首先使用实体​​框架代码时将外键设置为空

Question

I'm using the database first implementation of Entity Framework Code First as the data layer for a project, but I've run into a problem.

I need to be able to set a foreign key to null in order to remove an association in the database.

I have 2 objects. One is called Project.

public class Project
{
    public int ProjectId {get; set;}
    public Employee Employee {get;set;}
}

public class Employee
{
    public int EmployeeId {get; set;}
    public string EmployeeName {get;set;}
}

This matches what I have in the Database:

CREATE TABLE Project(
    ProjectId int IDENTITY(1,1) NOT NULL,
    EmployeeId int NULL
)

CREATE TABLE Project(
    EmployeeId int IDENTITY(1,1) NOT NULL,
    EmployeeName varchar(100) NULL
)

I can assign an Employee to a project. However, I want to be able to remove an employee from a project and have the Employee field be null. In my UI this will show as 'No EMployee Assigned'.

However, short of a direct sql query, I cannot seem to find a way to do this in the entity framework 4.1.

I've tried:

public void RemoveEmployeeFromProject(int projectId)
{
    var project = Context.Projects.FirstOrDefault(x => x.ProjectId == projectId);
    project.Employee = null;
    Context.SaveChanges();
}

But this doesn't do anything.

Does anyone have any ideas?

Answer 1

I think the problem is that as far as the context is concerned, you haven't actually changed anything.

You can use the lazy loading approach previously suggested by using virtual , but since you haven't requested that the Employee be loaded yet, it's still null. You could try this:

var forceLoad = project.Employee;
project.Employee = null; // Now EF knows something has changed
Context.SaveChanges();

Alternatively, explicitly include it in your original request:

var project = Context.Projects.Include(x => x.Employee).FirstOrDefault(x => x.ProjectId == projectId);
project.Employee = null;
Context.SaveChanges();

On a side note, FirstOrDefault will return null if no Project matches the given id. If you know the project exists, you can just use First . You could even use Single which will assert that there is only one such project. If you continue to use FirstOrDefault , I'd recommend checking for null before working with project .

Answer 2

您可以这样做，这意味着您不必加载相关实体。

context.Entry(Project).Reference(r => r.Employee).CurrentValue = null;

Answer 3

The answer to this is quite simple. EF can't infer the type given the information you've provided.

Just do this instead:

public void RemoveEmployeeFromProject(int projectId)
{
    var project = Context.Projects.FirstOrDefault(x => x.ProjectId == projectId);
    project.EmployeeId = (int?)null;
    Context.SaveChanges();
}

and it will work.

Answer 4

您需要在 linq 查询中包含要分配的属性，使用与 Project 类中相同的名称：

var project = Context.Projects.Include("Employee").FirstOrDefault(x => x.ProjectId == projectId);

Answer 5

As another workaround, I compiled two methods into a extension method:

public static void SetToNull<TEntity, TProperty>(this TEntity entity, Expression<Func<TEntity, TProperty>> navigationProperty, DbContext context = null)
    where TEntity : class
    where TProperty : class
{
    var pi = GetPropertyInfo(entity, navigationProperty);

    if (context != null)
    {
        //If DB Context is supplied, use Entry/Reference method to null out current value
        context.Entry(entity).Reference(navigationProperty).CurrentValue = null;
    }
    else
    {
        //If no DB Context, then lazy load first
        var prevValue = (TProperty)pi.GetValue(entity);
    }

    pi.SetValue(entity, null);
}

static PropertyInfo GetPropertyInfo<TSource, TProperty>(    TSource source,    Expression<Func<TSource, TProperty>> propertyLambda)
{
    Type type = typeof(TSource);

    MemberExpression member = propertyLambda.Body as MemberExpression;
    if (member == null)
        throw new ArgumentException(string.Format(
            "Expression '{0}' refers to a method, not a property.",
            propertyLambda.ToString()));

    PropertyInfo propInfo = member.Member as PropertyInfo;
    if (propInfo == null)
        throw new ArgumentException(string.Format(
            "Expression '{0}' refers to a field, not a property.",
            propertyLambda.ToString()));

    if (type != propInfo.ReflectedType &&
        !type.IsSubclassOf(propInfo.ReflectedType))
        throw new ArgumentException(string.Format(
            "Expression '{0}' refers to a property that is not from type {1}.",
            propertyLambda.ToString(),
            type));

    return propInfo;
}

This allows you to supply a DbContext if you have one, in which case it will use the most efficient method and set the CurrentValue of the Entry Reference to null.

entity.SetToNull(e => e.ReferenceProperty, dbContext);

If no DBContext is supplied, it will lazy load first.

entity.SetToNull(e => e.ReferenceProperty);

Answer 6

if you enable lazy loading by making the employee property virtual does it work?

public class Project
{
    public int ProjectId {get; set;}
    public virtual Employee Employee {get;set;}
}

i'd also suggest encapsulating the remove method as part of your poco class to making the meaning more clear. see this article for more details on that.

public class Project
{
    public int ProjectId {get; set;}
    public virtual Employee Employee {get;set;}
    public void RemoveEmployee()
    {
        Employee = null;
    }
}