Add column to the database - how do I update the dbml file?

linq-to-sql

Solution

So far as I know there's no built-in functionality in the designer to update a table with changes in a database.

There are third party tools (http://www.huagati.com/dbmltools/) that offer that sort of functionality.

Whenever I ran into this issue it was on the order of one or two columns on a table with multiple manual relationships already set up, so I just edited the XML (right click on the DBML and select open with -> XML) and added the columns to the table definition.

When DBML file is saved the associated `.designer.cs` file is automatically updated with code for newly added columns. Therefore, there is no need to drop and recreate table in designer mode.

Problem

Original source