DbContext and RejectChanges - entity-framework

I was working with RIA services where ObjectContext has RejectChanges() method. However, I am now working with EF 4.4 in a desktop application and I cannot find that method. So, my question is: in a scenrario where I allow user to do batch CrUD operations on collection, how would I revert all the changes? I could go with recreating the Context and fetching the data again, but that sound highly unnecessary if I need to revert changes back to 1-2 entities.
So, what is the best way to reject changes? And also, how do we know if the context is doing something (IsBusy)?

EF doesn't have any direct "reject changes" operation. You can go through entity entries in ChangeTracker / ObjectStateManager and overwrite current values with original values for modified entities. You can also detach added entities and change deleted entities back to unchanged but that all will mostly work only if you (or EF internally) didn't change the state of any independent association (relation). If you work with relations as well the whole thing can become much more complicated because you must revert relations as well - in such case it is simpler to reload data.
For reverting changes in DbContext API you can try this:
foreach (var entry in context.ChangeTracker
.Entries<YourEntityType>()
.Where(e => e.State == EntityState.Modified))
{
entry.CurrentValues.SetValues(entry.OriginalValues);
}
In this case I think the main problem is the way how you work with entities - you allow changes on live data and EF does its logic on behind to keep data consistent when changes are performed but later on you decide that those changes will not be saved. In this case you should do one of following:
Discard changed data and reload whole data set (by recreating the context)
Separate this logic to not work on live data and push data modification to EF context only when the modification is really confirmed
Context is doing something if you say it to do something. It never becomes busy itself.

public void RejectChanges()
{
foreach (var entry in ChangeTracker.Entries())
{
switch (entry.State)
{
case EntityState.Modified:
{
entry.CurrentValues.SetValues(entry.OriginalValues);
entry.State = EntityState.Unchanged;
break;
}
case EntityState.Deleted:
{
entry.State = EntityState.Unchanged;
break;
}
case EntityState.Added:
{
entry.State = EntityState.Detached;
break;
}
}
}
}

I know this is an old question. However, none of the answers fit my situation. I needed to reject the changes on only 1 entity in a collection. This is what worked for me:
var objectContext = (myDbContext as IObjectContextAdapter).ObjectContext;
objectContext.Refresh(RefreshMode.StoreWins, partMaster);

This works for me:
public void RejectChanges() {
var context = ((IObjectContextAdapter)this).ObjectContext;
foreach (var change in this.ChangeTracker.Entries()) {
if (change.State == EntityState.Modified) {
context.Refresh(RefreshMode.StoreWins, change.Entity);
}
if (change.State == EntityState.Added) {
context.Detach(change.Entity);
}
}
}
this=DbContext in this case

This may be an old answer but useful to any new visitors....
The Reload function will reload the object from the data source and overwrite any existing changes and the newly loaded entity will have a unchanged status.
public static void UndoEntityChanges(object Entity)
{
<EFModelContainer>.Entry(Entity).Reload();
}

Related

TimeStamp with EF Core 2.1 and Sql Server?

