Programming Entity Framework: Code First

Chapter 6. Controlling Database Location, Creation Process, and Seed Data

In previous chapters you have seen how convention and configuration can be used to affect the model and the resulting database schema. In this chapter you will see how the convention and configuration concept applies to the database that is used by Code First.

You’ll learn how Code First conventions select a database and how you can alter this convention or specify the exact database that your context should use. The topics we cover will help you target other database providers, deploy your application, and perform many other database-related tasks.

You’ll also discover how database initializers can be used to control the database creation process and insert seed data into the database. This can be particularly useful when writing automated scenario tests.

Controlling the Database Location

So far you have relied on the Code First convention to select which database the application targets. By default, Code First has created the database on localhost\SQLEXPRESS using the fully qualified name of your context class for the database name (i.e., the namespace plus the class name). There will be times when this won’t be appropriate and you need to override the convention and tell Code First which database to connect to. You can modify or replace the convention used to select a database using Code First connection factories. Alternatively, you can just tell Code First exactly which database to use for a particular context, ...