c# - Entity Framework ConnectionString won't update after changing App.Config in runtime

Question

I'm developing a WPF application which depends on Entity Framework for data access. At the first time installation I need to create a new connection string based on the User input, then updating App.Config according to that.

The problem is: after updating the App.Config file, Entity Framework doesn't detect the change and uses the old startup-time ConnectionString for instantiating the DbContext.

How can I update the Entity Framework's ConnectionString setting at runtime?

Answer 1

Entity Framework caches connection string, there isn't a method to force a refresh.

From this article: connection string given in DbContext constructor isn't cached then you can use this as workaround:

public class MyContext : DbContext {
    public MyContext()
        : base(ConfigurationManager.ConnectionStrings["MyConnection"].ConnectionString)
    {
    }
}