Opening an SQL CE file at runtime with Entity Framework 4

Question

I am getting started with Entity Framework 4, and I an creating a demo app as a learning exercise. The app is a simple documentation builder, and it uses a SQL CE store. Each documentation project has its own SQL CE data file, and the user opens one of these files to work on a project.

The EDM is very simple. A documentation project is comprised of a list of subjects, each of which has a title, a description, and zero or more notes. So, my entities are Subject, which contains Title and Text properties, and Note, which has Title and Text properties. There is a one-to-many association from Subject to Note.

I am trying to figure out how to open an SQL CE data file. A data file must match the schema of the SQL CE database created by EF4's Create Database Wizard, and I will implement a New File use case elsewhere in the app to implement that requirement. Right now, I am just trying to get an existing data file open in the app.

I have reproduced my existing 'Open File' code below. I have set it up as a static service class called File Services. The code isn't working quite yet, but there is enough to show what I am trying to do. I am trying to hold the ObjectContext open for entity object updates, disposing it when the file is closed.

So, here is my question: Am I on the right track? What do I need to change to make this code work with EF4? Is there an example of how to do this properly?

Thanks for your help.

My existing code:

public static class FileServices
{
    #region Private Fields

    // Member variables
    private static EntityConnection m_EntityConnection;
    private static ObjectContext m_ObjectContext;

    #endregion

    #region Service Methods

    /// <summary>
    /// Opens an SQL CE database file.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="filePath">The path to the SQL CE file to open.</param>
    /// <param name="viewModel">The main window view model.</param>
    public static void OpenSqlCeFile(string filePath, MainWindowViewModel viewModel)
    {  
        // Configure an SQL CE connection string
        var sqlCeConnectionString = string.Format("Data Source={0}", filePath);

        // Configure an EDM connection string
        var builder = new EntityConnectionStringBuilder();
        builder.Metadata = "res://*/EF4Model.csdl|res://*/EF4Model.ssdl|res://*/EF4Model.msl";
        builder.Provider = "System.Data.SqlServerCe";
        builder.ProviderConnectionString = sqlCeConnectionString;
        var entityConnectionString = builder.ToString();

        // Connect to the model
        m_EntityConnection = new EntityConnection(entityConnectionString);
        m_EntityConnection.Open();

        // Create an object context
        m_ObjectContext = new Model1Container();

        // Get all Subject data
        IQueryable<Subject> subjects = from s in Subjects orderby s.Title select s;

        // Set view model data property
        viewModel.Subjects = new ObservableCollection<Subject>(subjects);
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Closes an SQL CE database file.
    /// </summary>
    public static void CloseSqlCeFile()
    {
        m_EntityConnection.Close();
        m_ObjectContext.Dispose();
    }

    #endregion
}

Answer 1

Finding / opening a SQL Server CE database is, for some weird reason, hard to do. Make sure you can make any kind of connection to the DB at all before trying to get it to work with the EF.

Answer 2

Here is the answer. I simplified my code and ran it on simpler EDM model, Disney Characters. Model has two entities, Character and Child, with a 1:* association between Character and Child. Children are character's kids--pretty simple stuff. I wrote the demo as a console app to keep it as simple as possible.

Complete code in Program.cs is as follows:

class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        /* See http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/adodotnetentityframework/thread/8a89a728-6c8d-4734-98cb-11b196ba11fd */

        // Configure an SQL CE connection string 
        var filePath = @"D:\Users\dcveeneman\Documents\Visual Studio 2010\Demos\SqlCeEf4Demo\SqlCeEf4Demo\DisneyChars.sdf";
        var sqlCeConnectionString = string.Format("Data Source={0}", filePath);

        // Create an EDM connection
        var builder = new EntityConnectionStringBuilder();
        builder.Metadata = "res://*/DisneyChars.csdl|res://*/DisneyChars.ssdl|res://*/DisneyChars.msl";
        builder.Provider = "System.Data.SqlServerCe.3.5";
        builder.ProviderConnectionString = sqlCeConnectionString;
        var edmConnectionString = builder.ToString();
        var edmConnection = new EntityConnection(edmConnectionString);

        // Build and query an ObjectContext
        using (var context = new DisneyCharsContainer(edmConnection))
        {
            var chars = context.Characters;
            foreach(var character in chars)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("Character name: {0}", character.Name);
                foreach(var child in character.Children)
                {
                    Console.WriteLine("Child name: {0}", child.Name);
                }
            }
            Console.ReadLine();
        }
    }
}

Link at the top of the code is to a forum thread that I used to write the code.

Here is the walkthrough: First, create a database connection. Since I am using SQL CE, I don't have a connection string builder--the connection string is simply a path, so I don't need one. Then I use an EntityConnectionStringBuilder to build an entity connection string, and then I use that to build an EntityConnection. Finally, I pass the connection to the constructor for my ObjectContext. I can then use the ObjectContext to query the EDM.