I'd like to define relationship where Student can have only one favorite Course. I expect it would look like this in DB:
STUDENT
ID
Name
FavoriteCourseID
COURSE
ID
Name
How to achieve this with entity framework? I'd prefer to specify it just by attributes. I tried:
public class Student
{
public int ID { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
public Course FavoriteCourse { get; set; }
public int? FavoriteCourseID { get; set; }
}
public class Class
{
public int ID { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
}
which gave me this DB model:
STUDENT
ID
Name
FavoriteCourseID
COURSE
ID
Name
StudentID // how to remove this?
Note, that it may happen that several students have the same favorite class and therefore this is unacceptable solution.
Another question: what type of relationship this is? (1:1 / 1:N ?)
To specify 1 to 1 relationship, it is assumed, that primary key for the related entity matches the primary key of first entity. Also you should specify a virtual property to related entity:
public class Student
{
[Key]
public int ID { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
public Course FavoriteCourse { get; set; }
public int? FavoriteCourseID { get; set; }
}
public class Class
{
[Key]
[ForeignKey("Student")]
public int ID { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
public virtual Student Student { get; set; }
}
And it will be one-to-zero-or-one relationship. Check this tutorial.
If you will mark FavouriteCourse property with RequiredAttribute, it seems, that it will result in strong one to one relationship.
It will result in adequate database structure:
STUDENT
ID
Name
FavoriteCourseID
COURSE
ID
Name
However, if many students could have one favourite course, this structure will be a problem, as you want one-to-many instead of one-to-one. And you will have a duplicate records in database, because one course can refer only to one student. You have to think about your db design.
You can try this:
public class Student
{
public int ID { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
[ForeignKey("FavoriteCourseId")]
public Course FavoriteCourse { get; set; }
public int? FavoriteCourseId { get; set; }
}
Normally, you define one of the following relations:
Optional:Optional
Required:Optional
Optional:Many
Required:Many
Many:Many
Having Required:Required is not a usual relation, inserting the first entry with such a relation needs special treatment.
I Suppose you want Required:Many as in "Each student has one favorite course but many students may chose the same favorite course".
Related
I have two tables with one-to-one relationship.
public class Name
{
public int Id { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
}
public class Category
{
public int Id { get; set; }
public string Category { get; set; }
public int? NameId { get; set; }
[ForeignKey("NameId ")]
public virtual Name Name { get; set; }
}
I already have data in those tables.
I know the database relations are not supported to be changed.
Is it possible to change one-to-one relationships to many-to-many relationships?
What is the most suitable approach to overcome this requirement?
Yes, you can still change that, using migrations.
Step 1 is to create a linking table, like NameCategories, which looks something like this:
public class NameCategories
{
public int Id { get; set; }
public int NameId { get; set; }
public Name Name { get; set; }
public int CategoryId { get; set; }
public Category Category { get; set; }
}
Step 2 is to reference this table in the tables you already have. In Name it would look like this
public class Name
{
public int Id { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
public virtual ICollection<NameCategory> Categories { get; set; }
}
Step 3 is to add a migration. You'll have some AddColumn() and some DropColumn() statements. In between them, when all the add stuff was executed but the drops not yet, you can add SQL code to carry over all the existing relations into the newly created table. After that, the old data will be deleted by the DropColumn() code. In your example, this would look something like this
INSERT INTO NameCategories (NameId, CategoryId)
SELECT (n.Id, c.Id) FROM Names n
JOIN Categories c on c.NameId = n.Id
WHERE ..
You can execute the SQL in the migration like this:
var sql = #"...";
Sql(sql);
I hope this helps you out!
Based on the solution provided in this question : How to update foreign key in EF 6 - Code First, I'm able to update my foreign key using the id field.
But now, I get an exception when getting entities from the database. Using this code :
// Retrieve data first
using (var db = new TestDbContext())
{
var p2 = db.Persons.First();
}
I get the following SqlException : "Invalid column name 'Country_Id1'."
