I'm working on a tool that will generate some C# code, which I hope could prove useable to a wider audience. This tool will read an assembly and a text file containing some data and then generate a bunch of C# classes.
The easiest way to do this is of course to simply create a console exe that can be associated with the file type, in the same vein as the code generation tool for XSD files. But I fear that this will be a bit difficult to integrate. I'd much rather have something that feels better integrated. I'll still make the console app anyway, since it's practically a free byproduct and it might be useful for continuous integration.
The assembly in question will typically be the current assembly that will be generated when the code is compiled, which I suspect normally also will be the assembly where you want the generated files to be hosted.
Is there a way of making these kinds of tools? Am I looking into writing a visual studio extension just for this?
If the simple exe version is the way to go, is there any way to make it easier on the user by offering installation help along the way, to make it as easy as possible.
