Frequently Asked Questions


Yes. You need to register/activate WinFormsGen Professional Plus before use. You will need an internet connection to activate it. Registration and activation is done through the software interface. You don't need to activate the Express Edition.

No catch at all. You can download it for free. You can give copies to your friends. You don't have to register. There's no trial date end (because it's not a trial). There's no pop-ups reminding you to buy the Professional Plus Edition. No Activation required. Absolutely no catch. Oh yeah, you cannot profit from it by selling it, etc.

Professional Plus is for sale, Express is free. Express generates just one type of MVC view; the Unbound View. Unbound views are views not bound to the database. The Data-Tier/Data Layer does not have code that connects to the database, you will need to manually add these code yourself. For a more complete list of the differences, please see the Product Edition Comparison found on the side menu. And of course the price.

No it's not a component. It is a tool/application (.exe) that generates MVC Views/classes based on your MS SQL Server 2000/2005/2008/2012/2014 database or an attached SQL Express.

WinFormsGen is super easy to use. As a matter of fact, there's just One main interface, and One main button to click. WinFormsGen was created for C# or VB.NET programmers, therefore you need to know either one. There's also the understanding that you already know MS SQL 2000, 2005, 2008, 2012, or 2014, since you need a database for WinFormsGen to look at to be able to generate the code.

Yes if the generated code's path is the same as your current project's path/directory. Note: Some files like the Business Object classes and the Data Layer classes are only generated once, they are not overwritten. Make sure to use a path/directory other than your project path/directory, then just copy the code you need into your windows forms project. E.g. if your website path is: C:\User\YourApp, then choose a different path for your generated code, e.g. use C:\GeneratedCode instead.

This means that you don't have access to the path/directory where you are trying to put the generated code. Make sure to choose a path/directory you have write access to.

Yes. We may give discounts when you buy more than one (quantity) product. Please contact our sales team (products team) to discuss your purchasing needs.

No. All generated stored procedures will be overwritten. Instead add your own stored procedure, then add the respective middle-tier code in the BusinessObject class and the data-tier code in the DataLayer class. *You can use the BusinessObjectBase and DataLayerBase classes as guide.

Yes, please see the notes page. At first use you will need to fill a few required fields to start generating code such as:

- Server (database, it defaults to localhost)
- Name (database)
- User Name (database)
- Password (database)
- Check whether you want Linq-to-Entities, Stored Procedures, or Ad-Hoc SQL
- Web Application Name you want generated
- Directory where you want the Web Application to be generated in
- Business Layer and Data Layer Project Name
- Check whether you want to use a Web API, then enter the Web API Project Name
- Check the (type of) MVC Views you want generated (by default they are all checked)

Once these are filled, the next time you generate code from the same database, all you really have to do is click the "Generate Code..." button. This is very useful because as developers, we would add new tables, or even new fields to an existing table in our database, and these additions and updates can go on forever while we're developing code for the same application. Being able to click just One button to generate code over and over again is very convenient and does not take away our focus on the current application we're developing for.

This same principle also applies when generating code for Database Views.