WCF Data Service based on EF5 Model; how to add a custom type - entity-framework

Question

I am trying to build a WCF Data Service with a ServiceMethod returning a custom type.
This type is used as a container to transmit multiple data collection at once. I am not able to define this type as entity or complex type.
public class BrfPackageDataContainer {
public ICollection<BrfFlight> Flights {
get;
set;
}
public ICollection<BrfFlight_Info> Flight_Infos {
get;
set;
}
public ICollection<BrfInfo> Infos {
get;
set;
}
public BrfPackageDataContainer() {
this.Flights = new List<BrfFlight>();
this.Flight_Infos = new List<BrfFlight_Info>();
this.Infos = new List<BrfInfo>();
}
}
This is my ServiceMethod declaration:
[WebGet]
[SingleResult]
public FlightInfoEntities.BrfPackageDataContainer GetBrfPackage () {
var brfPackageDataContainer = new FlightInfoEntities.BrfPackageDataContainer();
brfPackageDataContainer.Demodata();
return brfPackageDataContainer;
}
I got this running when using an empty dummy DataService as data source for the service class definition. But when I use my Entity Framework Model as data source the service refuse to start because of the missing metadata for the custom type.
My question is:
How can I use an EF Model as data source AND still use my custom type as a return value for my method.

Answer 1

Problem solved with a workaround:
I added 3 complex types to my modell, matching the data structure of each individual result set.
Furthermore I added a container class outside the data context which uses the complex types to hold the data in one object.
I extended the context class with a custom method to handle the stored procedure call and mapping the results to the appropriate complex types.ObjectContext.Translate helps a lot...
The WCF Data Service class is instantiated with a dummy DataContext. This enables metadata creation for my custom data container class which now can be used as return type of a custom WCF Data Service Method.
The data context is instantiated when the method is called.
Data container class` public class BrfPackageDataContainer {
public Guid TransactionId {
get;
set;
}
public List<BrfFlight> Flights {
get;
set;
}
public List<BrfFlight_Info> Flight_Infos {
get;
set;
}
public List<BrfInfo> Infos {
get;
set;
}
public BrfPackageDataContainer () {
this.Flights = new List<BrfFlight>();
this.Flight_Infos = new List<BrfFlight_Info>();
this.Infos = new List<BrfInfo>();
}
}`
context extension:
public partial class FlightInfoEntities
{
public virtual BrfPackageDataContainer GetBrfPackage(int? crewId, string operatorCode, string departure, int? flightId, DateTime? stdRangeStart,
DateTime? stdRangeEnd, string requestingApplication, string requestingComputerName,
string requestingACReg, ref Guid transactionId, int? specificInfoTypeId, byte? levelOfDetail,
bool? skipLog) {
using (DbCommand command = this.Database.Connection.CreateCommand()) {
command.CommandType = CommandType.StoredProcedure;
command.CommandText = "[dbo].[GetBrfPackage]";
...
var dataContainer = new BrfPackageDataContainer();
try {
this.Database.Connection.Open();
using (DbDataReader reader = command.ExecuteReader()) {
dataContainer.Flights = ((IObjectContextAdapter)this).ObjectContext.Translate<BrfFlight>(reader).ToList();
reader.NextResult();
dataContainer.Flight_Infos = ((IObjectContextAdapter)this).ObjectContext.Translate<BrfFlight_Info>(reader).ToList();
reader.NextResult();
dataContainer.Infos = ((IObjectContextAdapter)this).ObjectContext.Translate<BrfInfo>(reader).ToList();
}
return dataContainer;
} catch (Exception ex) {
throw ex;
}
}
WCF Data Service Method:
[WebGet]
[SingleResult]
public BrfPackageDataContainer GetBrfPackage () {
using (var brfCtx = new FlightInfoEntities()) {
Guid transactionId = new Guid();
var brfPackageDataContainer = brfCtx.GetBrfPackage(null,"4T",null,null,null,null,"test",Environment.MachineName,null,ref transactionId,null,3,false);
return brfPackageDataContainer;
}
}