This is a tale of optional owned entities and foreign keys.
I'm working with EF 5 (code first) and I do this :
public class Parent {
public Guid Id { get; private set; }
public OwnedType1? Owned1 { get; private set; }
public OwnedType2? Owned2 { get; private set; }
public Parent(Guid id, OwnedType1? owned1, OwnedType2? owned2) {
Id = id; Owned1 = owned1; Owned2 = owned2;
}
}
public class OwnedType1 {
public Guid? OptionalExternalId { get; private set; }
public OwnedType1 (Guid? optionalExternalId) {
OptionalExternalId = optionalExternalId;
}
}
public class OwnedType2 {
public Guid? OptionalExternalId { get; private set; }
public OwnedType2 (Guid? optionalExternalId) {
OptionalExternalId = optionalExternalId;
}
}
public class Shared {
public Guid Id { get; private set; }
public Shared (Guid id) {
Id = id;
}
}
Now, the configuration :
//-------- for Parent ------------
public void Configure(EntityTypeBuilder<Parent> builder) {
builder
.ToTable("Parents")
.HasKey(p => p.Id);
builder
.OwnsOne(p => p.Owned1)
.HasOne<Shared>()
.WithMany()
.HasForeignKey(x => x.OptionalExternalId);
builder
.OwnsOne(p => p.Owned2)
.HasOne<Shared>()
.WithMany()
.HasForeignKey(x => x.OptionalExternalId);
}
//-------- for OwnedType1 ------------
// (there's no builder as they're owned and EntityTypeBuilder<Parent> is enough)
//-------- for OwnedType2 ------------
// (there's no builder as they're owned and EntityTypeBuilder<Parent> is enough)
//-------- for Shared ---------------
public void Configure(EntityTypeBuilder<Shared> builder) {
builder
.ToTable("Shareds")
.HasKey(p => p.Id);
}
Side note : If you're wondering why OwnedType1 and OwnedType2 don't each have a property called 'ParentId', it's because it's created implicitly by the "OwnsOne".
My problem is this :
When I create a new Migration, then OwnedType1 works like a charm, but for OwnedType2 (which is quasi-identical), I get his error :
The property 'OptionalExternalId' cannot be added to the type
'MyNameSpace.OwnedType2' because no property type was specified and
there is no corresponding CLR property or field. To add a shadow state
property, the property type must be specified.
I don't understand what it's complaining about. And why it's complaining only for one of them.
I know that you probably can't work it out with this simplified version of my schema, but what I'm asking is what you think it might be (follow your guts of EF guru) :
Some missing constructor?
Incorrect visibility on one of the fields?
Bad navigation definition?
A typo?
Something tricky (like : If you're going to have TWO different entity classes having a one-to-many relation with Shared, then they can't use the same name for external key. Or I need to use a composite key. Or whatnot).
It was a configuration issue that had nothing to do with Owned entities. Another case of "EF error message is obscure but issue is somewhere there in plain sight".
Unfortunately I don't remember how I fixed it. But it was along the lines of "Need an extra constructor with all the paramaters" or "one of the fields had a different name in the constructor parameters" or one of those classic EF mishaps.
I am using Entity Framework 6.2.0 and a local MSSQL (MDF) database.
I have several types that all descend from my main type "Entity" ("Table per Type" strategy is used). Now, I am trying to implement optimistic locking.
