DKNet

Choose DTO properties

Part of DKNet.EfCore.DtoGenerator. Using the Quick Start entity, replace the DTO shell with an explicit allow-list and adjust its initializer to omit Price:

[GenerateDto(typeof(Product), Include = new[] { nameof(Product.Id), nameof(Product.Name) })]
public partial record ProductDto;

Public readable entity properties pass through Include or the combined local and global exclusions, then navigation filtering determines the generated property set.

For an ordinary [GenerateDto] DTO, a non-empty Include bypasses global exclusions and navigation filtering. Otherwise local and global exclusion names are combined, and the effective IgnoreComplexType selects whether navigation-like properties are omitted.

⚙️ Configuration reference

Option	Type	Default	Effect
`entityType`	`Type` constructor argument	Required	Entity whose properties are inspected.
`Include`	`string[]`	Empty	Non-empty allow-list; mutually exclusive with non-empty `Exclude`.
`Exclude`	`string[]`	Empty	Local property names removed alongside global names.
`IgnoreComplexType`	`bool` attribute argument	Unset, then project value, then `true`	Omit navigation-like properties unless explicitly disabled.
`DtoGeneratorExclusions`	MSBuild string	Unset	Comma/semicolon-separated, trimmed names excluded project-wide.
`DtoGeneratorIgnoreComplexType`	MSBuild boolean	Unset	Default for DTOs without an explicit attribute value; an unparseable value falls through to `true`.

Add project defaults inside a .csproj property group:

<PropertyGroup>
  <DtoGeneratorExclusions>CreatedBy,UpdatedBy</DtoGeneratorExclusions>
  <DtoGeneratorIgnoreComplexType>true</DtoGeneratorIgnoreComplexType>
</PropertyGroup>

The package exposes both switches to the compiler automatically. See the Global Exclusions Guide for project-wide setup.

🧱 Where it fits

The compiler reads project defaults and per-DTO arguments, then DtoGenerator emits only the selected DTO members.

Defaults are compile-time inputs; there is no DI registration or runtime options object.

⚠️ Gotchas & limits

Non-empty Include and Exclude together emit DKDTOGEN004 and skip that DTO entirely. DKDTOGEN005 reports when an allow-list bypasses a global list.
Names are matched case-sensitively; use nameof. A misspelled ordinary DTO filter name does not receive the convention-event validator’s invalid-property error.
Navigation filtering unwraps arrays, List<T>, IList<T>, ICollection<T> and IEnumerable<T> only. User classes are treated as navigation targets unless they are records, marked with an Owned/OwnedAttribute name, or in System/Microsoft namespaces. Structs and records remain value-like.
Convention event payloads omit navigation-like properties (in one of those five shapes, or a navigation class) even if Include names them; their rule is stricter than ordinary DTO selection.
Read-only and set collection navigations (IReadOnlyCollection<T>, IReadOnlyList<T>, HashSet<T>) are not unwrapped. They count as framework types, so they stay in the DTO and in convention event payloads, without an = [] initializer.

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