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Tip 31 – How to compose L2O and L2E queries
Imagine you want to write a query like this: var possibleBuyers= from p in ctx.People where...
Author: Alex D James Date: 08/11/2009
Tip 30 – How to use a custom database function
Imagine you have a database function like the DistanceBetween function in Nerd Dinner: CREATE...
Author: Alex D James Date: 08/06/2009
Another C# trick: Fluents, Inheritance and Extension Methods
Here’s a scenario which Damien and I encountered recently. We needed a way of specifying Facets for...
Author: Alex D James Date: 07/31/2009
Tip 29 – How to avoid LazyLoad or Load() reader issues
If you have code that looks like this: var results = from c in ctx.Customers where...
Author: Alex D James Date: 07/31/2009
Some comments on efficient SOA method composition
A couple of posts back I started talking about composing SOAPY operations efficiently, by shipping...
Author: Alex D James Date: 07/31/2009
And while you are at it… why can’t I compose REST calls?
In my last post I asked why you can’t compose SOA method calls efficiently. With REST services like...
Author: Alex D James Date: 07/28/2009
Why can’t I efficiently compose method calls in SOA?
Imagine if you have these 3 methods: public Employee GetEmployee(string alias); public Department...
Author: Alex D James Date: 07/28/2009
Tip 28 - How to implement an Eager Loading strategy
Background: Over the last 2 years lots of people have complained about the way Eager loading works...
Author: Alex D James Date: 07/24/2009
A silly C# trick from the trenches
UPDATE: as Joe rightly points out in the comments (thanks Joe) when you try to pass a...
Author: Alex D James Date: 07/24/2009
I never knew: C# method overloads can return different types
I came to C# from Java, which I’m pretty sure doesn’t (or maybe didn't) allow this, so I was super...
Author: Alex D James Date: 07/22/2009
Tip 27 – How to Implement BeforeSave Validation
It is common to want to validate that your entities are ‘valid’ before you save them to the...
Author: Alex D James Date: 07/20/2009
New EF blogger – Craig Lee
Short one this time. Craig Lee, a colleague of mine who works on the tools team, has just started...
Author: Alex D James Date: 06/19/2009
Tip 26 – How to avoid database queries using Stub Entities
What are Stub Entities? A stub entity is a partially populated entity that stands in for the real...
Author: Alex D James Date: 06/19/2009
Wrapping Providers
For well over a year now I've been talking about how it is possible with EF to write a provider that...
Author: Alex D James Date: 06/12/2009
Tip 25 – How to Get Entities by key the easy way
Sometimes rather than writing this: var customer = ctx.Customers.First(c => c.ID == 5); You would...
Author: Alex D James Date: 06/11/2009
Tip 24 – How to get the ObjectContext from an Entity
Customers often ask how to get from an Entity back to the ObjectContext . Now generally we don’t...
Author: Alex D James Date: 06/08/2009
Tip 23 – How to fake Enums in EF 4
As of right now Enums are not in EF4. Now we will be listening to your feedback about Beta1, and...
Author: Alex D James Date: 06/05/2009
Ordering of Commands – What do you think?
Some of our customers write code like this: ctx.AddToCustomers(customer);...
Author: Alex D James Date: 06/05/2009
Tip 22 - How to make Include really Include
This is 22nd post in my ongoing series of Entity Framework Tips.If you want to do eager loading with...
Author: Alex D James Date: 06/02/2009
An enumeration of one?
Having something enumerable is the gateway to all LINQ’s loveliness. But sometimes you have just one...
Author: Alex D James Date: 05/28/2009
Learn about EF Pluralization Services courtesy of Dan Rigsby
Not long ago I wrote a ‘sneak peek’ for our new Pluralization features on the ADO.NET team blog....
Author: Alex D James Date: 05/22/2009
Tip 21 – How to use the Single() operator – EF 4.0 only
This is 21st post in my ongoing series of Entity Framework Tips, and the first that is specific to...
Author: Alex D James Date: 05/21/2009
Tip 20 – How to deal with Fixed Length Keys
This is 20th post in my ongoing series of Entity Framework Tips. Fixed Length Field Padding: If you...
