C＃：在数据库优先设置中初始化和种子

Question

So I am working with EF6 and I have a Database First setup. I'm looking to populate my database with some data of course, but I can't seem to find out how. The bulk of the documentation concerns performing such operations in a Code First setup, but I don't have any of those.

My question is, given a Database First setup, how do I go about seeding my db with data?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

Database First means that you create a DB and then generate some models depending on it. You should either seed data on your own or switch to the Code First.

You can write your own initializer but I am not sure whether it is something you are looking for.

Answer 2

In your first launch or, at the end of application installation you can use your data access layer or repository layer and populate your data.

Because this is seeding, you might see some scenarios, that you should bypass, some validation. That's why I suggest to use your DAL/Repository instead of your service later.

For example, simply create a class called, DatabaseSetup and a static method like Provision, and create every object you need then push them to database. Alternatively, you can read the initial data from JSON file if the seed data is variable based on different scenarios.

Answer 3

All in all, I wasn't able to find a way to seed my db with a Database First setup. I ended up refactoring my data layer to use Code First, and I can't say that I miss the DB First method.