I'm using entity Framework 6.1, DbContext, Database First.
I know that I can get the DBsets by names like: context.Myobj1 , context.Myobj2.....
But Is there any possibility to do a for...each loop and to get one by one all the DbSet(of Tentity) on a DbContext?
You need to discover types of entities. That depends on your application. You can use reflection to discover those types. Or you can hardcode types of your entities.
After this you can loop though sets:
var types = new [] { typeof(User), typeof(Role) }; // just example
foreach(var type in types)
{
foreach(var entity in context.DbSet(type))
{ ... }
}
Related
I'm reviewing some code that was written in the EF 4 days because it stands out during performance benchmarking.
The purpose of the code is to materialize an ICollection<MyBaseClass> using Entity Framework (we're now on EF 6.1).
The code exists because references present in specific subclasses aren't materialized when retrieving
public Parent
{
public virtual ICollection<MyBaseClass>() Base { get; set; }
}
from the database, when the actual types stored are subclasses of MyBaseClass.
Example subclass:
public SubA : MyBaseClass
{
public virtual ICollection<Options> Ref1 { get; set; }
}
Currently, the code does something like this:
var parent = ctx.Parents.Include(p => p.Base).Where(...).Single();
LoadSubclasses(parent.Base);
...
private void LoadSubclasses(IEnumerable<MyBaseClass> myBase)
{
foreach (var my in myBase)
{
if (my is SubA)
{
this.Entry(my).Reference("Ref1").Load();
this.Entry((SubA)my).Ref1).Collection("Options").Load();
}
else... // Similar for other subclasses
}
}
Note that ICollection<MyBaseClass>() Base contains a mix of several concrete subclasses. There are generally a few hundred objects in the ICollection.
Is there a more efficient way to materialize Base?
It cannot be said in advance if the performance will be better (sometimes executing a single complex query, especially with sub collection includes may have actually negative impact), but you can minimize the number of database queries to K, where K is the number of subclass types that need additional includes.
You need to base the LoadSubclasses method on IQueryable<TBase> representing all base entities, and execute one query per each subclass type using OfType filter:
private void LoadSubclasses(IQueryable<MyBaseClass> baseQuery)
{
// SubA
baseQuery.OfType<SubA>()
.Include(x => x.Ref1.Options)
.Load();
// Similar for other subclasses
}
The usage with your sample would be:
var parent = ctx.Parents.Include(p => p.Base).Where(...).Single();
LoadSubclasses(ctx.Entry(parent).Collection(p => p.Base).Query());
or more generally:
var parentQuery = ctx.Parents.Where(...);
var parents = parentQuery.Include(p => p.Base).ToList();
LoadSubclasses(parentQuery.SelectMany(p => p.Base));
For those on EF Core 2.1 or later, this feature is now supported out-of-the-box.
Request from 2010:
When in an data model for entity framework has a navigation property
it is not posseble to eager load that navigation property besides when
using OfType<> or when eager loading the derived type itself by a
navigation property.
Response from 2018:
The feature is part of EF Core 2.1, which is currently in preview.
Please create issues in our issue tracker if you find any problems.
So LazyLoadingEnabled = false apparently doesn't do what I thought it did. And has next to no documentation.
I design my entity trees very carefully. I think hard about every relationship. When I load up an entity that is an Aggregate Root, I want everything that is navigable to from there to load. That's how the Aggregate root concept works after all, if I want something to be weekly related I'd stick an id on the entity and manage the relationship myself.
Is there a way to do this with Entity Framework?
You can try obtaining all NavigationProperties of the element type (in IQueryable). By accessing to the MetadataWorkspace of ObjectContext you can get those properties of a specific type and Include all easily.
Note that I suppose you're using EF5 or later version, whereas DbContext is used. We access to ObjectContext via the interface IObjectContextAdapter. Here is the code:
public static IQueryable<T> LoadAllRelatedObjects<T>(this IQueryable<T> source, DbContext context) {
//obtain the EntityType corresponding to the ElementType first
//then we can get all NavigationProperties of the ElementType
var items = (ObjectItemCollection) ((IObjectContextAdapter)context).ObjectContext.MetadataWorkspace.GetItemCollection(DataSpace.OSpace);
var entityType = items.OfType<EntityType>().Single(e => items.GetClrType(e) == source.ElementType);
return entityType.NavigationProperties
.Aggregate(source, (c, e) => c.Include(e.Name));
}
Note in new version (since EF5), the namespace of ObjectItemCollection (and other metadata items) is System.Data.Entity.Core.Metadata.Edm, while in the old version (before EF5), it's System.Data.Metadata.Emd.
Usage:
yourModel.YourEntities.LoadAllRelatedObjects(yourModel)
//. more query here ...
