Define Metadata

Before generating codes, you need to create the metadata of you Aggregate Root inside the metadata folder. Inside the latter, you can find the XML grammar “DomainDrivenDesign.xsd” inside the templates folder.

1. Example

Here an example, we have the Student AR with 2 Children (Grade and Diploma) and the Foreign Key CLUB.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<DomainModel xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
             xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="templates/DomainDrivenDesign.xsd">
    <AggregateRoot
            Namespace="ClassManagement"
            ClassName="Student"
            ClassIdentityProperty="IdStudent"
            TableName="students"
            TableIdentityColumn="IdStudent"
            PluralName="Students"
    >

        <DefiningProperties>
            <Property Name="FirstName" Column="FirstName"  Type="string" Label="Nom"/>
            <Property Name="LastName" Column="LastName"  Type="string" Label="Prénom" />
            <Property Name="Birthdate" Column="Birthdate" Type="date" Label="Date de naissance" />
        </DefiningProperties>

        <Properties>
            <Property Name="Gender" Column="Gender"  Type="integer" Label="Sexe"/>
            <Property Name="RegistrationDate" Column="RegistrationDate" Type="datetime" Label="Date d'inscription" />
            <Property Name="Photo" Column="Photo" Type="upload" Label="Photo" />
        </Properties>

        <ForeignKeys>
            <ForeignKey
                ForeignKeyProperty="IdClub"
                ForeignKeyTextProperty="club"
                ForeignKeyColumn="IdClub"
                ParentClass="Club"
                ParentPlural="Clubs"
                ParentIdentityProperty="IdClub"
                ParentDefiningProperty="Name"
                ParentTable="clubs"
                ParentIdentityColumn="IdClub"
                ParentDefiningColumn="Name"
                Label="Club"
                Namespace="ClassManagement"
                uiUrlDataSource="/clubs/combo"
                uiSelectMode="select"
                uiDefaultLabel="Choisir un club"
            />
        </ForeignKeys>

        <Collections>
            <Collection
                ClassName="Grade"
                ClassIdentityProperty="IdGrade"
                TableName="grades"
                TableIdentityColumn="IdGrade"
                CollectionName="grades"
                Cardinality="OneToMany"
                ExposedName="grades"
                TableParentForeignKey="IdStudent"
                TabTitle="Notes"
            >
                <Property Name="Subject" Column="Subject"  Type="string" Label="Matière"/>
                <Property Name="Score" Column="Score"  Type="float" Label="Note" />
            </Collection>
            <Collection
                ClassName="Diploma"
                ClassIdentityProperty="IdDiploma"
                TableName="diplomas"
                TableIdentityColumn="IdDiploma"
                CollectionName="diplomas"
                Cardinality="OneToMany"
                ExposedName="diplomas"
                TableParentForeignKey="IdStudent"
                TabTitle="Diplômes"
            >
                <Property Name="Name" Column="Name"  Type="string" Label="Diplôme"/>
            </Collection>
        </Collections>

        <UserInterface>
            <List Title="Liste des étudiants" />
            <Form
                CreationTitle="Nouveau étudiant"
                UpdateTitle="Modification étudiant"
            />
        </UserInterface>
    </AggregateRoot>
</DomainModel>

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<DomainModel xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
             xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="templates/DomainDrivenDesign.xsd">
    <Entity
        ClassName="Grade"
        ClassIdentityProperty="IdGrade"
        TableName="grades"
        TableIdentityColumn="IdGrade"
        CollectionName="grades"
        ParentAggregateRootName="Student"
        ParentNamespace="ClassManagement"
    >
        <DefiningProperties>
            <Property Name="Subject" Column="Subject"  Type="string"/>
            <Property Name="Score" Column="Score"  Type="float" />
        </DefiningProperties>
    </Entity>
</DomainModel>

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<DomainModel xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
             xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="templates/DomainDrivenDesign.xsd">
    <Entity
            ClassName="Diploma"
            ClassIdentityProperty="IdDiploma"
            TableName="diplomas"
            TableIdentityColumn="IdDiploma"
            CollectionName="diplomas"
            ParentAggregateRootName="Student"
            ParentNamespace="ClassManagement"
    >
        <DefiningProperties>
            <Property Name="Name" Column="Name"  Type="string"/>
        </DefiningProperties>
    </Entity>
</DomainModel>

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<DomainModel xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
             xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="templates/DomainDrivenDesign.xsd">
    <AggregateRoot
            Namespace="ClassManagement"
            ClassName="Club"
            ClassIdentityProperty="IdClub"
            TableName="clubs"
            TableIdentityColumn="IdClub"
            PluralName="Clubs"
    >

        <DefiningProperties>
            <Property Name="Name" Column="Name"  Type="string" Label="Nom"/>
        </DefiningProperties>

        <UserInterface>
            <List Title="Liste des clubs" />
            <Form
                CreationTitle="Nouveau club"
                UpdateTitle="Modification club"
            />
        </UserInterface>
    </AggregateRoot>
</DomainModel>

We have a single generic root, “DomainModel”, whose children are either an Aggregate Root or an Entity

* in property name means that the property is required.