I want to have basically on most of my tables a "Last Updated" column so that I can quickly check when it was last updated.
Right now I been just putting a datetime and every time I do an action in my C# code I will save the new DateTime to update that field. Of course this can lead to me forgetting to do this.
I want something more automatic. I don't need this really for auditing purposes so it does not need to be too advanced.
I tried
builder.Property(x => x.RowVersion).IsRowVersion();
what should make a timestamp but when I look at in the database I see 0x00000000000007D1 when I thought it would look more like a datetime.
edit
public class CompanyConfig : IEntityTypeConfiguration<Company>
{
public void Configure(EntityTypeBuilder<Company> builder)
{
builder.HasKey(x => x.Id);
builder.Property(x => x.Id).ValueGeneratedOnAdd();
builder.Property<DateTime>("LastUpdated");
}
}
Assuming you have defined a shadow property LastModified for each entity you want that functionality as in your example
builder.Property<DateTime>("LastUpdated");
and the question is how to update it automatically.
The technique described in the David's answer is outdated. It's still possible to override SaveChanges (and SaveChangesAsync), but there is IMHO a better approach, shown in Populate Created and LastModified automagically in EF Core. It's interface based approach, but can easily be adjusted for shadow property (or any property - the methods used work for both shadow and explicit properties).
Quick recap: Starting with v2.1, EF Core provides State change events:
New Tracked And StateChanged events on ChangeTracker can be used to write logic that reacts to entities entering the DbContext or changing their state.
Here is how you can utilize them. Add the following to your derived context class:
void SubscribeStateChangeEvents()
{
ChangeTracker.Tracked += OnEntityTracked;
ChangeTracker.StateChanged += OnEntityStateChanged;
}
void OnEntityStateChanged(object sender, EntityStateChangedEventArgs e)
{
ProcessLastModified(e.Entry);
}
void OnEntityTracked(object sender, EntityTrackedEventArgs e)
{
if (!e.FromQuery)
ProcessLastModified(e.Entry);
}
void ProcessLastModified(EntityEntry entry)
{
if (entry.State == EntityState.Modified || entry.State == EntityState.Added)
{
var property = entry.Metadata.FindProperty("LastModified");
if (property != null && property.ClrType == typeof(DateTime))
entry.CurrentValues[property] = DateTime.UtcNow;
}
}
and add
SubscribeStateChangeEvents();
to your derived context constructor(s).
And that's all. Once the context is subscribed to these events, it will be notified anytime the entity is initially tracked or its state changes. You are interested only with Modified and Added state not triggered by query materialization (if you don't need Added, then just exclude it from the if condition). Then you check if the entity contains DateTime LastModified property using the EF Core metadata services and if yes, simply update it with the current date/time.
The pattern in EF Core for this is to make the "LastUpdated" a Shadow Property, and update it during SaveChanges().
See, eg: Implementing Common Audit Fields with EF Core’s Shadow Property
By looking at the DbContext class documentation, you can override SaveChanges method and set the LastUpdated values in there, before continuing with base.SaveChanges() at the end.
One last piece - inside SaveChanges method, you can find the modified/newly added entities using ChangeTracker property.

Confusing articles and documentation about the differences (if any) between System.Data.EntityState.Add & DbSet.Add

