after downloading blinq and the may linq ctp, i decided to give it a quick run.
first, the installer just kinda installs on you not telling you anything. blinq gets installed into c:\program files\microsoft asp.net\blinq.
if you thought there was a gui, nada (yet). it is command line baby!
so i ensured i had the trusty pubs database installed on my local instance of sql express 2005. then i went to town.
to scaffold a database, just do the following:
blinq /t:<yourdesiredoutputpath> /server:<yoursever> /database:<yourdb>
be sure not to type ‘bling’ 
there are some other options, but this will get you a scaffold site. specifically i did:
![blinq2 [2]](http://static.flickr.com/58/168114340_59c30e601f.jpg)
after that i opened the site in vs2005:
i then ran the site and got the following screens:
i ran through some of them and saw some errors with a blank pubs database, but you get the gist…it’s all there. try it on your own site/data!
i plan on digging deeper and doing a comparison of Ruby Rails scaffolding, but i did notice that like ruby scaffolding, it does not automagically generate the foreign key references in the UI. another thing i would have liked to see is the option of *not* generating physical files — i like that about ruby rails scaffolding — kind of an httpmodule feel with the ability to generate physical templates…i’ll dig deeper.
tags: asp.net, blinq, linq