Table of Contents

Generated Lookups

Generated lookups are written to RegistryVersionN.Lookups.cs.

They register lookup sources in DataRegistry.

Lookups are intended for small reference sets that can be shown as simple selectors.

Generated Method

The generated file overrides RegisterLookups().

Example:

public override void RegisterLookups()
{
    DataRegistry.AddOrUpdateLookupWithTableName("Currency", "Currency", FormName: "Currency");
    DataRegistry.AddOrUpdateLookupWithTableName("DocumentType", "DocumentType", FormName: "DocumentType");
    DataRegistry.AddOrUpdateLookupWithClassName("ModuleName", "DocumentModuleLookupSource");
}

Each call registers a lookup source by name.

Lookup Sources

The Registration Builder can generate three lookup source kinds:

  • table-backed lookup sources
  • enum-backed lookup sources
  • class-backed lookup sources

The generated method depends on metadata.

Table-Backed Lookups

Table-backed lookups are generated with:

DataRegistry.AddOrUpdateLookupWithTableName("Currency", "Currency", FormName: "Currency");

The first argument is the lookup source name.

The second argument is the table name.

FormName is added when the lookup table has a form.

Table-backed lookups can come from:

  • tables marked with IsLookup
  • tables detected by lookup shape heuristic
  • fields declaring -- Lookup
  • fields declaring -- Lookup LOOKUP_NAME TableName:TABLE_NAME

Lookup Table Detection

A table is treated as a lookup table when:

  • the header declares IsLookup, or
  • the table is a top table whose native fields match a known lookup shape

Known lookup shapes are:

Id, Name
Id, Code, Name
Id, Name, IsActive
Id, Code, Name, IsActive

Explicit IsLookup overrides the heuristic.

Field Lookup Metadata

A field can request lookup behavior.

Examples:

CurrencyId @NVARCHAR(40) @NOT_NULL, -- Lookup
CreatedBy @NVARCHAR(40) @NOT_NULL, -- Lookup SYS_APP_USER
PersonId @NVARCHAR(40) @NOT_NULL, -- Lookup Customer TableName:Person

If the lookup name is omitted, the builder resolves it from the foreign key referenced table or from the field name without the Id suffix.

If TableName: is used, the lookup name is required.

Enum-Backed Lookups

Enum-backed lookups are generated with:

DataRegistry.AddOrUpdateLookupSource("TradeType", TypeStore.Get("TradeType"));

Schema metadata may use:

TradeTypeId int @NOT_NULL, -- Lookup TradeType EnumName:TradeType

The parser also accepts EnumType: as an alias for EnumName:.

Enum-backed lookup sources need the enum type to be discoverable by TypeStore.

That is why RegBuilderConsole can build and load configured assemblies before generation.

Class-Backed Lookups

Class-backed lookups are generated with:

DataRegistry.AddOrUpdateLookupWithClassName("ModuleName", "DocumentModuleLookupSource");

Schema metadata:

ModuleName @NVARCHAR(96) @NOT_NULL, -- Lookup ModuleName ClassName:DocumentModuleLookupSource

Use class-backed lookup sources when lookup values are not simply read from one table or enum.

The class implementation is handwritten application code.

Registering Lookup Fields

Lookup source registration and field registration are related but separate.

RegistryVersionN.Lookups.cs registers the lookup source.

RegistryVersionN.Modules.cs registers fields that use lookup sources.

Example field descriptor:

tblTop.AddStringLookupId("CurrencyId", "Currency", Flags: FieldFlags.Required).SetNullable(false);

The field points to the lookup source by name.

Generated Baseline

Generated lookup registrations are structural declarations.

They do not define business rules.

If a generated lookup is wrong, change the schema metadata and regenerate.

Do not edit RegistryVersionN.Lookups.cs manually.

Use handwritten registry update methods only for deliberate application-specific adjustments.

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