In my EDMX file, I added a property RowVersion to Entity (a fixed length byte array of 8 bytes, in SQL-DB : "[RowVersion] binary(8) NOT NULL") and set the Concurrency mode of that proeprty to "Fixed". I flagged the property inside the Entity class with the "Timestamp" attribute:
[System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations.Schema.Table("EntitySet", Schema = "RightsManager")]
public partial class Entity
{
public int Id { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
public System.DateTime ActiveFrom { get; set; }
public Nullable<System.DateTime> ActiveUntil { get; set; }
[System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations.Timestamp]
public byte[] RowVersion { get; set; }
}
I also added code to OnModelCreating of my DBContext descendant to indicate RowVersion to be used:
protected override void OnModelCreating(DbModelBuilder modelBuilder)
{
Database.SetInitializer<RightsManagerContext>(null);
base.OnModelCreating(modelBuilder);
modelBuilder.Entity<Entity>().Property(p => p.RowVersion).IsRowVersion();
modelBuilder.Entity<Product>().Property(p => p.RowVersion).IsRowVersion();
}
The problem: Upon insert of a new Product, an SQL error is thrown. This is the unit test i am using:
[TestMethod]
public void TestCreateProduct()
{
using (var context = GetContext())
{
var newProduct = new Product
{
Name = "New product",
ActiveFrom = DateTime.Now
};
context.Entry(newProduct).State = System.Data.Entity.EntityState.Added;
var objectsWritten = context.SaveChanges();
Assert.AreNotEqual(0, objectsWritten);
};
}
The innermost exception thrown:
System.Data.SqlClient.SqlException: Cannot insert the value NULL into column 'RowVersion', table 'P:\VISUAL STUDIO\PROJECTS\RIGHTSMANAGER\DATABASE\RIGHTSMANAGER.MDF.RightsManager.EntitySet'; column does not allow nulls. INSERT fails.
Obviously, EF is not filling in a value automatically, it's handling the field like any other one. What am i missing here?
I think i misunderstood the IsRowVersion/Timestamp thing to be a database-agnostic one. It seems that this whole mechanism only works if using the MSSQL-specific database field type "rowversion" when creating the table. All other databases such as Oracle, DB2 etc are not in scope.
As I am trying to have DBMS neutrality in my project, I will have to manually implement such a feature with "IsConcurrencyToken".
I am trying to restrict a couple of generic methods to only be allowed Entities that inherit from the IParentOf<TChildEntity> interface, as well as accessing an Entity's Foreign Key (ParentId) Generically.
To demonstrate;
public void AdoptAll<TParentEntity, TChildEntity>(TParentEntity parent,
TParentEntity adoptee)
where TParentEntity : DataEntity, IParentOf<TChildEntity>
where TChildEntity : DataEntity, IChildOf<TParentEntity>
{
foreach (TChildEntity child in (IParentOf<TChildEntity>)parent.Children)
{
(IChildOf<TParentEntity)child.ParentId = adoptee.Id;
}
}
A child entity class model would look like this,
public class Account : DataEntity, IChildOf<AccountType>, IChildOf<AccountData>
{
public string Name { get; set; }
public string Balance { get; set; }
// Foreign Key and Navigation Property for AccountType
int IChildOf<AccountType>.ParentId{ get; set; }
public virtual AccountType AccountType { get; set; }
// Foreign Key and Navigation Property for AccountData
int IChildOf<AccountData>.ParentId{ get; set; }
public virtual AccountData AccountData { get; set; }
}
First of all, is this possible to do? Or will it breakdown in EF?
Secondly, since the Foreign Keys do not follow convention (and there are multiple) how do I set them via Fluent Api? I can see how to do this in Data Annotations.
I hope this is clear, I have been considering it for a while and trying to work round it, so I can follow my argument, but it may not be clearly conveyed, so please ask for clarification if needed. My reason for wanting to do this is to make the code safe as well as automating a lot of the manual changing of classes necessary to add new associations and entities.
Thanks.