I am working on a C# ASP.NET MVC 5 web application with EF 5. Mapping of my database tables using EF generates a DbContext class and an .edmx file. Today, I was reading a great article about creating generic DAL classes, but I stopped on the following sentence:
Note that using the Entry method to change the state of an entity will
only affect the actual entity that you pass in to the method. It won’t
cascade through a graph and set the state of all related objects,
unlike the DbSet.Add method.
That contradicts what is mentioned in these questions:
http://forums.asp.net/p/2015170/5803192.aspx
http://forums.asp.net/p/2060606/5943259.aspx
Difference between DbSet.Add(entity) and entity.State = EntityState.Added
What is the difference between IDbSet.Add and DbEntityEntry.State = EntityState.Added?
In all the above questions’ answers, all users mentioned that using System.Data.EntityState.Added is exactly the same as using DbSet.Add. But the article I mentioned first states that using System.Data.EntityState.Added will not cascade through the graph.
Based on my test, I conclude that using System.Data.EntityState.Added will cascade through the graph same as in the DBset.Add case. Is the article wrong, or is it my test and the Q&A?
Those methods are the same which you can verify by regular testing, or, if you want to be completely sure - by some exploration of EF 6 code.
DbSet.Add method (http://entityframework.codeplex.com/SourceControl/latest#src/EntityFramework/DbSet.cs)
public virtual TEntity Add(TEntity entity)
{
Check.NotNull<TEntity>(entity, "entity");
this.GetInternalSetWithCheck("Add").Add((object) entity);
return entity;
}
This calls InternalSet<T>.Add(object) method.
DbEntityEntry<T>.State property (http://entityframework.codeplex.com/SourceControl/latest#src/EntityFramework/Infrastructure/DbEntityEntry.cs)
public EntityState State
{
get { return _internalEntityEntry.State; }
set { _internalEntityEntry.State = value; }
}
Where _internalEntityEntry is of InternalEntityEntry type.
InternalEntityEntry.State property (http://entityframework.codeplex.com/SourceControl/latest#src/EntityFramework/Internal/EntityEntries/InternalEntityEntry.cs)
public virtual EntityState State
{
get { return IsDetached ? EntityState.Detached : _stateEntry.State; }
set
{
if (!IsDetached)
{
if (_stateEntry.State == EntityState.Modified
&& value == EntityState.Unchanged)
{
// Special case modified to unchanged to be "reject changes" even
// ChangeState will do "accept changes". This keeps the behavior consistent with
// setting modified to false at the property level (once that is supported).
CurrentValues.SetValues(OriginalValues);
}
_stateEntry.ChangeState(value);
}
else
{
switch (value)
{
case EntityState.Added:
_internalContext.Set(_entityType).InternalSet.Add(_entity);
break;
case EntityState.Unchanged:
_internalContext.Set(_entityType).InternalSet.Attach(_entity);
break;
case EntityState.Modified:
case EntityState.Deleted:
_internalContext.Set(_entityType).InternalSet.Attach(_entity);
_stateEntry = _internalContext.GetStateEntry(_entity);
Debug.Assert(_stateEntry != null, "_stateEntry should not be null after Attach.");
_stateEntry.ChangeState(value);
break;
}
}
}
}
You see that if entity is detached (your case) and state is Added - the same InternalSet<T>.Add(object) is called.
As for verification by testing:
using (var ctx = new TestDBEntities()) {
// just some entity, details does not matter
var code = new Code();
// another entity
var error = new Error();
// Code has a collection of Errors
code.Errors.Add(error);
var codeEntry = ctx.Entry(code);
// modify code entry and mark as added
codeEntry.State = EntityState.Added;
// note we did not do anything with Error
var errorEntry = ctx.Entry(error);
// but it is marked as Added too, because when marking Code as Added -
// navigation properties were also explored and attached, just like when
// you do DbSet.Add
Debug.Assert(errorEntry.State == EntityState.Added);
}
I don't know the writer of that blog. I do know the writers of the book DbContext though (albeit not in person). They know EF inside-out. So when on page 80 they write
Calling DbSet.Add and setting the State to Added both achieve exactly the same thing.
I know what I'm up to. They do exactly the same thing, which is:
If the entity is not tracked by the context, it will start being tracked by the context in
the Added state. Both DbSet.Add and setting the State to Added are graph operations—
meaning that any other entities that are not being tracked by the context and are reachable
from the root entity will also be marked as Added.
I also know by experience that it works that way. But to remove any doubt, in EF's source code, both DbSet.Add and DbEntityEntry.State (when set to Added) arrive at the same point in ObjectContext that does the actual work:
public virtual void AddObject(string entitySetName, object entity)
It's a feature that continues to delude developers that start working with EF, as is evident from the large number of questions at StackOverflow asking something along the lines of "how come my entities are duplicated?". Julie Lerman wrote an entire blog explaining why this may happen.
This continued delusion made the EF team decide to change this behavior in EF7.
Maybe the writer of the blog you refer to was one of those deluded developers.

How can I create a generic update method for One to Many structures in Entity Framework 5?

