Entity-framework – Unique Constraint in Entity Framework Code First

code-firstentity-frameworkunique-constraint

Question

Is it possible to define a unique constraint on a property using either the fluent syntax or an attribute? If not, what are the workarounds?

I have a user class with a primary key, but I would like to make sure the email address is also unique. Is this possible without editing the database directly?

Solution (based on Matt's answer)

public class MyContext : DbContext {
    public DbSet<User> Users { get; set; }

    public override int SaveChanges() {
        foreach (var item in ChangeTracker.Entries<IModel>())
            item.Entity.Modified = DateTime.Now;

        return base.SaveChanges();
    }

    public class Initializer : IDatabaseInitializer<MyContext> {
        public void InitializeDatabase(MyContext context) {
            if (context.Database.Exists() && !context.Database.CompatibleWithModel(false))
                context.Database.Delete();

            if (!context.Database.Exists()) {
                context.Database.Create();
                context.Database.ExecuteSqlCommand("alter table Users add constraint UniqueUserEmail unique (Email)");
            }
        }
    }
}

Best Answer

As far as I can tell, there's no way to do this with Entity Framework at the moment. However, this isn't just a problem with unique constraints... you may want to create indexes, check constraints, and possibly triggers and other constructs too. Here's a simple pattern you can use with your code-first setup, though admittedly it's not database agnostic:

public class MyRepository : DbContext {
    public DbSet<Whatever> Whatevers { get; set; }

    public class Initializer : IDatabaseInitializer<MyRepository> {
        public void InitializeDatabase(MyRepository context) {
            if (!context.Database.Exists() || !context.Database.ModelMatchesDatabase()) {
                context.Database.DeleteIfExists();
                context.Database.Create();

                context.ObjectContext.ExecuteStoreCommand("CREATE UNIQUE CONSTRAINT...");
                context.ObjectContext.ExecuteStoreCommand("CREATE INDEX...");
                context.ObjectContext.ExecuteStoreCommand("ETC...");
            }
        }
    }
}

Another option is if your domain model is the only method of inserting/updating data in your database, you could implement the uniqueness requirement yourself and leave the database out of it. This is a more portable solution and forces you to be clear about your business rules in your code, but leaves your database open to invalid data getting back-doored.

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