Edit
I decided to create some basic classes to implement this idea and test it, my code is as follows.
public abstract class ChildEntity : DataEntity
{
public T GetParent<T>() where T : ParentEntity
{
foreach (var item in GetType().GetProperties())
{
if (item.GetValue(this) is T entity)
return entity;
}
return null;
}
}
public abstract class ParentEntity : DataEntity
{
public ICollection<T> GetChildren<T>() where T : ChildEntity
{
foreach (var item in GetType().GetProperties())
{
if (item.GetValue(this) is ICollection<T> collection)
return collection;
}
return null;
}
}
public interface IParent<TEntity> where TEntity : ChildEntity
{
ICollection<T> GetChildren<T>() where T : ChildEntity;
}
public interface IChild<TEntity> where TEntity : ParentEntity
{
int ForeignKey { get; set; }
T GetParent<T>() where T : ParentEntity;
}
public class ParentOne : ParentEntity, IParent<ChildOne>
{
public string Name { get; set; }
public decimal Amount { get; set; }
public virtual ICollection<ChildOne> ChildOnes { get; set; }
}
public class ParentTwo : ParentEntity, IParent<ChildOne>
{
public string Name { get; set; }
public decimal Value { get; set; }
public virtual ICollection<ChildOne> ChildOnes { get; set; }
}
public class ChildOne : ChildEntity, IChild<ParentOne>, IChild<ParentTwo>
{
public string Name { get; set; }
public decimal Balance { get; set; }
int IChild<ParentOne>.ForeignKey { get; set; }
public virtual ParentOne ParentOne { get; set; }
int IChild<ParentTwo>.ForeignKey { get; set; }
public virtual ParentTwo ParentTwo { get; set; }
}
Data Entity simply gives each entity an Id property.
I have standard Generic Repositories set up with a Unit of Work class for mediating. The AdoptAll method looks like this in my program.
public void AdoptAll<TParentEntity, TChildEntity>(TParentEntity parent,
TParentEntity adoptee, UoW uoW)
where TParentEntity : DataEntity, IParent<TChildEntity>
where TChildEntity : DataEntity, IChild<TParentEntity>
{
var currentParent = uoW.GetRepository<TParentEntity>().Get(parent.Id);
foreach (TChildEntity child in currentParent.GetChildren<TChildEntity>())
{
child.ForeignKey = adoptee.Id;
}
}
This seems to work correctly and without faults (minimal testing) are there any major flaws in doing this?
Thanks.
Edit Two
This is the OnModelCreating Method in the DbContext, which sets up the foreign key for each entity. Is this problematic?
protected override void OnModelCreating(ModelBuilder modelBuilder)
{
base.OnModelCreating(modelBuilder);
modelBuilder.Entity<ChildOne>()
.HasOne(p => p.ParentOne)
.WithMany(c => c.ChildOnes)
.HasForeignKey(fk => ((IChild<ParentOne>)fk).ForeignKey);
modelBuilder.Entity<ChildOne>()
.HasOne(p => p.ParentTwo)
.WithMany(c => c.ChildOnes)
.HasForeignKey(fk => ((IChild<ParentTwo>)fk).ForeignKey);
}
According to the updated example, you want to hide the explicit FK from the entity class public interface, and still let it be visible to EF Core and mapped to the FK column in the database.
The first problem is that the explicitly implemented interface member is not directly discoverable by EF. Also it has no good name, so the default conventions don't apply.
For instance, w/o fluent configuration EF Core will correctly create one to many associations between Parent and Child entities, but since it won't discover the int IChild<Parent>.ForeignKey { get; set; } properties, it would maintain the FK property values through ParentOneId / ParentTwoId shadow properties and not through interface explicit properties. In other words, these properties will not be populated by EF Core and also not considered by the change tracker.