2. AggregateRoot, Entity

AggregateRoot tag

Property name	Description
Namespace	Namespace or package (for java) under which to put this root aggregate.
ClassName*	Name of aggregate root or entity.
ClassdIdentityProperty*	Property unique for identifying the object.
TableName*	Name of the database table in which the aggregate root or entity is stored.
TableIdentityColumn*	Name of the identifier in the database table on which the aggregate root or entity is based.
PluralName*	Plural form of the aggregate root name. Used to generate class and file names such as for controllers, repository, finder and list view.

Entity tag

Property name	Description
ClassName*	Name of aggregate root or entity.
ClassIdentityProperty*	Property unique for identifying the object.
TableName*	Name of the database table in which the aggregate root or entity is stored.
TableIdentityColumn*	Name of the identifier in the database table on which the aggregate root or entity is based.
CollectionName*	Name the collection of children's objects.
ParentAggregateRootName*	Name of the parent root aggregate containing this entity.
ParentNamespace	Namespace of the parent root aggregate.

3. Base type

AggregateRoot and Entity have base types with common denominators.

DefiningProperties tag

A list of mandatory properties that define the entity, required in its constructor. Each property must be assigned a value. The identifier is already specified elsewhere and no longer needs to be listed.

Property name	Description
Name*	Property name in class
Column*	Property name in database
Type*	Enumeration that can take the values: boolean, integer, float, decimal, string, date, time, datetime, password, upload, enum, telephone, email.
Label	Text used in the UI, such as for field labels, especially for column names in tables and for inputs
CategoryColumn	Name of the column that categorize the entity, to specify that the field with it is used to categorize the entity.

Properties tag

These are the other properties that are not mandatory in the constructor. It contains the list of optional properties of the entity, and filling in an optional property is not mandatory.

The propertyType is the same as in DefiningProperty

ForeignKeys tag

This is the list of entity properties that refer to a parent object.

Property name	Description
Namespace*	Namespace or package (for java) under which to put this root aggregate.
ForeignKeyProperty*	The name of the key property to be exposed
ForeignKeyTextProperty*	The name of the string property under which the unencrypted reference is displayed
ForeignKeyColumn*	The name of the foreign key column in the table (not in the source table!)
ParentClass*	The source class where to find the value to be copied
ParentPlural*	The plural name of the source class, for example, can be used to reconstruct the name of its Finder.
ParentIdentityProperty*	The identity property of the source class
ParentDefiningProperty*	The property in the source class whose value is to be copied
ParentTable*	The reference table
ParentIdentityColumn*	The identifier column in the reference table. Useful for `<select><option value=“%here%”/></select>`, among other things.
ParentDefiningColumn*	The column representing the reference table. Useful for `<select><option/>%here%</option></select>`, among other things.
Label	Text used in the UI, such as for field labels, especially for column names in tables and for inputs
uiUrlDataSource	url of endpoint used to retrieve select data
uiSelectMode	Enum: select, radio. By default, select is used if none is specified
uiDefaultLabel	The text used for the default option. For example, you have any select, which consists of 2 options, but allow the user to choose nothing.
uiBooleanState	Use to indicate the boolean state, either 2 states or 3 states . Only for boolean input.
CategoryColumn	Name of the column that categorize the entity, to specify that the field with it is used to categorize the entity.

Collections tag

Exists only for an Aggregate Root. This is the list of existing child collections for this aggregate root.

Property name	Description
ClassName*	The name of the child class in the collection
ClassIdentityProperty*	The identifier exposed by the class; different from the table identifier column.
TableName*	Database table name
TableIdentityColumn*	The name of the primary key in this child table
TableParentForeignKey*	The name of the foreign key pointing to the parent in the table (not the name in the parent table)
CollectionName*	The name of the collection class to be used
Cardinality*	Enumeration: OneToMany, ManyToMany
ExposedName*	The name under which the collection is displayed in the AR
TabTitle	Title of collection tabs

The defining property of the collection entity is returned to the collection.

UserInterface tag

List tag

Property name Description
Title List title in UI
Form tag

Property name Description
CreationTitle Creation form title
UpdateTitle Update form title

Property name	Description
CreationTitle	Creation form title
UpdateTitle	Update form title

1. Example​

2. AggregateRoot, Entity​

AggregateRoot tag​

Entity tag​

3. Base type​

DefiningProperties tag​

Properties tag​

ForeignKeys tag​

Collections tag​

UserInterface tag​