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Source generator for creating compile-time facets of your models, features mapping and LINQ projections, zero runtime overhead.

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"One part of a subject, situation, object that has many parts."

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Facet is a C# source generator that lets you define projections (DTOs, API models, etc.) directly from your domain models, without writing boilerplate.

💎 What is Facetting?

Facetting is the process of defining focused views of a larger model at compile time.

Instead of manually writing separate DTOs, mappers, and projections, Facet allows you to declare what you want to keep, and generates everything else. It generates partial classes, records, structs, or record structs with constructors, LINQ projections, and even supports custom mappings, all at compile time, with zero runtime cost.

You can think of it like carving out a specific facet of a gem:

  • The part you care about
  • Leave the rest behind.

📋 Documentation

⭐ Key Features

  • ✅ Generate classes, records, structs, or record structs from existing types
  • ✅ Define what to include, or exclude fields/properties you don't want
  • ✅ Include/redact public fields
  • ✅ Constructors & LINQ projection expressions
  • ✅ Full mapping support with custom mapping configurations
  • ✅ Auto-generate complete CRUD DTO sets with [GenerateDtos]
  • Expression transformation and mapping utilities for reusing business logic across entities and DTOs
  • ✅ Preserves member and type XML documentation

🌎 The Facet Ecosystem

Facet is modular and consists of several NuGet packages:

  • Facet: The core source generator. Generates DTOs, projections, and mapping code.

  • Facet.Extensions: Provider-agnostic extension methods for mapping and projecting (works with any LINQ provider, no EF Core dependency).

  • Facet.Mapping: Advanced static mapping configuration support with async capabilities and dependency injection for complex mapping scenarios.

  • Facet.Mapping.Expressions: Expression tree transformation utilities for transforming predicates, selectors, and business logic between source entities and their Facet projections.

  • Facet.Extensions.EFCore: Async extension methods for Entity Framework Core (requires EF Core 6+).

🚀 Quick start

Install the NuGet Package

dotnet add package Facet

For LINQ helpers:

dotnet add package Facet.Extensions

For EF Core support:

dotnet add package Facet.Extensions.EFCore

For expression transformation utilities:

dotnet add package Facet.Mapping.Expressions

Define Facets

... and specify what you need.

// Exclude sensitive properties
string[] excludeFields = { "Password", "Email" };

[Facet(typeof(User), exclude: excludeFields)]
public partial class UserWithoutEmail { }

// Include only specific properties
[Facet(typeof(User), Include = new[] { "FirstName", "LastName", "Email" })]
public partial class UserContactDto { }

// Include public fields
[Facet(typeof(Entity), IncludeFields = true)]
public partial class EntityDto { }

// Include specific fields and properties
[Facet(typeof(Entity), Include = new[] { "Name", "Status" }, IncludeFields = true)]
public partial class EntitySummaryDto { }

// Make all properties nullable for query/filter scenarios
[Facet(typeof(Product), "InternalNotes", NullableProperties = true, GenerateBackTo = false)]
public partial class ProductQueryDto { }

Basic Projection of Facets

[Facet(typeof(User))]
public partial class UserFacet { }

// Auto-generates constructor, properties, and LINQ projection
var userFacet = user.ToFacet<UserFacet>();
var userFacet = user.ToFacet<User, UserFacet>(); //Much faster

var user = userFacet.BackTo<User>();
var user = userFacet.BackTo<UserFacet, User>(); //Much faster

var users = users.SelectFacets<UserFacet>();
var users = users.SelectFacets<User, UserFacet>(); //Much faster

Custom Sync Mapping

public class UserMapper : IFacetMapConfiguration<User, UserDto>
{
    public static void Map(User source, UserDto target)
    {
        target.FullName = $"{source.FirstName} {source.LastName}";
        target.Age = CalculateAge(source.DateOfBirth);
    }
}

[Facet(typeof(User), Configuration = typeof(UserMapper))]
public partial class UserDto 
{
    public string FullName { get; set; }
    public int Age { get; set; }
}

Async Mapping for I/O Operations

public class UserAsyncMapper : IFacetMapConfigurationAsync<User, UserDto>
{
    public static async Task MapAsync(User source, UserDto target, CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
    {
        // Async database lookup
        target.ProfilePicture = await GetProfilePictureAsync(source.Id, cancellationToken);
        
        // Async API call
        target.ReputationScore = await CalculateReputationAsync(source.Email, cancellationToken);
    }
}

// Usage
var userDto = await user.ToFacetAsync<User, UserDto, UserAsyncMapper>();
var userDtos = await users.ToFacetsParallelAsync<User, UserDto, UserAsyncMapper>();

