Always provide default values for properties

[schneiderpat]

Hey :)
Is there an option to always generate default values in the generated typescript class without annotating every property with [TSDefaultValue]?

Greets Patrick

[jburzynski]

Hi! Can you give an example? Do you mean providing a "global" default value for all properties?

[schneiderpat]

Currently we have to to this:

[TSDefaultValue("")]
public string FirstName { get; set; }

[TSDefaultValue("")]
public string LastName { get; set; }

We need to generate the classes with default values because we have another generator to create formgroups in an angular in a special way.
A global Setting to generate default values for specific types would be awesome.

[jburzynski]

This seems like a useful feature for some cases. I'll aim to add it in the next release (the next release will also have the fix to #33).

I'll keep you updated with any progress in this topic. Cheers!

[schneiderpat]

Thanks a lot :)

Greets!

[jburzynski]

I updated the NuGet packages in the dev branch (both regular and .NET CLI tool; nuget and nuget-dotnetcli folders). They now contain the functionality to generate empty values for the specified TypeScript types. You would use it like this in tgconfig.json (there's also a corresponding option in GenerationOptions):

{
  "generateEmptyValues": [ "string", "number", ... ]
}

Can you please check if it works properly in your case? I'd like to make sure it works before releasing. Thanks

[schneiderpat]

How can I install the nuget-dotnetcli tool to test it?

I tested the NuGet package. If we have nullable type. Is it possible to set the default value to null?
But so far awesome job!!

[schneiderpat]

An option with custom default mappings would solve the problem and would be very flexiable.

// tgconfig.json
{
    "emptyValueMappings: {
        "Date | null": "null",
        "number": "-1"
    }
}

And in your EmptyValue.cs you check for that option and iterate through them first. By checking them first you add the possibility to override your defaults.

[jburzynski]

You can download the TypeGen.DotNetCli package from NuGet and then specify custom source when installing the tool:

dotnet tool install TypeGen.DotNetCli -g --add-source "PACKAGE_FOLDER_PATH"

I've dropped support for per-project tools, because they are going to be abandoned by Microsoft anyway (I gave a more detailed 'rationale' for dropping per-project tools in this post), so right now TypeGen.DotNetCli is only a global tool.

About empty values, I'm thinking about removing the option that exists right now (generateEmptyValues) and replacing it with the option you suggested. I think there is no need for an additional option, if there's already an option to specify values for types. Do you think this would be ok?

[schneiderpat]

You are right, an additional option is not necessary.
Removing generateEmptyValues is ok, when we can specify default values ourselves.

Thanks again for your work!

[jburzynski]

You're welcome! Thanks!

I'll let you know when it's implemented.

[jburzynski]

There is a new version on the dev branch (nuget package). The option is named defaultValuesForTypes and you would use it like this (the same as in your post):

"defaultValuesForTypes": {
    "number": "-1",
    "Date | null": "null"
}

It would be cool if you could check again if it works! Thanks! :)

[schneiderpat]

I tested and it works awesome!
I´m waiting for the official release ;)

Thanks again for your great work!

[jburzynski]

No problem! Thanks for the info!

I've released version 2.0.1 (major version change is because of the changed syntax in the TypeGen nuget package - it's now the same as in the .NET CLI tool) and it contains the new functionality (usage is exactly the same). Hope it works! :)