EF Code First - Recreate Database If Model Changes

Question

I'm currently working on a project which is using EF Code First with POCOs. I have 5 POCOs that so far depends on the POCO "User".

The POCO "User" should refer to my already existing MemberShip table "aspnet_Users" (which I map it to in the OnModelCreating method of the DbContext).

The problem is that I want to take advantage of the "Recreate Database If Model changes" feature as Scott Gu shows at: http://weblogs.asp.net/scottgu/archive/2010/07/16/code-first-development-with-entity-framework-4.aspx - What the feature basically does is to recreate the database as soon as it sees any changes in my POCOs. What I want it to do is to Recreate the database but to somehow NOT delete the whole Database so that aspnet_Users is still alive. However it seems impossible as it either makes a whole new Database or replaces the current one with..

So my question is: Am I doomed to define my database tables by hand, or can I somehow merge my POCOs into my current database and still take use of the feature without wipeing it all?

Answer 1

As of EF Code First in CTP5, this is not possible. Code First will drop and create your database or it does not touch it at all. I think in your case, you should manually create your full database and then try to come up with an object model that matches the DB.

That said, EF team is actively working on the feature that you are looking for: altering the database instead of recreating it:

Code First Database Evolution (aka Migrations)