C# – DbUpdateException on SaveChanges if child foreign key already exists – in Entity Framework Code First

centity-frameworknetormsql

[ Using Code First DbContext with Entity Framework 5.0 RC ]

Entity with 2 Navigational Properties / 2 Foreign Keys

public class Compositon
{

    public string Id { get; set; }

    public string SimpletonId { get; set; }

    [ForeignKey("SimpletonId")]
    public Simpleton Simpleton { get; set; }

    public string CompanitonId { get; set; }

    [ForeignKey("CompanitonId")]
    public Companiton Companiton { get; set; }
}

First Pass – SaveChanges to Empty Database Works

var composition = new Compositon();
compositon.Id = "UniquePrimaryKey";
var simpleton = new Simpleton();
// This foreign key does not exist in database yet
simpleton.Id = "Simpleton1";
composition.Simpleton = simpleton;
var companiton = new Companiton();
companiton.Id = "SomeOther1";
composition.Companiton = companiton;
// Repositor references the DbContext
Repositor.Compositons.Add(composition);
Repositor.SaveChanges();

Second Pass – Existing Child Foreign Key Leads to Parent Fault

var composition = new Compositon();
compositon.Id = "AnotherUniquePrimaryKey";
var simpleton = new Simpleton();
// This foreign key already exists in database
simpleton.Id = "Simpleton1";
composition.Simpleton = simpleton;
var companiton = new Companiton();
companiton.Id = "SomeOther2";
composition.Companiton = companiton;
Repositor.Compositons.Add(composition);
Repositor.SaveChanges();

DbUpdateException: An error occurred while updating the entries.

I need to be able save these parent classes into the database, because they are unique even though they sometimes contain a navigational property that is already stored – how can I save the parent from this child primary key conflict?

Best Answer

In the second pass you will need to retrieve the existing Simpleton from the DbContext. I'm guessing that you could do that like this:

`simpleton = Repositor.Simpletons.First(s => s.Id == "Simpleton1");`

Currently, you're creating a brand new one, which the Entity Framework tries to insert as such, hence the key violation.

Related Solutions

Entity-framework – The relationship could not be changed because one or more of the foreign-key properties is non-nullable

You should delete old child items thisParent.ChildItems one by one manually. Entity Framework doesn't do that for you. It finally cannot decide what you want to do with the old child items - if you want to throw them away or if you want to keep and assign them to other parent entities. You must tell Entity Framework your decision. But one of these two decisions you HAVE to make since the child entities cannot live alone without a reference to any parent in the database (due to the foreign key constraint). That's basically what the exception says.

Edit

What I would do if child items could be added, updated and deleted:

public void UpdateEntity(ParentItem parent)
{
    // Load original parent including the child item collection
    var originalParent = _dbContext.ParentItems
        .Where(p => p.ID == parent.ID)
        .Include(p => p.ChildItems)
        .SingleOrDefault();
    // We assume that the parent is still in the DB and don't check for null

    // Update scalar properties of parent,
    // can be omitted if we don't expect changes of the scalar properties
    var parentEntry = _dbContext.Entry(originalParent);
    parentEntry.CurrentValues.SetValues(parent);

    foreach (var childItem in parent.ChildItems)
    {
        var originalChildItem = originalParent.ChildItems
            .Where(c => c.ID == childItem.ID && c.ID != 0)
            .SingleOrDefault();
        // Is original child item with same ID in DB?
        if (originalChildItem != null)
        {
            // Yes -> Update scalar properties of child item
            var childEntry = _dbContext.Entry(originalChildItem);
            childEntry.CurrentValues.SetValues(childItem);
        }
        else
        {
            // No -> It's a new child item -> Insert
            childItem.ID = 0;
            originalParent.ChildItems.Add(childItem);
        }
    }

    // Don't consider the child items we have just added above.
    // (We need to make a copy of the list by using .ToList() because
    // _dbContext.ChildItems.Remove in this loop does not only delete
    // from the context but also from the child collection. Without making
    // the copy we would modify the collection we are just interating
    // through - which is forbidden and would lead to an exception.)
    foreach (var originalChildItem in
                 originalParent.ChildItems.Where(c => c.ID != 0).ToList())
    {
        // Are there child items in the DB which are NOT in the
        // new child item collection anymore?
        if (!parent.ChildItems.Any(c => c.ID == originalChildItem.ID))
            // Yes -> It's a deleted child item -> Delete
            _dbContext.ChildItems.Remove(originalChildItem);
    }

    _dbContext.SaveChanges();
}

Note: This is not tested. It's assuming that the child item collection is of type ICollection. (I usually have IList and then the code looks a bit different.) I've also stripped away all repository abstractions to keep it simple.

I don't know if that is a good solution, but I believe that some kind of hard work along these lines must be done to take care of all kinds of changes in the navigation collection. I would also be happy to see an easier way of doing it.

C# – Entity Framework Code First – two Foreign Keys from same table

Try this:

public class Team
{
    public int TeamId { get; set;} 
    public string Name { get; set; }

    public virtual ICollection<Match> HomeMatches { get; set; }
    public virtual ICollection<Match> AwayMatches { get; set; }
}

public class Match
{
    public int MatchId { get; set; }

    public int HomeTeamId { get; set; }
    public int GuestTeamId { get; set; }

    public float HomePoints { get; set; }
    public float GuestPoints { get; set; }
    public DateTime Date { get; set; }

    public virtual Team HomeTeam { get; set; }
    public virtual Team GuestTeam { get; set; }
}


public class Context : DbContext
{
    ...

    protected override void OnModelCreating(DbModelBuilder modelBuilder)
    {
        modelBuilder.Entity<Match>()
                    .HasRequired(m => m.HomeTeam)
                    .WithMany(t => t.HomeMatches)
                    .HasForeignKey(m => m.HomeTeamId)
                    .WillCascadeOnDelete(false);

        modelBuilder.Entity<Match>()
                    .HasRequired(m => m.GuestTeam)
                    .WithMany(t => t.AwayMatches)
                    .HasForeignKey(m => m.GuestTeamId)
                    .WillCascadeOnDelete(false);
    }
}

Primary keys are mapped by default convention. Team must have two collection of matches. You can't have single collection referenced by two FKs. Match is mapped without cascading delete because it doesn't work in these self referencing many-to-many.