I am writing a web application, such that I get different objects back from the web that need to be either updated or added to the database. On top of this, I need to check that the owner is not modified. Since a hacker could potentially get an account and send an update to modify the foreign key to the user model. I don't want to have to manually code all of these methods, instead I want to make a simple generic call.
Maybe something as simple as this
ctx.OrderLines.AddOrUpdateSet(order.OrderLines, a => a.Order)
Based on old persisted records that have a foreign key to Order, and on the new incoming records.
Delete old records that are not on the new records list.
Add new records that are not on the old records list.
Update new records that exist on both lists.
ctx.Entry(orderLine).State=EntityState.Deleted;
...
ctx.Entry(orderLine).State=EntityState.Added;
...
ctx.Entry(orderLine).State=EntityState.Modified;
This gets a bit complicated when the old record is loaded to verify that ownership did not change. I get an error if I don't do.
oldorder.OrderLines.remove(oldOrderLine); //for deletes
oldorder.OrderLines.add(oldOrderLine); //for adds
ctx.Entry(header).CurrentValues.SetValues(header); //for modifications
With Entity Framework 5 there is a new extension function called AddOrUpdate. And there was a very interesting (please read) blog entry on how to create this method before it was added.
I'm not sure if this is too much to ask as a question in StackOverflow, any clues on how to approach the problem may be sufficient. Here are my thoughts so far:
a) leverage AddOrUpdate for some of the functionality.
b) create a secondary context hoping to avoid loading order into the context and avoid extra calls.
c) Set the state of all the saved objects to initially deleted.
Since you have linked to this question from my own question, I thought I'd throw in some newly-aquired experience with Entity Framework for me.
To achieve a common save method in my generic repository with Entity Framework, I do this. (Please note that the Context is a member of my repository, as I am implementing the Unit of Work pattern as well)
public class EFRepository<TEntity> : IRepository<TEntity> where TEntity : class
{
internal readonly AwesomeContext Context;
internal readonly DbSet<TEntity> DbSet;
public EFRepository(AwesomeContext context)
{
if (context == null) throw new ArgumentNullException("context");
Context = context;
DbSet = context.Set<TEntity>();
}
// Rest of implementation removed for brevity
public void Save(TEntity entity)
{
var entry = Context.Entry(entity);
if (entry.State == EntityState.Detached)
DbSet.Add(entity);
else entry.State = EntityState.Modified;
}
}
Honestly, I can't tell you why this works, because I just kept changing the state conditions - however I do have unit (integration) tests to prove that it works. Hopefully someone more into EF than myself can shed some light on this.
Regarding the "cascading updates", I was curious myself as if it would work using the Unit of Work pattern (my question I linked to was when I did not know it existed, and my repositories would basically create a unit of work whenever I wanted to save/get/delete, which is bad), so I threw in a test case in a simple relational DB. Here is a diagram to give you an idea.
IMPORTANT In order for test case number 2 to work, you need to make your POCO reference properties virtual, in order for EF to provide lazy loading.
The repository implementation is just derived from the generic EFRepository<TEntity> as shown above, so I'll leave out that implementation.
These are my test cases, both pass.
public class EFResourceGroupFacts
{
[Fact]
public void Saving_new_resource_will_cascade_properly()
{
// Recreate a fresh database and add some dummy data.
SetupTestCase();
using (var ctx = new LocalizationContext("Localization.CascadeTest"))
{
var cultureRepo = new EFCultureRepository(ctx);
var resourceRepo = new EFResourceRepository(cultureRepo, ctx);
var existingCulture = cultureRepo.Get(1); // First and only culture.
var groupToAdd = new ResourceGroup("Added Group");
var resourceToAdd = new Resource(existingCulture,"New Resource", "Resource to add to existing group.",groupToAdd);
