Using IDENTITY_INSERT with EF4

Question

I am trying to create a record in the db that has a predefined primary key value. I know how to do this with sql, but I was wondering if EF can do this for me? Otherwise, I will have to create a stored proc for the inserts.

Answer 1

In case you have the StoreGeneratedPattern attribute set to "None" for your entity, the Entity Key value you specify for it will be passed to database.
In case this attribute is set either to "Identity" or to "Computed" there is no way to control what value will be set to this column in DB.
So, if you have an autoincremented column in your database and the ADO.NET Entity Data Model wizard has set the StoeGeneratedPattern for you, you can manually change this attribute to "None" in the SSDL part of the model using XML Editor, and then enable IDENTITY_INSERT.
You can use the ObjectContext.ExecuteStoreCommand method if you are using EF v4 or use the ObjectContext.Connection.StoreConnection property to execute a SQLCommand "SET IDENTITY_INSERT ON" (both in EF v1 and EF v4).