Today I published new project on codeplex - WXML. In short it is a new xml format to define object models and their mapping to various sources (database, xml, etc). It is similar to edmx or dbml but has some differences

• XInclude (any part of file can be brought out to external file)
• Strong types
• Open and flexible API
• Differential updates

Feature list:

• Generating from database
• Generating SQL scripts from model
• Generating LINQ to SQL context
• Generating Worm classes

It combines simplicity (from dbml) and power (from edmx).

Lets compare three files which are define the same model.

And the files

• worm
• dbml
• edmx

As you can see edmx is very complex and bulky. Dbml is much simplier but has many annoying limitations (lack of xml documentation, m2m relations). WXML has all the features of edmx and brief as dbml.