Code First vs. Database First

Question

I created an Entity Framework model based on an existing database, then generated the POCO entities from the model. The connection string in my web.config isn't Entity Framework, it's just the standard connection string (it's missing the CSDL, SSDL, MSL references).

I can compile my application, but when I run I get this error:

Code generated using the T4 templates for Database First and Model First development may not work correctly if used in Code First mode. To continue using Database First or Model First ensure that the Entity Framework connection string is specified in the config file of executing application. To use these classes, that were generated from Database First or Model First, with Code First add any additional configuration using attributes or the DbModelBuilder API and then remove the code that throws this exception

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My question is, where in my code does it realize the POCOs came from auto generation, and how can I get it to behave like Code First? I don't want to reference the CSDL etc in my connection string.

Answer 1

If the connection string has the metadata, EF thinks it is Model First or Database First. If it is a plain connection string, EF thinks it is Code First. However, if you want to start out doing model first but make EF think you are really doing code first (which is what you are doing), make sure you are using the DbContext code generator, not the default one. Code first POCOs are really that--"plain old c# objects"-- no special database aware or change tracking stuff in them at all. To use the DbContext code generator, right click on your model diagram and choose "Add new code generation item..." then select the ADO.NET DbContext Generator. Also, depending on how you named your primary and foreign keys and/or whether they are more complicated than just simple int IDs, you will probably need to fill in some code to map the relationships between your objects in the "OnModelCreating" method in your context. Delete the line throw new UnintendedCodeFirstException(); and replace it with your mapping code. Otherwise EF may not be able to figure out all the relationships (remember there's no metadata for it to rely on).

Hope this helps.