Intent.CSharp.Importer

Intent Architect’s C# importer pulls existing .cs files into Domain, Services, and Eventing designers by reverse-engineering metadata from source.

Quick start

• Right-click the Domain, Services, or Eventing package (or a folder inside it).
• Choose Import from C# Files.
• Complete the two-step wizard to run the import.

Repeated runs track external references (Namespace.TypeName) so updated files refresh existing elements while untouched content stays as-is until you remove it.

Step 1 · Source settings

• Source Folder: Root path scanned for C# files; relative structure is recreated in the target package.
• Profile: Chooses the specialization to create. Options depend on the current designer and installed modules (see Profiles below).
• File Pattern: Glob filter (default **/*.cs). Examples: src/**/*.cs, Models/*.cs, **/Dto*.cs.
• Target Folder: Auto-selected from the node you launched the wizard on; otherwise defaults to the package root.

Step 2 · Pick files

• Tree view lists folders and files matching the pattern; whole folders can be toggled at once.
• Deselect items you do not want to analyse; only selected files are processed.
• Paths are tracked internally so re-imports reconcile by reference rather than duplicating content.

Profiles

Profiles map Roslyn symbols to Intent elements and may pull in dependent artefacts such as DTOs.

Universal

• Type Definition (all-types-as-type-definition): Imports all C# types (classes, interfaces, enums) as Type-Definition elements without members. Each definition is annotated with a C# stereotype containing the detected namespace, enabling later specialization into specific types.

Domain designer

• Classes (domain-classes): Entities and records with attributes, associations, and inheritance.
• Domain Events (domain-events): Events plus supporting contracts (requires Domain Events module).
• Domain Contracts (domain-contracts): Data contracts with hierarchies intact.
• Enums Only (domain-enums): Enum types and their literals.

Services designer

• Services (services-services): Services or service contracts; methods become operations, parameters import DTOs.
• DTOs (services-dtos): DTOs including inheritance and collections.
• Commands (services-commands) and Queries (services-queries): CQRS artefacts (requires Services CQRS module); depend on DTO imports.
• Enums Only (services-enums): Enums without extra items.

Eventing designer

• Eventing Messages (eventing-integration-messages): Messages plus body DTOs.
• Integration Commands (eventing-integration-commands): Integration commands with DTO support.
• Integration DTOs (eventing-dtos): Integration DTOs.
• Enums Only: Reuses the Services enum profile.

Import behaviour

• Roslyn analysis combines partial types and recognises classes, records, interfaces, and enums.
• Folder scaffolding mirrors relative paths beneath the source folder.
• Associations & dependencies detect related types, set multiplicity/nullability (e.g. ICollection<T> → collection association).
• Inheritance keeps base types and interface hierarchies intact.
• Constructors & methods (where supported) capture signatures, async flags, returns, and generics.
• Enums carry literal values when explicitly assigned.
• Type resolution maps known primitives; unknown types become Type-Definition placeholders for later mapping.
• C# stereotype (when using the "Type Definition" profile) annotates each element with the source C# namespace, enabling type-safe reference resolution and later conversion to specialized types.
• Interfaces to service import will include all methods on any base interfaces as well, provided the base interfaces are included in the import selection. Services are not created for the base interfaces.

Tips

• Import DTOs or other dependencies first, or rely on profile dependencies to scaffold them.
• Use glob patterns to skip generated or test files.
• Review associations and unresolved types after import to confirm the model matches your intent.