// Verify we got a single resource group.
Assert.Equal(1,ctx.ResourceGroups.Count());
// Saving the resource should also add the group.
resourceRepo.Save(resourceToAdd);
ctx.SaveChanges();
// Verify the group was added without explicitly saving it.
Assert.Equal(2, ctx.ResourceGroups.Count());
}
// try creating a new Unit of Work to really verify it has been persisted..
using (var ctx = new LocalizationContext("Localization.CascadeTest"))
{
Assert.DoesNotThrow(() => ctx.ResourceGroups.First(rg => rg.Name == "Added Group"));
}
}
[Fact]
public void Changing_existing_resources_group_saves_properly()
{
SetupTestCase();
using (var ctx = new LocalizationContext("Localization.CascadeTest"))
{
ctx.Configuration.LazyLoadingEnabled = true;
var cultureRepo = new EFCultureRepository(ctx);
var resourceRepo = new EFResourceRepository(cultureRepo, ctx);
// This resource already has a group.
var existingResource = resourceRepo.Get(2);
Assert.NotNull(existingResource.ResourceGroup); // IMPORTANT: Property must be virtual!
// Verify there is only one resource group in the datastore.
Assert.Equal(1,ctx.ResourceGroups.Count());
existingResource.ResourceGroup = new ResourceGroup("I am implicitly added to the database. How cool is that?");
// Make sure there are 2 resources in the datastore before saving.
Assert.Equal(2, ctx.Resources.Count());
resourceRepo.Save(existingResource);
ctx.SaveChanges();
// Make sure there are STILL only 2 resources in the datastore AFTER saving.
Assert.Equal(2, ctx.Resources.Count());
// Make sure the new group was added.
Assert.Equal(2,ctx.ResourceGroups.Count());
// Refetch from store, verify relationship.
existingResource = resourceRepo.Get(2);
Assert.Equal(2,existingResource.ResourceGroup.Id);
// let's change the group to an existing group
existingResource.ResourceGroup = ctx.ResourceGroups.First();
resourceRepo.Save(existingResource);
ctx.SaveChanges();
// Assert no change in groups.
Assert.Equal(2, ctx.ResourceGroups.Count());
// Refetch from store, verify relationship.
existingResource = resourceRepo.Get(2);
Assert.Equal(1, existingResource.ResourceGroup.Id);
}
}
private void SetupTestCase()
{
// Delete everything first. Database.SetInitializer does not work very well for me.
using (var ctx = new LocalizationContext("Localization.CascadeTest"))
{
ctx.Database.Delete();
ctx.Database.Create();
var culture = new Culture("en-US", "English");
var resourceGroup = new ResourceGroup("Existing Group");
var resource = new Resource(culture, "Existing Resource 1",
"This resource will already exist when starting the test. Initially it has no group.");
var resourceWithGroup = new Resource(culture, "Exising Resource 2",
"Same for this resource, except it has a group.",resourceGroup);
ctx.Cultures.Add(culture);
ctx.ResourceGroups.Add(resourceGroup);
ctx.Resources.Add(resource);
ctx.Resources.Add(resourceWithGroup);
ctx.SaveChanges();
}
}
}
It was interesting to learn this, as I was not sure if it would work.
After working on this for a while I found an opensource project called GraphDiff here is it's blog entry 'introducing graphdiff for entity framework code first – allowing automated updates of a graph of detached entities'. I only began using it but it looks impressive. And it does solve the problem of issuing update/delete/insert for Many to One relationships. It actually generalizes the problem to graphs and allows arbitrary nesting.
Here is the generic method I concocted. It does use AddOrUpdate from the System.Data.Entity.Migrations namespace. Which may be reloading records from the db, I'll be checking on that later. The usage is
ctx.OrderLines.AddOrUpdateSet(l => l.orderId == neworder.Id,
l => l.Id, order.orderLines);
Here is the code:
public static class UpdateExtensions
{
public static void AddOrUpdateSet<TEntity>(this IDbSet<TEntity> set, Expression<Func<TEntity, bool>> predicate,
Func<TEntity, int> selector, IEnumerable<TEntity> newRecords) where TEntity : class
{
List<TEntity> oldRecords = set.Where(predicate).ToList();
IEnumerable<int> keys = newRecords.Select(selector);
foreach (TEntity newRec in newRecords)
set.AddOrUpdate(newRec);
oldRecords.FindAll(old => !keys.Contains(selector(old))).ForEach(detail => set.Remove(detail));
}
}

