Converting a string into a List and then using Entity Framework to insert into Database

Question

I am converting a string into a list and then trying to use entity framework to insert it into a DB. The issue that I am having is that I don't know how to save the changes to the DB.

This is the code that I am trying to use and is where the string is converted to a list:

if (intCounter == 0)
{
    return JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<List<foo>>(jsonString).Cast<T>().ToList();
}

Then in a seperate class below.

ConvertJson.Convert<CouncilEvent>(strResponseJSONContent, intCounter);

The Entity Framework Model that I am trying to use for the list.

namespace foo.Models
{
    public partial class foo
    {
        public foo()
        {
            this.EventDates = new List<EventDate>();
        }

        public System.Guid foo_PK { get; set; }
        public string EntityID { get; set; }
        public string Address1 { get; set; }
        public string Address2 { get; set; }
        public string Address3 { get; set; }
        public bool Adult { get; set; }
    }
}

The class foo contains properties that match those in the string.

It is this foo that I am then trying to insert into the DB. foo is also part of my Entity Framework model.

I have never used a list in this situation before and I thought it would just be a matter of using db.SaveChanges() but that doesn't seem to work. Where would I place the necessary lines of code such as using (db = new contextFoo) and db.SaveChanges() . Also do I need to add the items? I haven't because I thought I was already adding them to the class and therefore didn't need to do this manually?

Answer 1

db.SaveChanges() will only 'update' your database to what was changed. So, you need to add something to the database, and then call SaveChanges() for it to work.

Answer 2

You can loop the list to add the objects to the context, then call SaveChanges() ...

var councilEvents = ConvertJson.Convert<CouncilEvent>(strResponseJSONContent, intCounter);

using (var db = new contextFoo()) 
{
    foreach (var councilEvent in councilEvents)
    {
        db.CouncilEvents.Add(councilEvent);
    }
    db.SaveChanges();
}