Author: Alex D James Date: 05/20/2009
Tip 19 – How to use Optimistic Concurrency with the Entity Framework
This is the 19th post in my ongoing series of Entity Framework Tips. Background: If you have a table...
Author: Alex D James Date: 05/19/2009
Tip 18 – How to decide on a lifetime for your ObjectContext
One of the most common questions we get is how long should an ObjectContext should live. Options...
Author: Alex D James Date: 05/07/2009
Tip 17 – How to do one step updates with AttachAsModified(..)
Background: In Tip 13 - How to Attach the easy way I showed you how to ‘establish’ the EntitySet for...
Author: Alex D James Date: 05/02/2009
Video on Entity Framework’s Model First in .NET 4.0
How did I miss this? Jonathan Carter (aka LostInTangent) has done a Channel 9 video on our upcoming...
Author: Alex D James Date: 05/01/2009
Interesting reads
Over the weekend in between run throughs that I did prepping for a webcast, I did some catch-up blog...
Author: Alex D James Date: 04/28/2009
Corrected Tip 15 - How to avoid loading unnecessary properties
I've made a few important corrections to Tip 15. I've corrected the bit that said the UPDATE SQL...
Author: Alex D James Date: 04/27/2009
Tip 15 - How to avoid loading unnecessary Properties
UPDATE: Made a couple of important corrections re-which Original Values are required. Problem:...
Author: Alex D James Date: 04/24/2009
An analogy: Good UIs and Fluent APIs
Background A while back I was writing a web app to try the Entity Framework and MVC together. I knew...
Author: Alex D James Date: 04/16/2009
Tip 12 - How to choose an Inheritance Strategy
What strategies does the Entity Framework support? The Entity Framework supports 3 primary...
Author: Alex D James Date: 04/14/2009
Tip 11 – How to avoid Relationship Span
Background and Motivation: In my last post on EF Jargon I introduced the concept of Relationship...
Author: Alex D James Date: 04/06/2009
Tip 9 – How to delete an object without retrieving it
Problem The most common way to delete an Entity in the Entity Framework is to pull the Entity you...
Author: Alex D James Date: 03/27/2009
Tip 8 - How to write 'WHERE IN' style queries using LINQ to Entities
Imagine if you have a table of People and you want to retrieve only those whose the Firstname is in...
Author: Alex D James Date: 03/25/2009
Tips and Tricks
Hopefully if you're reading this you've noticed that I've started a series of Tips recently. The...
Author: Alex D James Date: 03/25/2009
Tip 7 - How to fake Foreign Key Properties in .NET 3.5 SP1
Background If you've been reading the EF Design Blog you will have seen that we recently announced...
Author: Alex D James Date: 03/24/2009
Self-Tracking Entities
Some of the feedback we got on the EF design blog about our early N-Tier plans, highlighted that...
Author: Alex D James Date: 03/23/2009
Tip 6 - How and when to use eager loading
When should you use eager loading? Usually in your application you know what you are going to "do"...
Author: Alex D James Date: 03/23/2009
Tip 5 - How to restrict the types returned from an EF Query.
Imagine you have a model that looks like this: How do you query for just Cars? This is where...
Author: Alex D James Date: 03/20/2009
Tip 4 - Conceptual Schema Definition Language Rules
The first version of the Entity Framework was released a while back ago now with .NET 3.5 SP1. One...
Author: Alex D James Date: 03/19/2009
Tip 3 - How to get started with T4
So if you've been reading the Entity Framework Design Blog you will have heard us talk about T4. It...
Author: Alex D James Date: 03/02/2009
Alt.NET Seattle
I went to Alt.NET Seattle on the weekend. Being from the Entity Framework team, I was a little...
Author: Alex D James Date: 03/02/2009
Tip 2 - Entity Framework Books
Question: Where do I find in depth books on the Entity Framework? Answer: One of the benefits of...
Author: Alex D James Date: 02/26/2009
Tip 1 - How to sort Relationships in Entity Framework
Question: One of the questions you often see in the Entity Framework Forums is around sorting...
Author: Alex D James Date: 02/25/2009
Side effects of first class Associations
You've probably all heard someone say that Entity Data Model (EDM) and more specifically the Entity...
Author: Alex D James Date: 02/19/2009