;
I don't think there's a way to have all of the navigation properties auto-eager load. How about making an extension method instead?
public static IQueryable<Company> LoadCompany(this IQueryable<Company> query) {
return query.Include(x => x.Divisions)
.Include(x => x.Departments)
.Include(x => x.Employees);
}
Example:
var query = from company in db.Companies.LoadCompany()
where company.Name == "Microsoft"
select company;
I have a base class and two derived classes.
Each of the derived classes implements the same type as a property - the only difference is the property name.
Sadly I don't have much influence on the class design -> they have been generated from a wsdl file.
I then have a property on the BaseType to encapsulate the common property. The plan was to use this property in my web views etc.
I have used the famous "Fruit-Example" to demonstrate the problem:
public class FruitBase
{
public virtual int ID { get; set; }
//
// The plan is to use this property in mvc view
//
[NotMapped]
public virtual FruitnessFactor Fruitness
{
get
{
if (this.GetType().BaseType == typeof(Apple))
return ((Apple)this).AppleFruitness;
else if (this.GetType().BaseType == typeof(Orange))
return ((Orange)this).OrangeFruitness;
else
return null;
}
}
}
public class FruitnessFactor { }
In my MVC controller, the following query works absolutely fine:
return View(context.FruitEntities
.OfType<Apple>().Include(a =>a.AppleFruitness)
.ToList());
But this one doesn't:
return View(context.FruitEntities
.OfType<Apple>().Include(a =>a.AppleFruitness)
.OfType<Orange>().Include(o => o.OrangeFruitness)
.ToList());
The error message I get is:
DbOfTypeExpression requires an expression argument with a polymorphic result type that is compatible with the type argument.
I am using EF 5.0 RC and the Code First approach.
Any help is much appreciated!
As far as I can tell you can't apply Include on multiple subtypes in a single database query. You can query one type (OfType<Apple>().Include(a => a.AppelFruitness)) and the same for another subtype. The problem is that you can't concat the results in the same query because the result collections have different generic types (apples and oranges).
One option would be to run two queries and copy the result collection into a new collection of the base type - as you already indicated in the comment section under your question.
The other option (which would only need a single query) is a projection. You would have to define a projection type (you could also project into an anonymous type)...
public class FruitViewModel
{
public FruitBase Fruit { get; set; }
public FruitnessFactor Factor { get; set; }
}
...and then can use the query:
List<FruitViewModel> fruitViewModels = context.FruitEntities
.OfType<Apple>()
.Select(a => new FruitViewModel
{
Fruit = a,
Factor = a.AppleFruitness
})
.Concat(context.FruitEntities
.OfType<Orange>()
.Select(o => new FruitViewModel
{
Fruit = o,
Factor = o.OrangeFruitness
}))
.ToList();
If you don't disable change tracking (by using AsNoTracking) the navigation properties get populated automatically when the entities get attached to the context ("Relationship fixup") which means that you can extract the fruits from the viewModel collection...
IEnumerable<FruitBase> fruits = fruitViewModels.Select(fv => fv.Fruit);
...and you'll get the fruits including the FruitnessFactor properties.
This code is pretty awkward but a direct approach without using a projection has been asked for several times without success:
bottleneck using entity framework inheritance
Entity Framework - Eager loading of subclass related objects
How do I deeply eager load an entity with a reference to an instance of a persistent base type (Entity Framework 4)
I'd like to know how to create a method that will allow me to generically do this...
public class Repo<T> : IGenericRepo<T> where T : class
{
protected PteDotNetEntities db;
public T Get(int id)
{
//how do I dynamically get to the correct entity object and select it by
//id?
}
}
Yes you can. If you know that all your entities will have simple primary key property of type int and name Id you can do simply this:
public interface IEntity
{
int Id { get; }
}
All your entities must implement this interface. Next you can simply do:
public class Repo<T> : IGenericRepo<T> where T : class, IEntity
{
protected PteDotNetEntities db;
public T Get(int id)
{
return db.CreateObjectSet<T>().FirstOrDefault(e => e.Id == id);
}
}
This is the simplest possible solution. There are better solutions using GetObjectByKey but they are more complex. The difference between FirstOrDefault and GetObjectByKey is repeatable execution. FirstOrDefault always executes DB query whereas GetObjectByKey first checks if the entity with the same key was already loaded / attached to the context and returns it without querying the database. As reference for version using GetObjectByKey you can check similar questions:
Entity Framework Simple Generic GetByID but has differents PK Name
Generic GetById for complex PK
You can simplify those examples if you know the name of the key property upfront (forced by the interface).
In case of using code first / DbContext API you can also check this question:
Generic repository EF4 CTP5 getById
Basically I want to use a dynamic data website to maintain data in an EF4 model where the entities are in their own assembly. Model and context are in another assembly.
