Using Effort with EF6 in a DB First approach - entity-framework-6

Question

I'm using the Model First approach with EF6 and I'm trying to use Entity Framework Effort to develop in-memory tests.
Here is what I do in my test:
var inMemoryConnection = Effort.DbConnectionFactory.CreateTransient("name=MyEntities");
var inMemoryContext = new MyEntities(inMemoryConnection);
MyEntities:
public partial class MyEntities: DbContext
{
public MyEntities(DbConnection dbConnection)
: base(dbConnection, contextOwnsConnection: true)
{
}
When I run the tests, I get an error saying I didn't specify any [key] attributes which is normal since I am not using a Code First approach. Therefor, the OnModelCreating method is called and shouldn't have to.
Is there a way to use Effort in a Model First design without having to add these attributes?
Thanks !

Answer 1

I found my mistake.
Turns out Effort.DbConnectionFactory.CreateTransient is used for Code-First.
Instead if you're working with a .edmx, Model-First, it is Effort.EntityConnectionFactory.CreateTransient("name=MyEntities") you have to use.

Answer 2

I too had a bit of a difficult time in trying to get Effort to work with a DB first, or model first as it's also known, approach. This is what I did to make it work:
Download the Effort.EF6 nuget package
Add the effort.provider to the entity-framework config section:
<entityFramework>
<defaultConnectionFactory type="System.Data.Entity.Infrastructure.LocalDbConnectionFactory, EntityFramework">
<parameters>
<parameter value="mssqllocaldb" />
</parameters>
</defaultConnectionFactory>
<providers>
<provider invariantName="System.Data.SqlClient" type="System.Data.Entity.SqlServer.SqlProviderServices, EntityFramework.SqlServer" />
<provider invariantName="Effort.Provider" type="Effort.Provider.EffortProviderServices,Effort" />
</providers>
</entityFramework>
Replace the sql-provider with the Effort-provider in the connection-string:
<connectionStrings>
<add name="testDb" providerName="Effort.Provider" connectionString="metadata=res://*/StaginDB.csdl|res://*/StaginDB.ssdl|res://*/StaginDB.msl;provider=System.Data.SqlClient;provider connection string="data source=testDB;initial catalog=foobaroo;integrated security=True;MultipleActiveResultSets=True;App=EntityFramework"" />
</connectionStrings>
If your model-first context doesn't offer a constructor you can inject a connection into, you can modify your tt-template to do so:
<#=Accessibility.ForType(container)#> partial class <#=code.Escape(container)#> : DbContext
{
// I added this constructor so I could inject a db-connection into the context:
public <#=code.Escape(container)#>(System.Data.Common.DbConnection dbConnection, bool contextOwnsConnection)
: base(dbConnection, contextOwnsConnection)
{
}
// Original constructor
public <#=code.Escape(container)#>()
: base("name=<#=container.Name#>")
{
<#
if (!loader.IsLazyLoadingEnabled(container))
{
#>
this.Configuration.LazyLoa.... etc. etc.
And we can now use that constructor to instantiate a connection, and an Effort-based in-memory db-context based on this connection:
System.Data.Common.DbConnection connection = Effort.EntityConnectionFactory.CreateTransient("name=KPDBSTAGINGEntities");
TestDbContext testDbContext = new testDbContext(connection, false);
TestDbContext.your-entity.add( new your-entity() { etc. tec. });
TestDbContext.SaveChanges();
Hope this helps.
P.S. Others have had to add a db-provider-factory section to their config. This was not required for me, but maybe for you:
<system.data>
<DbProviderFactories>
<add name="Effort.Provider" invariant="Effort.Provider" description="Effort.Provider" type="Effort.Provider.EffortProviderFactory,Effort" />
</DbProviderFactories>
</system.data>