To let EF Core use them you need to map both FK property and database column name using respectively HasForeignKey and HasColumnName fluent API method overloads accepting string property name. Note that the string property name must be fully qualified with the namespace. While Type.FullName provides that string for non-generic types, there is no such property/method for generic types like IChild<ParentOne> (the result has to be "Namespace.IChild<Namespace.ParentOne>"), so let first create some helpers for that:
static string ChildForeignKeyPropertyName<TParent>() where TParent : ParentEntity
=> $"{typeof(IChild<>).Namespace}.IChild<{typeof(TParent).FullName}>.{nameof(IChild<TParent>.ForeignKey)}";
static string ChildForeignKeyColumnName<TParent>() where TParent : ParentEntity
=> $"{typeof(TParent).Name}Id";
The next would be creating a helper method for performing the necessary configuration:
static void ConfigureRelationship<TChild, TParent>(ModelBuilder modelBuilder)
where TChild : ChildEntity, IChild<TParent>
where TParent : ParentEntity, IParent<TChild>
{
var childEntity = modelBuilder.Entity<TChild>();
var foreignKeyPropertyName = ChildForeignKeyPropertyName<TParent>();
var foreignKeyColumnName = ChildForeignKeyColumnName<TParent>();
var foreignKey = childEntity.Metadata.GetForeignKeys()
.Single(fk => fk.PrincipalEntityType.ClrType == typeof(TParent));
// Configure FK column name
childEntity
.Property<int>(foreignKeyPropertyName)
.HasColumnName(foreignKeyColumnName);
// Configure FK property
childEntity
.HasOne<TParent>(foreignKey.DependentToPrincipal.Name)
.WithMany(foreignKey.PrincipalToDependent.Name)
.HasForeignKey(foreignKeyPropertyName);
}
As you can see, I'm using EF Core provided metadata services to find the names of the corresponding navigation properties.
But this generic method actually shows the limitation of this design. The generic constrains allow us to use
childEntity.Property(c => c.ForeignKey)
which compiles fine, but doesn't work at runtime. It's not only for fluent API methods, but basically any generic method involving expression trees (like LINQ to Entities query). There is no such problem when the interface property is implemented implicitly with public property.
We'll return to this limitation later. To complete the mapping, add the following to your OnModelCreating override:
ConfigureRelationship<ChildOne, ParentOne>(modelBuilder);
ConfigureRelationship<ChildOne, ParentTwo>(modelBuilder);
And now EF Core will correctly load / take into account your explicitly implemented FK properties.
Now back to limitations. There is no problem to use generic object services like your AdoptAll method or LINQ to Objects. But you can't access these properties generically in expressions used to access EF Core metadata or inside LINQ to Entities queries. In the later case you should access it through navigation property, or in both scenarios you should access in by the name returned from the ChildForeignKeyPropertyName<TParent>() method. Actually queries will work, but will be evaluated locally thus causing performance issues or unexpected behaviors.
E.g.
static IEnumerable<TChild> GetChildrenOf<TChild, TParent>(DbContext db, int parentId)
where TChild : ChildEntity, IChild<TParent>
where TParent : ParentEntity, IParent<TChild>
{
// Works, but causes client side filter evalution
return db.Set<TChild>().Where(c => c.ForeignKey == parentId);
// This correctly translates to SQL, hence server side evaluation
return db.Set<TChild>().Where(c => EF.Property<int>(c, ChildForeignKeyPropertyName<TParent>()) == parentId);
}
To recap shortly, it's possible, but use with care and make sure it's worth for the limited generic service scenarios it allows. Alternative approaches would not use interfaces, but (combination of) EF Core metadata, reflection or Func<...> / Expression<Func<..>> generic method arguments similar to Queryable extension methods.
