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Page Revision: Fri, Nov 23, 2012, 11:00 AM

Overview¶

This article walks through getting started with a Code First Entity Framework solution.

Walkthrough¶

STEP 1: Install EntityFramework package¶

• Visual Studio > Tools menu > Library Package Manager > Package Manager Console
• In the Package Manager Console window: Install-Package EntityFramework.
  

STEP 2: Create DbContext-based class¶

A DbContext-based class is a class that inherits from System.Data.Entity.DbContext.

using System.Data.Entity;

namespace NerdDinner.Domain
{
    public class SiteDb : DbContext
    {
        public DbSet<Dinner> Dinners { get; set; }
        public DbSet<RSVP> RSVPs { get; set; }
    }
}

STEP 3: Create connection string¶

In web.config, create a connection string NAMED THE SAME as the DbContext-based class

<connectionStrings>
  <add name="SiteDb"
       connectionString="Data Source=.;Initial Catalog=NerdDinners;Integrated Security=SSPI;" 
       providerName="System.Data.SqlClient"
       />
</connectionStrings>

STEP 4: Setup Database Sync¶

To have the database be recreated when the model changes, add one of the following two blocks to Application_Start() in Global.asax.cs.

if (System.Diagnostics.Debugger.IsAttached)
    Database.SetInitializer<SiteDb>(new DropCreateDatabaseIfModelChanges<SiteDb>());

if (System.Diagnostics.Debugger.IsAttached)
    Database.SetInitializer<SiteDb>(new SiteDbInitializer());

The SiteDbInitializer class might have code like the following.

public class SiteDbInitializer : DropCreateDatabaseIfModelChanges<SiteDb>
{
    protected override void Seed(SiteDb context)
    {
        var dinners = new List<Dinner>
        {
            new Dinner
            {
                Title = "Sample Dinner 1",
                EventDate = new DateTime(2012,12,31),
                Address = "One Microsoft Way",
                Country = "USA",
                HostedBy = "scottgu@microsoft.com"
            },
            new Dinner
            {
                Title = "Sample Dinner 2",
                EventDate = new DateTime(2013,5,31),
                Address = "Somewhere Else",
                Country = "USA",
                HostedBy = "scottgu@microsoft.com"
            }
        };
        dinners.ForEach(d => context.Dinners.Add(d));
    }
}