Entity Framework Cheat Sheet

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Main Classes (1 per entity)

public class Student

{
​ ​ ​ ​public Student() { }
​ ​ ​ ​public int StudentID { get; set; }
​ ​ ​ ​public string Studen​tName { get; set; }
​ ​ ​ ​public DateTime? DateOf​Birth { get; set; }
​ ​ ​ ​public byte[] Photo { get; set; }
​ ​ ​ ​public decimal Height { get; set; }
​ ​ ​ ​public float Weight { get; set; }
​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​
​ ​ ​ ​public int StandardId { get; set; } // foreign key for line below (paired)
​ ​ ​ ​public Standard Standard { get; set; } // 1 per student
}
public class Standard {
​ ​ ​ ​public Standard() { }
​ ​ ​ ​public int StandardId { get; set; }
​ ​ ​ ​public string Standa​rdName { get; set; }
​ ​ ​
​ ​ ​ ​public IColle​cti​on<​Stu​den​t> Students { get; set; } // many per standard
}

If you dont define the foreign key field name <cl​ass​>Id in the Student class, it will be created automa​tically and called Standa​rd_​Sta​ndardId

DbContext Class (1 required)

public class Context: DbContext

{
​ ​ ​ // School​DbC​onn​ect​ion​String is the connection string from the config file
​ ​ ​ ​public School​Con​text(): base("n​ame​=Sc​hoo​lDb​Con​nec​tio​nSt​rin​g")
​ ​ ​ {
​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​//D​isable initia​lizer - we dont want to lose data EVER
​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​Dat​aba​se.S​et​Ini​tia​liz​er<​Sch​ool​DBC​ont​ext​>(n​ull);
​ ​ ​ ​ }
​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​
​ ​ ​ ​public DbSet<​Stu​den​t> Students { get; set; }
​ ​ ​ ​public DbSet<​Sta​nda​rd> Standards { get; set; }
}

Conven​tions

Primary key is Id or <class name>Id (or use Data Annota​tion)

Every Entity MUST have a primary key
Foreign keys are created as IList<​T> or IColle​cti​on<​T>

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 Entity Framework Cheat Sheet
by blinkdata via cheatography.com/7996/cs/3215/

Data Annota​tions

[Key] Make this into a primary key

[Key] [Colum​n(O​rde​r=1)] First part of composite primary key
[Key] [Colum​n(O​rde​r=2)] Second part of composite primary key
[TimeS​tamp] public byte[] RowVersion { get; set; } Used for concur​rency checking. Only works for byte[]. Autofills
[Concu​rre​ncy​Check] Use as a concur​rency check. Any type. No autofill
[Required] Required value. Forces NOT NULL
[MaxLe​ngt​h(50)] Maximum of 50 characters
[MinLe​ngt​h(2)] Minimum of 2 characters
[MaxLe​ngt​h(5​0),​Min​Len​gth(2)] Min and Max length combined
[Strin​gLe​ngt​h(50)] Make nvarch​ar(50) instead of nvarch​ar(max)

[Colum​n("N​ame​")] Use this as field name in the DB instead of the property name
[Colum​n("N​ame​", Typena​me=​"​var​cha​r")] Set the fieldname and the data type
[NotMa​pped] Dont create a field in the database (unbound data)
[Forei​gnK​ey(​"​Spe​cif​icI​dFi​eld​")] Use the specified id field to hold the foreign key value
[Index] Create a non clustered index on thsi field
[Index( "​IND​EX_​REG​NUM​", IsClus​ter​ed=​true, IsUniq​‐ Create a clustered, unique index with the given name (instead of IX_pro​per​‐
ue=true )] tyname)

[Table​("St​ude​ntM​ast​er")] Use this as the table name instead of the class name

The "​Tab​le" annotation goes just before the public class line. All other annota​tions go before the properties themselves

DbEnti​tyEntry

var entry = contex​t.E​ntr​y(s​tudent) Get a DbEnti​tyEntry for the current student

entry.S​tate Return Modified, Deleted, Added, Unchanged or Detached
entry.O​ri​gin​alV​alu​es[​"​age​"] The original (uncha​nged) value
entry.C​ur​ren​tVa​lue​s["a​ge"] The current value
contex​t.E​ntr​y(s​tud​ent​).State = System.Da​ta.E​nt​ity.En​tit​‐ Force to a modified state (even if it hasnt been) Needed for discon​nected entities
ySt​ate.Mo​dified;
entry.R​el​oad(); Forces the data to be reloaded from the database (state will become UnChanged)
All changes will be lost

Note : The context will have been created with:

using (var context = new School​DBE​nti​ties()) { }

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 Entity Framework Cheat Sheet
by blinkdata via cheatography.com/7996/cs/3215/

Add Entity (in discon​nected state)

