Entity Framework not populating Navigation property on savechanges - entity-framework

Question

I am currently trying to build a web front end for a Report editor that allows the user to create different sections that are basically text fields. The first screen I allow the user to see causes them to populate some very minor initial data and I use it to spawn a new Report table record. I am using a t4 to generate my simple repositories:
public Entities.Result Add(ref Report entity) {
Entities.Result result;
try {
this.Context.Reports.AddObject(entity);
this.Context.SaveChanges();
result = new Entities.Result {
Success = true,
Messages = new List<Entities.ResultMessage>()
};
} catch (System.Exception ex) {
this.EventLogger.Error(ex);
List<Entities.ResultMessage> messages = new List<Entities.ResultMessage>();
messages.Add(new Entities.ResultMessage { Message = ex.ToString(), MessageSeverity = 10 });
result = new Entities.Result {
Success = false,
Messages = messages
};
}
return result;
}
and the same thing when they add a new section
public Entities.Result Add(ref ReportSection entity) {
Entities.Result result;
try {
this.Context.ReportSections.AddObject(entity);
this.Context.SaveChanges();
result = new Entities.Result {
Success = true,
Messages = new List<Entities.ResultMessage>()
};
} catch (System.Exception ex) {
this.EventLogger.Error(ex);
List<Entities.ResultMessage> messages = new List<Entities.ResultMessage>();
messages.Add(new Entities.ResultMessage { Message = ex.ToString(), MessageSeverity = 10 });
result = new Entities.Result {
Success = false,
Messages = messages
};
}
return result;
}
I call this from the Index controller in the form of:
Report newReport = new Report() {
ApprovalDate = null,
Approver = string.Empty,
Author = System.Web.Security.Membership.GetUser().UserName,
Created = DateTime.Now,
IsActive = true,
IsSubmitted = false,
ReleaseDate = null,
SerialNumber1 = string.Empty,
SerialNumber2 = string.Empty
};
var result = this._reportRepository.Add(ref newReport);
this goes through just fine and I get the record in the database. I then take some of their entries a populate an initial ReportSection object like so:
var newSection = new ReportSection {
DisplayOrder = 1,
ReportId = newReport.Id,
ReportSectionTypeId = 1,
SectionText = title
};
var r = this._reportSectionRepository.Add(ref newSection);
You'll notice I'm referring to the newReport.Id in there so I have the valid ID returned from the repository add method. The section add method returns to me a valid newSection object that has a valid ID and when I check in the db it exists. However, EF is not populating the navigational property on newSection.Report that lets me get between the two. This is what I'm trying to figure out, why is this not accessible? I have a temporary work around that defeats some of my DAL validation logic, but I can load the Report object then add the ReportSection through Report.ReportSections and then call an update method on the repo that does an ApplyCurrentValues.
A bit more detail:
Visual Studio 2010
C# .Net 4.0
MVC 2.0
EF 4.0 ( or maybe 4.1 )
I am using Ninject to fill in the repositories:
Bind<IReportRepository>().To<ReportRepository>().WithConstructorArgument("connectionString",
ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["ConnString"].ConnectionString);

Answer 1

You could directly set the navigation property instead of the foreign key property:
var newSection = new ReportSection {
DisplayOrder = 1,
Report = newReport,
ReportSectionTypeId = 1,
SectionText = title
};
If the context in _reportRepository and _reportSectionRepository are the same and newReport is still attached to it that's all you need to do.
If the contexts are not the same or newReport is not attached to the context, you must attach newReport first to the context:
public Entities.Result Add(ref ReportSection entity) {
Entities.Result result;
try {
this.Context.Reports.Attach(entity.Report);
this.Context.ReportSections.AddObject(entity);
this.Context.SaveChanges();
// etc.