Adding & Updating Foreign key in Entity Framework v1

Question

Hello,

I'm using .NET 3.5 SP1. I created entity 'Category', based on table 'category_table' and 'MyUser', based on table 'App_User_table'.

CREATE TABLE category_table (
 catg_id int,
 catg_name varchar(50),
 catg_description varchar(250)
 )

CREATE TABLE App_User_table (
 userid int,
 username varchar(50),
 fullname varchar(50), catg_id int,
 fullAddress varchar(200),
 comments varchar(1000),CONSTRAINT FK_1 FOREIGN KEY (catg_id) REFERENCES Category_table (catg_id) 
)

public class Category: System.Data.Objects.DataClasses.EntityObject{    
 public int  CategoryId{get; set;}   
 public string CategoryName {get; set;} 
  ....
}

public class AppUser : System.Data.Objects.DataClasses.EntityObject{   
 public int Uid {get; set;}   
 public string UserName {get; set;}   
 public string Name {get; set;}   
 public string Address {get; set;}
 public string Comment {get; set;} 
 public Category category_table  { .. } 
 public System.Data.Objects.DataClasses.EntityReference<Category> category_tableReference {...}
 ...........   
}

---

I want to add and update AppUser entity in an ASP.NET MVC application.

For Add:

//create entity with passed values
AppUser user = new AppUser(){Uid=id, ....  }
//Set EntityReference
user.category_tableReference.EntityKey = new System.Data.EntityKey("MyContext.CategorySet", "CategoryId", categoryIdSelected);
myContext.AddToCategorySet(user);
myContext.SaveChanges(true);

For Update:

//create entity with passed Id 
AppUser user = new AppUser(){Uid=id  }
//Attach entitymyContext.AttachTo("UserSet", user);
//Update entity with passed values
user.Address = addr;
....

//update selected CategoryId from DropDownList

user.category_tableReference.EntityKey = new System.Data.EntityKey("MyContext.CategorySet", "CategoryId", categoryId);

Update method does NOT update CategoryId in database.

Please tell, what is the best way to resolve the issue ?

Thank you.

Answer 1

Here is the approach I would use for Update in an MVC app:

// Put the original Stub Entities for both the original User and its 
// original category. The second part is vital, because EF needs to know 
// original FK values to successfully do updates in 3.5 SP1
AppUser user = new AppUser {
    Uid = id, 
    Category = new Category {
        CategoryId = OriginalCategoryID
    }
};
ctx.AttachTo("UserSet", user);

// Then do this:
if (user.Category.CategoryId != categoryIdSelected)
{
    Category newCategory = new Category {CategoryId = CategoryIdSelected};
    // Attach because I assume the category already exists in the database
    ctx.AttachTo("CategorySet", newCategory);
    user.Category = newCategory;
}

// Update entity with passed values
user.Address = addr;
....

As you can see you need to be able to get OriginalCategoryID from somewhere, I recommend a hidden field on the form.

This will do the everything you need. Check out Tip 26 - How to avoid database queries using Stub Entities for more info on the Stub Entity trick.

Hope this helps

Alex

Answer 2

Thank you all for your replies/comments.

@Alex: Thanks for efficient solution.

Answer 3

Hello,

For Add, using Entity stubs:

//create entity with passed values
AppUser user = new AppUser(){Uid=id, ....  }
//Create Category & attach to context 
Category category = new Category(){CategoryId= categoryIdSelected}; 
myContext.AttachTo("CategorySet", category); //After this category EntityState=Unchanged 

user.Category=category; //After this, 'user' EntityState=Added 

myContext.AddToUserSet(user);   //So is this required ?

myContext.SaveChanges(true);

In above case, when attached category is assigned to 'user' entity, user entity gets attached to context, with EntityState=Added.

(EF rule: Whole graph will be in or out of context)

So in this case, is 'myContext.AddToUserSet(user)' statement required ?

Thank you.