MDL round-trip validation: CALCULATED attribute missing microflow binding & DESCRIBE DEMO USER missing ENTITY clause

[engalar]

Summary

During end-to-end round-trip validation of mxcli MDL capabilities (create → describe → compare), the following issues were discovered.

Test Environment

• Mendix version: 11.6.4
• mxcli: latest
• Project: GenAIDemo (with WorkflowCommons module, workflows, demo users)

Issue 1: CALCULATED attribute lacks microflow binding → CE0026

Steps to reproduce:

CREATE PERSISTENT ENTITY RTTest.CalcEntity (
  BaseValue: Integer DEFAULT 100,
  Multiplier: Integer DEFAULT 2,
  Result: Integer CALCULATED
);

Expected: Either syntax to specify the calculation microflow (e.g., CALCULATED BY RTTest.MF_CalcResult), or a clear error at MDL execution time.

Actual: Entity is created successfully, but Studio Pro reports:

CE0026  No microflow selected.  Attribute 'RTTest.CalcEntity.Result'  Domain model  RTTest

The CALCULATED keyword creates a virtual/calculated attribute but provides no way to bind the required calculation microflow, making it unusable without manual Studio Pro intervention.

Suggestion: Add syntax like:

Result: Integer CALCULATED BY RTTest.MF_CalcResult

---

Issue 2: DESCRIBE DEMO USER does not round-trip ENTITY clause

Steps to reproduce:

-- Create with ENTITY clause (works correctly)
CREATE DEMO USER 'demo_tester' PASSWORD 'TestPassword1!' ENTITY Administration.Account (RTTestRole);

-- Read back
DESCRIBE DEMO USER 'demo_tester';

Expected output:

CREATE DEMO USER 'demo_tester' PASSWORD '***' ENTITY Administration.Account (RTTestRole);

Actual output:

CREATE DEMO USER 'demo_tester' PASSWORD '***' (RTTestRole);

The ENTITY Administration.Account clause is accepted during creation but lost on DESCRIBE, breaking round-trip fidelity.

---

Issue 3: CREATE WORKFLOW not supported

DESCRIBE WORKFLOW outputs a structured representation including USER TASK, PARALLEL SPLIT, DECISION, CALL MICROFLOW, CALL WORKFLOW, WAIT FOR NOTIFICATION, WAIT FOR TIMER, JUMP TO — but there is no corresponding CREATE WORKFLOW command.

Workflows can only be read, not created or modified via MDL.

---

Full Round-Trip Test Results

Passing

Feature	Create	Describe	Round-trip
String(length) — 200, 50, 2000, 20	✅	✅	✅
DEFAULT (String, Decimal, Boolean, Integer)	✅	✅	✅ (Decimal 0.0 → 0)
NOT NULL + ERROR message	✅	✅	✅
Empty microflow	✅	✅	✅
Microflow with RETRIEVE + RETURN	✅	✅	✅
Page (nested LAYOUTGRID/CONTAINER/DYNAMICTEXT)	✅	✅	✅
Module Role	✅	✅	✅
GRANT entity/microflow/page access	✅	✅	✅
GRANT/REVOKE EXECUTE ON WORKFLOW	✅	✅	✅
User Role (with System.User)	✅	✅	✅
Demo User (basic)	✅	✅	✅
Workflow DESCRIBE (read-only)	—	✅	—
Settings (UserEntity, TaskParallelism)	—	✅	unchanged

Failing / Not Supported

Feature	Status	Error
CALCULATED attribute	❌ Creates but CE0026 in Studio Pro	No microflow binding syntax
DEMO USER ENTITY clause	⚠️ Partial	DESCRIBE loses ENTITY info
CREATE WORKFLOW	❌ Not supported	Parse error
ALTER ENTITY	❌ Not supported	Not in grammar

Test Scripts

Available at tests/roundtrip-create.mdl, tests/roundtrip-verify.mdl, tests/roundtrip-cleanup.mdl for reproduction.

[engalar]

Re-verification after fix — All 3 issues resolved ✅

Fix 1: CALCULATED BY microflow binding ✅

CREATE PERSISTENT ENTITY RTTest.CalcEntity (
  BaseValue: Integer DEFAULT 100,
  Multiplier: Integer DEFAULT 2,
  Result: Integer CALCULATED BY RTTest.MF_CalcResult
);

DESCRIBE round-trip output:

Result: Integer CALCULATED BY RTTest.MF_CalcResult

CE0026 no longer occurs — microflow is correctly bound.

---

Fix 2: DESCRIBE DEMO USER now shows ENTITY clause ✅

CREATE DEMO USER 'demo_tester' PASSWORD 'TestPassword1!' ENTITY Administration.Account (RTTestRole);

DESCRIBE output now includes ENTITY:

CREATE DEMO USER 'demo_tester' PASSWORD '***' ENTITY Administration.Account (RTTestRole);

---

Fix 3: CREATE WORKFLOW now supported ✅

CREATE WORKFLOW RTTest.SimpleWorkflow
  PARAMETER $Context: RTTest.WFContext
BEGIN
  USER TASK reviewTask 'Review Request'
    OUTCOMES
      'Approve' { }
      'Reject' { };
END WORKFLOW;

DESCRIBE round-trip output matches exactly. SHOW WORKFLOWS confirms 3 activities, 1 user task.

---

Updated Full Test Results

Feature	Create	Describe	Round-trip
String(length) — 200, 50, 2000, 20	✅	✅	✅
DEFAULT (String, Decimal, Boolean, Integer)	✅	✅	✅
NOT NULL + ERROR message	✅	✅	✅
CALCULATED BY microflow	✅	✅	✅ FIXED
Empty microflow	✅	✅	✅
Microflow with RETRIEVE + RETURN	✅	✅	✅
Page (nested layout)	✅	✅	✅
Module Role	✅	✅	✅
GRANT entity/microflow/page/workflow access	✅	✅	✅
CREATE WORKFLOW (empty)	✅	✅	✅ FIXED
CREATE WORKFLOW (USER TASK + outcomes)	✅	✅	✅ FIXED
GRANT/REVOKE EXECUTE ON WORKFLOW	✅	✅	✅
User Role (with System.User)	✅	✅	✅
Demo User (basic)	✅	✅	✅
Demo User + ENTITY clause	✅	✅	✅ FIXED
Workflow DESCRIBE (existing complex workflow)	—	✅	—
Settings (UserEntity, TaskParallelism)	—	✅	unchanged

All previously reported issues are now resolved. Test scripts updated in tests/roundtrip-create.mdl, tests/roundtrip-verify.mdl, tests/roundtrip-cleanup.mdl.