Async Mapping with Dependency Injection

public class UserAsyncMapperWithDI : IFacetMapConfigurationAsyncInstance<User, UserDto>
{
    private readonly IProfilePictureService _profileService;
    private readonly IReputationService _reputationService;

    public UserAsyncMapperWithDI(IProfilePictureService profileService, IReputationService reputationService)
    {
        _profileService = profileService;
        _reputationService = reputationService;
    }

    public async Task MapAsync(User source, UserDto target, CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
    {
        // Use injected services
        target.ProfilePicture = await _profileService.GetProfilePictureAsync(source.Id, cancellationToken);
        target.ReputationScore = await _reputationService.CalculateReputationAsync(source.Email, cancellationToken);
    }
}

// Usage with DI
var mapper = new UserAsyncMapperWithDI(profileService, reputationService);
var userDto = await user.ToFacetAsync(mapper);
var userDtos = await users.ToFacetsParallelAsync(mapper);

EF Core Integration

Forward Mapping (Entity -> Facet)

// Async projection directly in EF Core queries
var userDtos = await dbContext.Users
    .Where(u => u.IsActive)
    .ToFacetsAsync<UserDto>();

// LINQ projection for complex queries
var results = await dbContext.Products
    .Where(p => p.IsAvailable)
    .SelectFacet<ProductDto>()
    .OrderBy(dto => dto.Name)
    .ToListAsync();

Reverse Mapping (Facet -> Entity)

[Facet(typeof(User)]
public partial class UpdateUserDto { }

[HttpPut("{id}")]
public async Task<IActionResult> UpdateUser(int id, UpdateUserDto dto)
{
    var user = await context.Users.FindAsync(id);
    if (user == null) return NotFound();
    
    // Only updates properties that mutated
    user.UpdateFromFacet(dto, context);
    
    await context.SaveChangesAsync();
    return NoContent();
}

// With change tracking for auditing
var result = user.UpdateFromFacetWithChanges(dto, context);
if (result.HasChanges)
{
    logger.LogInformation("User {UserId} updated. Changed: {Properties}", 
        user.Id, string.Join(", ", result.ChangedProperties));
}

Automatic CRUD DTO Generation

Generate standard Create, Update, Response, Query, and Upsert DTOs automatically:

// Generate all standard CRUD DTOs
[GenerateDtos(Types = DtoTypes.All, OutputType = OutputType.Record)]
public class User
{
    public int Id { get; set; }
    public string FirstName { get; set; }
    public string LastName { get; set; }
    public string Email { get; set; }
    public DateTime CreatedAt { get; set; }
}

// Auto-generates:
// - CreateUserRequest (excludes Id)
// - UpdateUserRequest (includes Id)  
// - UserResponse (includes all)
// - UserQuery (all properties nullable)
// - UpsertUserRequest (includes Id, for create/update operations)

Entities with Smart Exclusions

[GenerateAuditableDtos(
    Types = DtoTypes.Create | DtoTypes.Update | DtoTypes.Response,
    OutputType = OutputType.Record,
    ExcludeProperties = new[] { "Password" })]
public class Product
{
    public int Id { get; set; }
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public string Password { get; set; } // Excluded
    public DateTime CreatedAt { get; set; } // Auto-excluded (audit)
    public string CreatedBy { get; set; } // Auto-excluded (audit)
}

// Auto-excludes audit fields: CreatedAt, UpdatedAt, CreatedBy, UpdatedBy

Multiple Configurations for Fine-Grained Control

// Different exclusions for different DTO types
[GenerateDtos(Types = DtoTypes.Response, ExcludeProperties = new[] { "Password", "InternalNotes" })]
[GenerateDtos(Types = DtoTypes.Upsert, ExcludeProperties = new[] { "Password" })]
public class Schedule
{
    public int Id { get; set; }
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public string Password { get; set; } // Excluded from both
    public string InternalNotes { get; set; } // Only excluded from Response
}

// Generates:
// - ScheduleResponse (excludes Password, InternalNotes) 
// - UpsertScheduleRequest (excludes Password, includes InternalNotes)

📈 Performance Benchmarks

Facet delivers competitive performance across different mapping scenarios. Here's how it compares to popular alternatives:

Single Mapping

Library Mean Time Memory Allocated Performance vs Facet
Facet 15.93 ns 136 B Baseline
Mapperly 15.09 ns 128 B 5% faster, 6% less memory
Mapster 21.90 ns 128 B 38% slower, 6% less memory

Collection Mapping (10 items)

Library Mean Time Memory Allocated Performance vs Facet
Mapster 192.55 ns 1,416 B 10% faster, 10% less memory
Facet 207.32 ns 1,568 B Baseline
Mapperly 222.50 ns 1,552 B 7% slower, 1% less memory

For this benchmark we used the <TSource, TTarget> methods.

Insights:

  • Single mapping: All three libraries perform similarly with sub-nanosecond differences
  • Collection mapping: Mapster has a slight edge for bulk operations, while Facet and Mapperly are very close
  • Memory efficiency: All libraries are within ~10% of each other for memory allocation
  • Compile-time generation: Both Facet and Mapperly benefit from zero-runtime-cost source generation

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Source generator for creating compile-time facets of your models, features mapping and LINQ projections, zero runtime overhead.

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