Support us .Net Basics C# SQL ASP.NET Aarvi MVC Slides C# Programs Subscribe Download

Part 14 - Conditional Mapping in entity framework

Suggested Videos
Part 11 - Entity splitting in entity framework with code first approach
Part 12 - Table splitting in entity framework
Part 13 - Table splitting in entity framework with code first approach



In this video we will discuss Conditional Mapping feature in entity framework with database first approach. Let us understand what Conditional Mapping can do with an example.



We will be using the following Employees table in this demo. IsTerminated column determines if an employee is a terminated employee or not.
Conditional Mapping in entity framework

SQL Query to create Employees table
Create table Employees
(
     EmployeeID int primary key identity,
     FirstName nvarchar(50),
     LastName nvarchar(50),
     Gender nvarchar(50),
     IsTerminated bit not null
)
GO

Insert into Employees values ('Mark', 'Hastings', 'Male', 0)
Insert into Employees values ('Steve', 'Pound', 'Male', 0)
Insert into Employees values ('Ben', 'Hoskins', 'Male', 0)
Insert into Employees values ('Philip', 'Hastings', 'Male', 1)
Insert into Employees values ('Mary', 'Lambeth', 'Female', 0)
Insert into Employees values ('Valarie', 'Vikings', 'Female', 0)
Insert into Employees values ('John', 'Stanmore', 'Male', 1)

If the application that we are developing always need only the employees who are not terminated, then in the query we will have to always include the filter across our entire application. Conditional Mapping can be used to apply such a permanent filter on the entity, so that the generated SQL query always have the WHERE clause.

To use Conditional Mapping, 
1. Right click on the entity and select "Table Mapping" option from the context menu
2. Add the condition - When Is Terminated = false
Conditional Mapping example

At this point, if you build the solution or validate the model, you will get the following error
Problem in mapping fragments starting at line 46:Condition member 'Employees.IsTerminated' with a condition other than 'IsNull=False' is mapped. Either remove the condition on Employees.IsTerminated or remove it from the mapping

This is because, a table column cannot be mapped more than once. We have used IsTerminated column in conditional mapping, so it cannot be used in property mapping as well. For this reason delete it from Employee entity.

Add a web form to the project. Drag and drop a GridView control. Copy and paste the following code in the code-behind file.
protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    EmployeeDBContext employeeDBContext = new EmployeeDBContext();
    GridView1.DataSource = employeeDBContext.Employees;
    GridView1.DataBind();
}

Open SQL profiler and run the webform. Notice that the select query has a where clause, which will always return employees who are not terminated.
SELECT
[Extent1].[EmployeeID] AS [EmployeeID],
[Extent1].[FirstName] AS [FirstName],
[Extent1].[LastName] AS [LastName],
[Extent1].[Gender] AS [Gender]
FROM [dbo].[Employees] AS [Extent1]
WHERE [Extent1].[IsTerminated] = 0

Entity Framework Tutorial

2 comments:

  1. While doing the above demonstration I got the below mention exception. please give me the solution for same


    An exception of type 'System.NotSupportedException' occurred in EntityFramework.dll but was not handled in user code

    Additional information: Data binding directly to a store query (DbSet, DbQuery, DbSqlQuery, DbRawSqlQuery) is not supported. Instead populate a DbSet with data, for example by calling Load on the DbSet, and then bind to local data. For WPF bind to DbSet.Local. For WinForms bind to DbSet.Local.ToBindingList(). For ASP.NET WebForms you can bind to the result of calling ToList() on the query or use Model Binding, for more information see http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=389592.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi try this
    EmployeeDBContext employeeDBContext = new EmployeeDBContext();
    GridView1.DataSource = employeeDBContext.Employees.ToList();
    GridView1.DataBind();

    ReplyDelete

It would be great if you can help share these free resources