Uniqueness
• Default SQL values

The library contains built-in outputs to:

• CSV
• Word (docx)

The underlying DataDictionary object can be used to output the data dictionary in customised ways, such as an ASP.NET page or as part of an API.

Usage

The library can be installed from NuGet.

A minimal program looks like:

using DataDictionaryGenerator;
using DataDictionaryGenerator.Outputs;

var dbContext = new YourDbContext();
// Ensure that the DbContext is configured with a provider, by explicitly passing options or by overriding OnConfiguring within your DbContext class
// You could also resolve this from DI if applicable

var dictionary = DataDictionary.FromDbContext(dbContext);

// Output as CSV
await using var csvFile = File.Open("Data dictionary.csv", FileMode.Create);
await CsvOutput.GenerateAsync(dictionary, new StreamWriter(csvFile));

// Output Word
var wordDocument = WordOutput.Generate(dictionary);
wordDocument.Write(File.Open("Data dictionary.docx", FileMode.Create));