Does anyone have any clues to be able to retrieve data and to update the foreign key ?
Asked in another way, is it possible to use both the navigation property to ease the use of my entity and the id of the foreign key to be able to update my dependent entity ?
My entities
public class Person
{
public int Id { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
public virtual Country Country { get; set; }
public int Country_Id { get; set; }
}
public class Country
{
public int Id { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
}
That might be because entity framework is trying to create new foreign key based on navigation property Country in Person entity.
I think you should annotate Country_Id property with ForeignKey attribute as below.
public class Person
{
public int Id { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
[ForeignKey("Country_Id")]
public virtual Country Country { get; set; }
public int Country_Id { get; set; }
}
However if you follow the ef naming convention for naming property as below, you don't need to annotate it.
Any property with the same data type as the principal primary key
property and with a name that follows one of the following formats
represents a foreign key for the relationship: '', '', or ''
You may read more from here
public class Person
{
public int Id { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
public virtual Country Country { get; set; }
public int CountryId { get; set; }
}
Note: you might need to run database migration or need to recreate database.
Writing a model for situation where I have two tables which are customers and users. Each user record might have an optional related customer record and vice versa, but none of them is a must. I figured out that FK Associations are not what I need, but Independent Associations are. But I just can find a way to make it work, I keep getting the 'Unable to determine the principal end...The principal end of this association must be explicitly configured using either the relationship fluent API or data annotations.' exception.
My models are very simple:
public class User
{
[Key]
public int Id { get; set; }
[StringLength(20)]
public string CustomerId { get; set; }
public string Password { get; set; }
public bool Locked { get; set; }
//[ForeignKey("CustomerId")]
public virtual Customer Customer { get; set; }
}
public class Customer
{
[Key]
[Column("Id", TypeName = "nvarchar")]
[StringLength(20)]
public string Id { get; set; } // nvarchar 20
[Required]
public string GivenName { get; set; } // nvarchar 100
[Required]
public string Surname { get; set; } // nvarchar 100
//[InverseProperty("Customer")]
public virtual User User { get; set; }
}
I've tried to add the ForeignKeyAttribute and InversePropertyAttribute, which are currently commented out, but they didn't help either. I would prefer to use data annotations and not fluent API, if it's possible in my case.
In one-to-one relation one end must be principal and second end must be dependent. Principal end is the one which will be inserted first and which can exist without the dependent one. Dependent end is the one which must be inserted after the principal because it has foreign key to the principal. When configuring one-to-one relationships, Entity Framework requires that the primary key of the dependent also be the foreign key.This problem is most easily solved by using a ForeignKey annotation on the dependent class to identify that it contains the foreign key. In your case, Customer could be the dependent and its key, Customer.UserId, should also be the foreign key. But both Keys must be declared using the same type:
public class User
{
[Key]
public int Id { get; set; }
public virtual Customer Customer { get; set; }
}
public class Customer
{
[Key, ForeignKey("User")]
public int UserId { get; set; }
public virtual User User{ get; set; }
}
I don't know how to resolve your problem using Data Annotations, but if you want to use Fluent Api, I think the configuration of the relationship would be like this:
modelBuilder.Entity<User>().HasOptional(u => u.Customer).WithOptionalPrincipal(c => c.User);
Update
I understand your escenario, but if you have the same columns that you show in your model, I think you should have a one-to-many relationship mapped in DB instead one-to-one. Try to map your relationship this way:
public class User
{
[Key]
public int Id { get; set; }
public string Password { get; set; }
public bool Locked { get; set; }
public string CustomerId { get; set; }
[ForeignKey("CustomerId")]
public virtual Customer Customer { get; set; }
}
public class Customer
{
[Key]
[Column("Id", TypeName = "nvarchar")]
[StringLength(20)]
public string Id { get; set; } // nvarchar 20
[Required]
public string GivenName { get; set; } // nvarchar 100
[Required]
public string Surname { get; set; } // nvarchar 100
public virtual ICollection<User> Users { get; set; }
}
Remember map your properties with the same column'names that you have in DB.