MVC 2 and EF4 Self-tracking entities models have bad state on post back

I've got standard Create() Edit() and Delete() methods on my controllers, and I am using the EF4 Self-tracking entities.
When the edit is posted back, the model.ChangeTracker.ChangeTracking = false, and model.ChangeTracker.State = ObjectState.Added, even though I made sure those are set when retrieving the record initially.
Are the self-tracking entities not persisting the ChangeTracker class when the form is submitted? If so, how do I fix that?
public virtual ActionResult Edit(int personId)
{
IContext context = ContextFactory.GetContext();
EntityRepo Repo = new EntityRepo(context);
Person d = Repo.Person.GetById(PersonId);
d.ChangeTracker.ChangeTrackingEnabled = true;
return View(d);
}
[HttpPost]
public virtual ActionResult Edit(int personId, Person item)
{
try
{
if (ModelState.IsValid)
{
IContext context = ContextFactory.GetContext();
EntityRepo Repo = new EntityRepo(context);
// the item is returning these properties that are wrong
//item.ChangeTracker.ChangeTrackingEnabled = false;
//item.ChangeTracker.State = ObjectState.Added;
Repo.Person.Update(item);
Repo.Person.SaveChanges();
return RedirectToAction("Index");
}
}
catch
{
}
return View();
}
Let's start at the beginning.
What are Self-Tracking Entities, exactly?
A Self-Tracking Entity is an entity which can do change tracking even when it is not connected to a ObjectContext. They are useful in times when you must change the entity, but cannot have it connected to an ObjectContext.
So when would I want one, really?
Mostly, when you must have distributed objects. For example, one use case is when you are making a web service which talks to a Silverlight client. However, other tools, like RIA Services may be a better fit here. Another possible use case is for a long-running task. Since an ObjectContext is intended to be a unit of work and should typically not be long-lived, having a disconnected entity might make sense here.
Do they make any sense for MVC?
Not really, no.
Let's look at this a little deeper, and examine what happens when you update an entity in MVC. The general process is like this:
The browser issues a GET request for an update page.
The MVC app fetches an entity, and uses it to build an update HTML page. The page is served to the browser, and most C# objects, including your entity, are disposed. At this point, you can restart the Web server, and the browser will never know the difference.
The browser issues a POST request to update the entity.
The MVC framework uses the data in the POST in order to materialize an instance of an edit model which is passed to the update action. This might happen to be the same type as the entity, but it is a new instance.
The MVC app can update the entity and pass those changes back to the database.
Now, you could make self-tracking entities work by also including the full state of the STE in the HTML form and POSTing that back to the MVC app along with the scalar values on the entity. Then the Self-Tracking Entity might at least work.
But what benefit does this give you? The browser obviously cannot deal with your entity as a C# object. So it cannot make any changes to the entity worth tracking in terms that a Self-Tracking Entity would understand.
U should keep original STE in some hidden field. It's like your custom ViewState. In submit method u must merge original STE and new values.
Use ActionFilterAttribute for it.
Like
public class SerializeOriginalModelAttribute : ActionFilterAttribute
{
public override void OnActionExecuted(ActionExecutedContext filterContext)
{
var viewResult = filterContext.Result as ViewResult;
if (viewResult == null)
return;
var viewModel = viewResult.ViewData.Model as ViewModel;
if (viewModel == null || viewModel.SteObject == null)
return;
byte[] bytes;
using (var stream = new MemoryStream())
{
var serializer = new DataContractSerializer(viewModel.SteObject.GetType());
serializer.WriteObject(stream, viewModel.SteObject);
bytes = stream.ToArray();
}
var compressed = GZipHelper.Compress(bytes);
viewModel.SerializedSteObject = Convert.ToBase64String(compressed);
}
}
public override void OnActionExecuting(ActionExecutingContext filterContext)
{
if (filterContext.ActionParameters == null || filterContext.ActionParameters.Count == 0)
return;
var viewModel = filterContext.ActionParameters.First().Value as ViewModel;
var serialized = filterContext.HttpContext.Request.Form["SerializedSteObject"];
if (viewModel == null || String.IsNullOrEmpty(serialized))
return;
var type = filterContext.ActionParameters.First().Value.GetType().BaseType.GetGenericArguments()[0];
var bytes = GZipHelper.Decompress(Convert.FromBase64String(serialized));
using (var stream = new MemoryStream(bytes))
{
var serializer = new DataContractSerializer(type);
viewModel.SteObject = serializer.ReadObject(stream);
}
}
}
STE has one very big drawback. You have to store them in session or view state (WebForms). So it is nothing more than "new version of dataset". If you don't store STE you will have one instance for getting data and different for posting = no change tracking.
I think you are missing the idea of Repository. You should not have an Update method in the Repository. After submitting, you should get the item again, apply the modifications and then Save.
I prefer having a service layer between client and Repository. We can always change the strategy with which we merge.
And yes, if you need to persist your STE's between requests, use session or viewstate.
It should be
Repo.Person.ApplyChanges(item);
Repo.Person.SaveChanges();
instead of
Repo.Person.Update(item);
Repo.Person.SaveChanges();
Self Tracking works with ApplyChanges extention method.

