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Catel.SourceGenerators

Catel (https://github.com/catel/catel) is an application development platform with the focus on MVVM (WPF). The goal of Catel is to provide a complete set of modular functionality for Line of Business applications written in any .NET technology, from client to server.

Catel.SourceGenerators provides Roslyn source generators that help generate boilerplate code such as dependency injection for XAML controls.

Critical Rules (Read First)

These rules are non-negotiable. Violating them causes broken builds, crashes, or downstream breakage.

1. Never Edit Generated Files

Files matching *.generated.cs, *.generated.xaml are auto-generated.

  • NEVER manually edit these files

2. ABI / API Stability

This project maintains stable ABI / API. Breaking changes break downstream apps.

Allowed Never
Add new overloads Modify existing signatures
Add new methods Remove public APIs
Add new classes Change return types

3. Tests Are Mandatory

Building alone is NOT sufficient. Run tests before claiming completion (see Commands).

4. Branch Protection (COMPLIANCE REQUIRED)

Direct commits to protected branches are a policy violation.

Protected Branches
master
develop

Required workflow:

  1. Create a feature branch FIRST — Use naming convention: feature/issue-NNNN-description
  2. Make all commits on the feature branch — Never commit directly to protected branches
  3. Submit a Pull Request — Changes must be reviewed by a human before merging
# CORRECT — Always create a feature branch first
git checkout -b feature/issue-1234-fix-description

# NEVER DO THIS — Policy violation
git checkout develop && git commit  # FORBIDDEN

# NEVER DO THIS — Policy violation
git checkout master && git commit  # FORBIDDEN

The repository has protected branches that must be respected.

Commands

Single source of truth for all commands:

Task Command
Build dotnet cake --target=build
Test dotnet cake --target=test
Build and test dotnet cake --target=buildandtest

Architecture & Directories

Layer Overview

Catel.SourceGenerators => Source code for the Roslyn source generators

Directory Guide

Directory Editable? Notes
*.generated.cs No Leave as-is
*.generated.xaml No Leave as-is
deployment No Deployment / build scripts
doc/dev/ Yes Architecture guides
doc/docfx/releases/ Yes Website release notes (template-formatted)
doc/docfx/releases/TEMPLATE.md Yes Template for AI formatting

Writing Code

Anti-Patterns (Never Do This)

Anti-Pattern Why
Modifying method signatures ABI breaking
Manual edits to *.generated.cs, *.generated.xaml Overwritten on regenerate
Using default parameters in public APIs ABI breaking
Skipping failing tests Unacceptable — tests must pass

Testing & Debugging

Running Tests

dotnet cake --target=test

Tests MUST Pass

NON-NEGOTIABLE: Tests must PASS before claiming completion.

  • Do NOT skip failing tests
  • Do NOT claim completion if tests fail
  • Do NOT use SkipException to work around failures

Writing Tests

  1. Use NUnit to write tests
  2. Create a Facts class for a feature
  3. Combine Pascal / Snake case for test methods (e.g. Feature_Does_Work)
[Test]
public void Feature_Does_Work()
{
    var result = 47 - 5;

    Assert.That(result, Is.EqualTo(42));
}

Philosophy: Tests FAIL when wrong, never skip (except missing hardware).

Debugging Methodology

  1. Establish baseline — What's the known-good state?
  2. One change at a time — Verify each change before proceeding
  3. Track changes in a table — Log what you changed and the result
  4. Platform differences are signals — If X works and Y fails, the difference IS the answer
  5. Revert if worse — Don't pile fixes on top of failures

Further Reading

Topic Document