Edit: Regarding the second question edit, fluent configuration
modelBuilder.Entity<ChildOne>()
.HasOne(p => p.ParentOne)
.WithMany(c => c.ChildOnes)
.HasForeignKey(fk => ((IChild<ParentOne>)fk).ForeignKey);
modelBuilder.Entity<ChildOne>()
.HasOne(p => p.ParentTwo)
.WithMany(c => c.ChildOnes)
.HasForeignKey(fk => ((IChild<ParentTwo>)fk).ForeignKey);
produces the following migration for ChildOne
migrationBuilder.CreateTable(
name: "ChildOne",
columns: table => new
{
Id = table.Column<int>(nullable: false)
.Annotation("SqlServer:ValueGenerationStrategy", SqlServerValueGenerationStrategy.IdentityColumn),
ForeignKey = table.Column<int>(nullable: false),
Name = table.Column<string>(nullable: true),
Balance = table.Column<decimal>(nullable: false)
},
constraints: table =>
{
table.PrimaryKey("PK_ChildOne", x => x.Id);
table.ForeignKey(
name: "FK_ChildOne_ParentOne_ForeignKey",
column: x => x.ForeignKey,
principalTable: "ParentOne",
principalColumn: "Id",
onDelete: ReferentialAction.Cascade);
table.ForeignKey(
name: "FK_ChildOne_ParentTwo_ForeignKey",
column: x => x.ForeignKey,
principalTable: "ParentTwo",
principalColumn: "Id",
onDelete: ReferentialAction.Cascade);
});
Note the single ForeignKey column and the attempt to use it as foreign key to both ParentOne and ParentTwo. It suffers the same problems as using a constrained interface property directly, so I would assume it not working.
I'm struggling to understand why when I remove a child Settings object from MyUser.Settings and SAVE MyUser I get SQL errors like below:
Cannot insert the value NULL into column 'MyUserId', table '###.Settings'; column does not allow nulls. UPDATE fails.
The statement has been terminated.
What I would expect to happen is that removing the item from the collection, then saving MyUser causes NHibernate to issue a DELETE command for the given child. However, what it does is UPDATE the relevant row for the Settings object, setting MyUserId to NULL - which isn't allowed as I'm using a Composite Key.
I've tried so many combinations of Inverse() and the various Cascade options but nothing seems to work. I should point out that Adding to the collection works perfectly when I save MyUser.
I'm totally baffled!
Below is pseudo code to try and explain my entities and mappings.
public class SettingType
{
public virtual int SettingTypeId { get; set; }
public virtual string Name { get; set; }
public virtual bool Active { get; set; }
}
public class Setting
{
public virtual MyUser MyUser { get; set; }
public virtual SettingType SettingType { get; set; }
public virtual DateTime Created { get; set; }
}
public class MyUser
{
public virtual int MyUserId { get; set; }
public virtual IList<Setting> Settings { get; set; }
public virtual string Email { get; set; }
public void AddSetting(SettingType settingType, DateTime now)
{
var existing = _settings.SingleOrDefault(s => s.SettingType.SettingTypeId == settingType.SettingTypeId);
if (existing != null)
{
existing.Updated = now;
}
else
{
var setting = new Setting
{
MyUser = this,
SettingType = settingType,
Created = now,
};
_settings.Add(setting);
}
}
public void RemoveSetting(SettingType settingType)
{
var existingPref = _settings.SingleOrDefault(s => s.SettingType.SettingTypeId == settingType.SettingTypeId);
if (existingPref != null)
{
_settings.Remove(existingPref);
}
}
private readonly IList<Setting> _settings = new List<Setting>();
}
And my mappings:
public class SettingTypeMap : IAutoMappingOverride<SettingType>
{
public void Override(AutoMapping<SettingType> mapping)
{
mapping.Table("SettingTypes");
mapping.Id(m => m.SettingTypeId).GeneratedBy.Identity();
mapping.Map(m => m.Name).Not.Nullable().Length(100);
mapping.Map(m => m.Active).Not.Nullable().Default("0");
}
}
public class SettingMap : IAutoMappingOverride<Setting>
{
public void Override(AutoMapping<Setting> mapping)
{
mapping.Table("Settings");
mapping.CompositeId()
.KeyReference(m => m.MyUser)
.KeyReference(m => m.SettingType);
mapping.Map(m => m.Created).Not.Nullable().Default("CURRENT_TIMESTAMP");
mapping.Map(m => m.Updated).Nullable();
}
}
public class MyUserMappingOverride : IAutoMappingOverride<MyUser>
{
public void Override(AutoMapping<MyUser> mapping)
{
mapping.Table("MyUsers");
mapping.Id(m => m.MyUserId).GeneratedBy.Identity();
mapping.Map(m => m.Email).Not.Nullable().Length(200);
mapping.HasMany(m => m.Settings).KeyColumn("MyUserId").Cascade.DeleteOrphan()
.Access.ReadOnlyPropertyThroughCamelCaseField(Prefix.Underscore);
}
}
All using:
FluentNHibernate v1.3.0.733
NHibernate v3.3.1.4000
UPDATE: After a few suggestions I've tried to change the mapping for MyUser entity.