Entity Framework and Entity Tracker Problems

If I run the following code it throws the following error:
An entity object cannot be referenced by multiple instances of IEntityChangeTracker
public void Save(Category category)
{
using(var db = new NorthwindContext())
{
if(category.CategoryID == 0)
{
db.AddToCategorySet(category);
}
else
{
//category.RemoveTracker();
db.Attach(category);
}
db.SaveChanges();
}
}
The reason is of course that the category is sent from interface which we got from GetById method which already attached the EntityChangeTracker to the category object. I also tried to set the entity tracker to null but it did not update the category object.
protected void Btn_Update_Category_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
_categoryRepository = new CategoryRepository();
int categoryId = Int32.Parse(txtCategoryId.Text);
var category = _categoryRepository.GetById(categoryId);
category.CategoryName = txtUpdateCategoryName.Text;
_categoryRepository.Save(category);
}
I'm still learning Entity Framework myself, but maybe I can help a little. When working with the Entity Framework, you need to be aware of how you're handling different contexts. It looks like you're trying to localize your context as much as possible by saying:
public void Save(Category category)
{
using (var db = new NorthwindContext())
{
...
}
}
... within your data access method. Did you do the same thing in your GetById method? If so, did you remember to detach the object you got back so that it could be attached later in a different context?
public Category GetById(int categoryId)
{
using (var db = new NorthwindContext())
{
Category category = (from c in db.Category where Category.ID == categoryId select c).First();
db.Detach(category);
}
}
That way when you call Attach it isn't trying to step on an already-attached context. Does that help?
As you pointed out in your comment, this poses a problem when you're trying to modify an item and then tell your database layer to save it, because once an item is detached from its context, it no longer keeps track of the changes that were made to it. There are a few ways I can think of to get around this problem, none of them perfect.
If your architecture supports it, you could expand the scope of your context enough that your Save method could use the same context that your GetById method uses. This helps to avoid the whole attach/detach problem entirely, but it might push your data layer a little closer to your business logic than you would like.
You can load a new instance of the item out of the new context based on its ID, set all of its properties based on the category that is passed in, and then save it. This costs two database round-trips for what should really only need one, and it isn't very maintainable.
You can dig into the context itself to mark the Category's properties as changed.
For example:
public void Save(Category category)
{
using (var db = new NorthwindContext())
{
db.Attach(category);
var stateEntry = db.ObjectStateManager.GetObjectStateEntry(category);
foreach (var propertyName in stateEntry.CurrentValues.DataRecordInfo.FieldMetadata.Select(fm => fm.FieldType.Name)) {
stateEntry.SetModifiedProperty(propertyName);
}
db.SaveChanges();
}
}
This looks a little uglier, but should be more performant and maintainable overall. Plus, if you want, you could make it generic enough to throw into an extension method somewhere so you don't have to see or repeat the ugly code, but you still get the functionality out of it.