umbraco 7 insert row in custom table - asp.net-mvc

Question

I have just made a model and controller which insert new row in a custom table to my umbraco database.
I based it on petapoco tutorial http://creativewebspecialist.co.uk/2013/07/16/umbraco-petapoco-to-store-blog-comments/
Despite the script executing without errors the row is not inserted into the table.
here's what I have:
namespace MyImport.Models
{
[TableName("MyImport_Uploads")]
[PrimaryKey("ID", autoIncrement = true)]
[ExplicitColumns]
public class ImportFile
{
[Column("ID")]
[PrimaryKeyColumn(AutoIncrement=true)]
public int Id { get; set; }
[Required]
[Column("CompanyID")]
public string CompanyId { get; set; }
//public Guid CompanyId { get; set; }
[Required]
[Column("FilenameOriginal")]
public string FilenameOriginal { get; set; }
[Required]
[Column("Filename")]
public string Filename { get; set; }
[Required]
[Column("FileType")]
public string FileType { get; set; }
[Column("NumberOfItems")]
public int NumberOfItems { get; set; }
[Column("DateCreated")]
public DateTime DateCreated { get; set; }
[Column("DeleteExisting")]
public bool DeleteExisting { get; set; }
}
}
And controller:
namespace MyImport.Controllers
{
public class ImportController : SurfaceController
{
private Umbraco.Core.Persistence.UmbracoDatabase db = MyImport.Settings.UmbracoDbDSN;
[HttpPost]
[ValidateAntiForgeryToken]
public ActionResult ImportExcel(ImportModel model)
{
var fileTypes = new List<string>
{
"text/xml",
"application/xml",
};
string fileType = GetFileType(model.FileUpload.ContentType);
if(model.FileUpload != null && model.FileUpload.ContentLength > 0)
{
string uploadDir = "~/imports";
string origFileName = model.FileUpload.FileName;
string extension = origFileName.Substring(origFileName.LastIndexOf('.') + 1);
string pathToCheck = Path.Combine(Server.MapPath(uploadDir), origFileName);
// Check to see if a file already exists with the
// same name as the file to upload.
if (!System.IO.File.Exists(pathToCheck))
{
string companyId = MyImport.Member.CompanyIdDummy;
string tempfileName = companyId.ToLower() + "-" + DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyyMMddHHmmss") + "." + extension;
pathToCheck = Path.Combine(Server.MapPath(uploadDir), tempfileName);
model.FileUpload.SaveAs(pathToCheck);
var importFile = new ImportFile
{
CompanyId = companyId,
Filename = tempfileName,
FilenameOriginal = origFileName,
FileType = extension,
DateCreated = DateTime.UtcNow
};
db.Insert(importFile);
}
TempData.Add("Success", true);
}
//redirect to current page to clear the form
return RedirectToCurrentUmbracoPage();
}
}
Any suggestions? Thanks

Answer 1

I had the database wrongly set up.
Basically I had it as umbraco.sdf in App_Data folder while I intended to use my full MSSQL database where the table was created.
I recreated the project, reinstalled umbraco and HAD to choose Customize at the bottom of the screen where I was choosing setting up cms access. This is important as I was then directed to the screen where I could set up my database connection.
Otherwise umbraco just install into SQL Server Express database which is stored in umbraco.sdf file in the project.
I hope this make sense for anyone looking for the solution to the same problem.