First to this:
mapping.HasMany(m => m.Settings)
.KeyColumn("MyUserId")
.Inverse()
.Cascade.DeleteOrphan()
.Access.ReadOnlyPropertyThroughCamelCaseField(Prefix.Underscore);
This gives the error: Given key was not present in the dictionary
So tried to add second key column:
mapping.HasMany(m => m.Settings)
.KeyColumn("MyUserId")
.KeyColumn("SettingTypeId")
.Inverse()
.Cascade.DeleteOrphan()
.Access.ReadOnlyPropertyThroughCamelCaseField(Prefix.Underscore);
But this then causes odd behaviour when loading the Settings collection from the DB for a given MyUserId. Looking at the nh profiler I see a second SELECT ... FROM Settings but setting the SettingTypeId same as value for MyUserId.
Still totally baffled. Has cost me too much time so going to revert to adding a primary key id field to the Settings entity. Maybe you just can't do what I'm trying using NHibernate. In pure SQL this is simple.
You should use the Inverse mapping
mapping.HasMany(m => m.Settings)
.KeyColumn("MyUserId")
.Inverse()
.Cascade.DeleteOrphan()
.Access.ReadOnlyPropertyThroughCamelCaseField(Prefix.Underscore);
This will allow NHibernate to ask the setting itself to be deleted. Otherwise, NHibernate firstly tries to delete the relation, and would try to delete the entity.
See: 6.4. One-To-Many Associations
Very Important Note: If the column of a
association is declared NOT NULL, NHibernate may cause constraint
violations when it creates or updates the association. To prevent this
problem, you must use a bidirectional association with the many valued
end (the set or bag) marked as inverse="true". See the discussion of
bidirectional associations later in this chapter.
I'm working on a mvc4 app with ef5 codefirst and I cannot solve this error:
The member with identity 'xxxx' does not exist in the metadata collection.
Update:
I saw that I used two different contexts (the navigation object was called thorugh a repository that creates a different DbContext), probably this is a problem. I changed that, but now I get a new error:
Invalid column name 'Brewery_BreweryId'.
In the IntelliTrace I saw that ef tries to
select ..., Brewery_BreweryId from UserProfiles
This column is not present and shouldn't be present, I want a many to many, not a one-to-many.
I think that is something related to a many to many relation.
this is an example of my code
internal class BreweryConfiguration : EntityTypeConfiguration<Brewery>
{
public BreweryConfiguration()
{
// PK
HasKey(e => e.BreweryId);
// FK
HasMany(e => e.UserProfiles)
.WithMany()
.Map(m =>
{
m.MapLeftKey("BreweryId");
m.MapRightKey("UserId");
m.ToTable("BreweryUserProfiles");
});
namespace Project2.DAL.Entities
{
[Table("Breweries")]
public class Brewery : ABrewery
{
public int BreweryId { get; set; }
public ICollection<UserProfile> UserProfiles { get; set; }
}
}
namespace Project1.DAL.Entities
{
[Table("UserProfiles")]
public class UserProfile : IUserProfile
{
[Key]
public int UserId { get; set; }
...
}
}
c.MapLeftKey("ClassB_ID");
c.MapRightKey("ClassA_ID");
should be
c.MapLeftKey("ClassA_ID");
c.MapRightKey("ClassB_ID");
Edit:
You need to define the PK of the ClassB in the configuration as well. In the way you implemented, you may add another derived Configuration for ClassB.