I'm trying to implement inheritance using entity framework 6.0 and database first approach. OK, let's say I have a Person and an Organization entity like below:
// a simplified version of organization entity
public class Organization
{
public Guid ID { get; set; }
public string Nickname { get; set; }
public string Email { get; set; }
public string PhoneNumber { get; set; }
public string OfficialName { get; set; }
public Guid CEOID { get; set; }
public DateTime? RegisterDate { get; set; }
}
// a simplified version of person entity
public class Person
{
public Guid ID { get; set; }
public string Nickname { get; set; }
public string Email { get; set; }
public string PhoneNumber { get; set; }
public Guid PersonID { get; set; }
public string FirstName { get; set; }
public string LastName { get; set; }
public string MiddleName { get; set; }
public string NationalCode { get; set; }
public DateTime? BirthDate { get; set; }
}
I can create these two tables in database, but I want to use inheritance so the fields which is repeated in both Person and Organization could be in another base class like below:
public class Identity
{
// These fields are the common fields between Person and Organization
public Guid ID { get; set; }
public string Nickname { get; set; }
public string Email { get; set; }
public string PhoneNumber { get; set; }
}
How can I achieve this in db-first approach?
One possible way is to use one table for each type called TPT (table-per-type), which I prefer to use. To achieve this, you define your tables like the model shown in the following picture:
Note that the relationships between child and base entity are one-to-one on their pk columns, and all common fields are moved to the base table. After creating your tables, right click on the models page in your visual studio, and select Update Model from Database..., and then in the add tab, select these 3 tables to add. At first you should see this model diagram, which needs to be changed a bit:
Do these steps for Person and Organization separately:
Right click on entity and select Properties
In the Base Type property select Identity
Select and then delete the association between this entity and Identity
Select and then Delete the PK (ID column) of this entity (Inherits from base entity)
After these steps save your model. Now your model should look like this:
Now compile your project and enjoy your life!
Additional resources:
Entity Framework Designer TPH Inheritance
public class Product
{
[Key]
public int Id { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
public string Description { get; set; }
public decimal Price { get; set; }
public bool IsInStock { get; set; }
public string ImageUrl { get; set; }
public List<ProductOption> ProductOptions { get; set; }
public virtual Category Category { get; set; }
}
public class ProductOption
{
[Key]
public int Id { get; set; }
public string ProductOptionName { get; set; }
public string ProductOptionDescription { get; set; }
}
Now I know when your using Code First EF, so that the tables are created correctly. You need to do something like this.
modelBuilder.Entity<Product>().HasMany(p => p.ProductOptions).WithMany().Map(m =>
{
m.MapLeftKey("ProductId").MapRightKey("ProductOptionId").ToTable("SelectedProductOptionsInOrderedItem");
});
So....
Does this mean that if I do something like Product.ProductOptions I will be able to access all associated productoptions.
Is this the best way to set it up, or is there another way?
To enable lazy load and EF can create derived proxy types for your collection, that property should be declared this way:
public virtual ICollection<ProductOptions> ProductOptions { get; set; }
That should be enought. Other aspect is the mapping approach that you use. You choose fluent api, i prefer mapping by convention, but that is a matter of personal taste anyway.
Ok, Mapping by Conventions:
Is the ability of EF that from the name of entities and their properties along with their types, to map our model with the underlying data without providing any other information.
for example
public class Customer {
public long CustomerID {get; September;}
public string CustomerName {get; September;}
public Employee AssignedTo {get; September;}
}
With the previous model EF will map database with a table named Customer with:
. CustomerID bigint primary key column
. CustomerName nvarchar column
. Customer_EmployeeID foreign key to Employee table, with the datatype Corresponding to EmployeeID in that table.
You can read more Here