One-to-Many Relationship Seeding in Code First

Question

I have got the following simple model which is being implemented in Code First approach. Department and Courses have one to many relationship. A department can have many courses while a course can belong to exactly one department. Here is the model.

public class Department
{
    public int DepartmentId { get; set; }
    public string Title { get; set; }
    public string Description { get; set; }
    public virtual ICollection<Course> Courses { get; set; } 
       }

 public class Course
{
    public int CourseId { get; set; }
    public string Title { get; set; }
    public string Description { get; set; }
    public int DepartmentId { get; set; } 
    public virtual Department Department { get; set; }

}

My problem is I want to Seed them. I want at least 5 values in my Seed function. Here is the Seed function.

public class DataInitializer : DropCreateDatabaseIfModelChanges<StudentRecordContext>
{
    protected override void Seed(StudentRecordContext context)
{
    var departments = new  List<Department>
     {
        new Department {  DepartmentId = 1, Title = "English", Description ="English     Department",  Courses = new List<Course>() },
        new Department {  DepartmentId= 2,Title = "Chemistry",   Description ="chemistry department", Courses = new List<Course>() },
        new Department {  DepartmentId= 3,Title = "Mahematics", Description ="mathematics department", Courses = new List<Course>() },
        new Department {  DepartmentId= 4,Title = "Philosophy",  Description ="philosophy department", Courses = new List<Course>() },
        new Department {  DepartmentId= 5,Title = "Biology",     Description ="biology department", Courses = new List<Course>() }
    };                                                           
    departments.ForEach( t => context.Departments.Add(t));
    context.SaveChanges();


    var courses = new List<Course>
    {
        new Course { CourseId = 1055, Title = "Classic English",  Description = "Some        Description", DepartmentId = 1 },
        new Course { CourseId = 2055, Title = "Applied Chemistry",  Description = "Some Description", DepartmentId = 2 },
        new Course { CourseId = 2056, Title = "Applied Mathematics", Description = "Some Description", DepartmentId = 3 },
        new Course { CourseId = 3041, Title = "MetaPhysics",  Description = "Some Description", DepartmentId = 4 },
        new Course { CourseId = 3024, Title = "Molecular Biology", Description = "Some Description", DepartmentId = 5 },
    };
    courses.ForEach(t => context.Courses.Add(t));
    context.SaveChanges();

but this does not work. I am new to EF and Code First... and deadlines ahead... Can anyone help me please as whats the correct way of Seeding the DB.

Answer 1

Don't set primary keys in the Seed() method. Entity Framework will know that properties with Id in the name will be primary keys.

Try the following in your Seed() method:

protected override void Seed(StudentRecordContext context)
{
    var departments = new  List<Department>
    {
        // this will have DepartmentId = 1
        new Department { Title = "English", Description ="English Department",  Courses = new List<Course>() },
        // more departments
    };
    departments.ForEach(d => context.Departments.Add(d));
    context.SaveChanges();

    var courses = new List<Course>
    {
        // this will have CourseId = 1
        new Course { Title = "Classic English",  Description = "Some Description", Department = departments.FirstOrDefault(d => d.DepartmentId == 1) },
        // this will have CourseId = 2
        new Course { Title = "Drama",  Description = "Some Description", Department = departments.FirstOrDefault(d => d.DepartmentId == 1) },
        // both of the above courses will be added to Department with DepartmentId = 1
        // more courses
    };
    courses.ForEach(c => context.Courses.Add(c));
    context.SaveChanges();

    // now add the two courses to the department
    departments[0].Courses.Add(courses[0]); // in list departments at index 0 add course from list courses at index 0
    departments[0].Courses.Add(courses[1]); // in list departments at index 0 add course from list courses at index 1
    context.SaveChanges();
}