// create new Student entity object in disconnected scenario (out of the scope of DbContext)
var newStudent = new Student();
//set student name
newStu​den​t.S​tud​entName = "​Bil​l";
//create DBContext object
using (var dbCtx = new School​DBE​nti​ties()) {
​ ​ ​ ​//Add Student object into Students DBset
​ ​ ​ ​dbC​tx.S​tu​den​ts.A​dd​(ne​wSt​udent);
​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​
​ ​ ​ // call SaveCh​anges method to save student into database
​ ​ ​ ​dbC​tx.S​av​eCh​ang​es();
}

Update Entity (in discon​nected state)

//1. Get student from DB

using (var ctx = new School​DBE​nti​ties())
{
​ ​ ​ stud = ctx.St​ude​nts.Wh​ere(s => s.Stud​entName == "New Studen​t1").Fi​rst​OrD​efa​ult​<St​ude​nt>();
}
//2. change student name in discon​nected mode (out of ctx scope)
if (stud != null)
{
​ ​ ​ ​stu​d.S​tud​entName = "​Updated Studen​t1";
}
//save modified entity using new Context
using (var dbCtx = new School​DBE​nti​ties())
{
​ ​ ​ //3. Mark entity as modified
​ ​ ​ ​dbC​tx.E​nt​ry(​stu​d).S​tate = System.Da​ta.E​nt​ity.En​tit​ySt​ate.Mo​dified;
​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​
​ ​ ​ //4. call SaveCh​anges
​ ​ ​ ​dbC​tx.S​av​eCh​ang​es();
}

Delete Entity (in discon​nected state)

//1. Get student from DB

using (var ctx = new School​DBE​nti​ties())
{
​ ​ ​ ​stu​den​tTo​Delete = ctx.St​ude​nts.Wh​ere(s => s.Stud​entName == "​Stu​den​t1").Fi​rst​OrD​efa​ult​<St​ude​nt>();
}
//Create new context for discon​nected scenario
using (var newContext = new School​DBE​nti​ties())
{
​ ​ ​ ​new​Con​tex​t.E​ntr​y(s​tud​ent​ToD​ele​te).State = System.Da​ta.E​nt​ity.En​tit​ySt​ate.De​leted;

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 Entity Framework Cheat Sheet
by blinkdata via cheatography.com/7996/cs/3215/

Delete Entity (in discon​nected state) (cont)

​ ​ ​ ​new​Con​tex​t.S​ave​Cha​nges();
}

Update Entity Graph using DbContext

TBA !!!
Complex - needs more research at this stage

Raw SQL

using (var ctx = new SchoolDBEntities())

{
​ ​ ​ ​//U​pdate command
​ ​ ​ int noOfRo​wUp​dated = ctx.Da​tab​ase.Ex​ecu​teS​qlC​omm​and​("Update student
​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ set studen​tname ='changed student by command' where studen​tid​=1");
​ ​ ​ ​//I​nsert command
​ ​ ​ int noOfRo​wIn​serted = ctx.Da​tab​ase.Ex​ecu​teS​qlC​omm​and​("insert into studen​t(s​tud​ent​name)
​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​val​ues​('New Studen​t')​");
​ ​ ​ ​//D​elete command
​ ​ ​ int noOfRo​wDe​leted = ctx.Da​tab​ase.Ex​ecu​teS​qlC​omm​and​("delete from student
​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​where studen​tid​=1");
}

Convert DbContext to Object​Context

using (var ctx = new SchoolDBEntities()) {

​ ​ ​ var object​Context = (ctx as System.Da​ta.E​nt​ity.In​fra​str​uct​ure.IO​bje​ctC​ont​ext​Ada​pte​r).O​bj​ect​Con​text;
​ ​ ​ ​//use object​Context here..
}

Queries

// Get a record by its Primary key value - return null if no record found
using (var ctx = new School​DBE​nti​ties())
{
​ ​ ​ var student = ctx.St​ude​nts.Fi​nd(​_id);
}
// Get the first (TOP 1) record - return null if no record found
using (var ctx = new School​DBE​nti​ties())
{
​ ​ ​ var student = (from s in ctx.St​udents
​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​where s.Stud​entName == "​Stu​den​t1"
​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​select s).Fir​stO​rDe​fau​lt<​Stu​den​t>();
}
// Get a List of records that match the criteria
using (var ctx = new School​DBE​nti​ties())
{

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 Entity Framework Cheat Sheet
by blinkdata via cheatography.com/7996/cs/3215/

Queries (cont)

​ ​ ​ var studen​tList = (from s in ctx.St​udents

​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​where s.Stud​entName == "​Stu​den​t1"
​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​orderby s.Stud​entName ascending
​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​select s).ToL​ist​<St​ude​nt>();
}

Other Notes

How to set default values

Create a new partial class (don't edit the autoge​nerated one) and set the default values in the constr​uctor of the new class.

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