I tried this Entity Framework 4 + Self-Tracking Entities + ASP.NET Dynamic Data = Error
but get an "ambiguous match" error from reflection:
System.Reflection.AmbiguousMatchException was unhandled by user code
Message=Ambiguous match found.
Source=mscorlib
StackTrace:
at System.RuntimeType.GetPropertyImpl(String name, BindingFlags bindingAttr, Binder binder, Type returnType, Type[] types, ParameterModifier[] modifiers)
at System.Type.GetProperty(String name)
at System.Web.DynamicData.ModelProviders.EFTableProvider..ctor(EFDataModelProvider dataModel, EntitySet entitySet, EntityType entityType, Type entityClrType, Type parentEntityClrType, Type rootEntityClrType, String name)
at System.Web.DynamicData.ModelProviders.EFDataModelProvider.CreateTableProvider(EntitySet entitySet, EntityType entityType)
at System.Web.DynamicData.ModelProviders.EFDataModelProvider..ctor(Object contextInstance, Func1 contextFactory)
at System.Web.DynamicData.ModelProviders.SchemaCreator.CreateDataModel(Object contextInstance, Func1 contextFactory)
at System.Web.DynamicData.MetaModel.RegisterContext(Func`1 contextFactory, ContextConfiguration configuration)
at WebApplication1.Global.RegisterRoutes(RouteCollection routes) in C:\dev\Puffin\Puffin.Prototype.Web\Global.asax.cs:line 42
at WebApplication1.Global.Application_Start(Object sender, EventArgs e) in C:\dev\Puffin\Puffin.Prototype.Web\Global.asax.cs:line 78
InnerException:
I came across a similar problem to this recently. It had to do with inheritance in my model. I had a Resource entity that had derived types of Person, Equipment, etc. and in those I had overridden a couple properties, but by mistake gave them different signatures. I'll describe my scenario and hopefully it will help.
To be able to debug deep enough into the framework, and see all the variable values, you will have to disable optimizations:
Link
I was seeing the Ambiguous Match error when registering the Context in Global.asax as you were:
public static void RegisterRoutes(RouteCollection routes)
{
// IMPORTANT: DATA MODEL REGISTRATION
// Uncomment this line to register an ADO.NET Entity Framework model for ASP.NET Dynamic Data.
// Set ScaffoldAllTables = true only if you are sure that you want all tables in the
// data model to support a scaffold (i.e. templates) view. To control scaffolding for
// individual tables, create a partial class for the table and apply the
// [ScaffoldTable(true)] attribute to the partial class.
// Note: Make sure that you change "YourDataContextType" to the name of the data context
// class in your application.
DefaultModel.RegisterContext(typeof(EntityModelContainer), new ContextConfiguration() { ScaffoldAllTables = true });
Stepping into the RegisterContext method, I got to System.Web.DynamicData.ModelProviders.EFDataModelProvider there is section of code that loads all the Entities in the model by traversing the inheritance hierarchy in the constuctor for EFDataModelProvider.
while (objectStack.Any()) {
EntityType entityType = objectStack.Pop();
if (entityType != null) {
// Update the entity set when we are at another root type (a type without a base type).
if (entityType.BaseType == null) {
currentEntitySet = entitySetLookup[entityType];
}
var table = CreateTableProvider(currentEntitySet, entityType);
tables.Add(table);
}
foreach (EntityType derivedEntityType in derivedTypesLookup[entityType]) {
// Push the derived entity types on the stack
objectStack.Push(derivedEntityType);
}
}
I put a breakpoint in here and was able to see that Ambiguous Match was occurring for me when calling CreateTableProvider on my Equipment entity (which was derived from Resource).
Looking back at the Stack Trace from the original exception (which I should have done in the first place!) I put a breakpoint in the constructor for System.Web.DynamicData.ModelProviders.EFTableProvider.IsPublicProperty and watched to see which property/method/whatever was causing the ambiguous match -- for me this ended up being a navigation property called Resources (Resources are themselves a hierarchy) that I had overridden in Equipment.
private static bool IsPublicProperty(Type entityClrType, string propertyName) {
var property = entityClrType.GetProperty(propertyName);
return property != null && property.GetGetMethod() != null;
}
In the partial class for Equipment, I had:
public partial class Equipment
{
public new IEnumerable<Resource> Resources
{
but in the parent class, Resource, Resources was defined as:
public virtual ICollection<Resource> Resources
{
When these Properties are being loaded by the .GetProperty(propertyName) in IsPublicProperty, they have the same name but different signatures (because I had given them different return type by mistake) so it isn't clear which shoudl be loaded based on name alone. I corrected my mistake and made Resources in my Equipment class return an ICollection, and boom -- no more ambiguous match.
Not sure if this will help or not, but if you step through in a similar way you should be able to find exactly what is causing the ambiguous match.