why wont my asp.net mvc application seed work properly? - asp.net-mvc

Question

I have the following code to create entities and seed them with data for use in an asp.net mvc application. I am using code first and entity framework. I generate controllers and run the application but on the index.cshtml page my list is empty where the seed data should be.
public class MyContext : DbContext
{
public MyContext() : base("dataDb") {}
public DbSet<Owner> Owners { get; set; }
public DbSet<Pet> Pets { get; set; }
}
public class MyInitializer : DropCreateDatabaseAlways<MyContext>
{
protected override void Seed(MyContext context)
{
// seed database here
context.Owners.AddOrUpdate(
new Owner()
{
//name=,
//id=,
Pets = new List<Pet> { new Pet()
{
//id=,
//name=,
},
new Pet()
{
//id=,
//name=,
}}
},
new Owner()
{
//id=,
//name=,
Pets = new List<Pet> { new Pet()
{
//id=,
//name=,,
}
}
}
);
context.SaveChanges();
}
}
public class Owner
{
public int OwnerId { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
public virtual List<Pet> Pets { get; set; }
}
public class Pet
{
public int PetId { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
public string Type { get; set; }
public virtual Owner Owner { get; set; }
}
}

Answer 1

I found a solution to this problem:
Database.SetInitializer(new MyInitializer()); //important for seed to work
add this line to the context constuctor:
public MyContext() : base("dataDb") {}

Answer 2

You can also add it to your web.config. When it comes to deployment, you can easily remove it from the web.config by using configuration transformer.
<entityFramework>
<contexts>
<context type="MyProject.MyContext, MyProject">
<databaseInitializer type="MyProject.MyInitializer, MyProject" />
</context>
</contexts>
...
</entityFramework>

Answer 3

<connectionStrings>
<add name="MyContext" connectionString="Data Source=(LocalDb)\MSSQLLocalDB;Initial Catalog=OwnersPets; AttachDBFilename=|DataDirectory|\OwnersPets.mdf; Integrated Security=SSPI;" providerName="System.Data.SqlClient" />
</connectionString>
Example conn string to use with localDb