Setting up EF Core

Setting up Entity Framework Core¶

Entity Framework Core (EF Core) is an essential part of the CacheCows tech stack, used for object-relational mapping in our CowPress and ToDoMoo applications. This guide details the steps to install and configure EF Core in your development environment.

Installation¶

EF Core is a lightweight, extensible, open-source, and cross-platform version of the popular Entity Framework data access technology.

1. Prerequisites
   - Ensure you have the .NET SDK installed. EF Core requires .NET Standard 2.0 or later.

2. Install EF Core
   - In your project directory, use the .NET CLI to install the EF Core package.
   - Run dotnet add package Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.

3. Install Database Provider
   - EF Core supports various database providers. Install the one you need for your project. For example, for SQL Server, use:
   

   dotnet add package Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.SqlServer
   

   
   - For other databases like PostgreSQL, MySQL, etc., find the corresponding NuGet package.

EF Core Tools¶

For performing database migrations and other EF Core-related tasks, installing the EF Core command-line tools is recommended.

1. Install EF Core CLI
   - Run the following command:
   

   dotnet tool install --global dotnet-ef
   

   
   - This installs the command-line tools globally on your machine.

2. Verify Installation
   - Verify the installation by running dotnet ef in the terminal.

Configuring EF Core in a Project¶

1. Create a Data Model
   - Define your data model as classes in C#. Each class will correspond to a table in the database.

2. Add a DbContext
   - Create a subclass of DbContext representing a session with the database. It allows querying and saving data.

3. Register DbContext
   - In the Startup.cs file (for ASP.NET Core projects), register your context with dependency injection in the ConfigureServices method:
   

   services.AddDbContext<YourDbContext>(options =>
      options.UseSqlServer(Configuration.GetConnectionString("DefaultConnection")));
   

4. Connection Strings
   - Store your database connection strings securely, for example, in appsettings.json or an environment variable.

5. Create and Update Database
   - Use migrations to create or update your database. Run:
   

   dotnet ef migrations add InitialCreate
   dotnet ef database update
   

With EF Core set up, you are now ready to work on database-related tasks in the CacheCows projects.