enums in EF code first

Question

please, how to work with enums in Entity Framework code first. i want that in my class "Annonce" i can have this proprety

public Status EtatAnnonce { get; set; }

and Status is defined like this

public enum Status
{
    Pending,
    Approved
}

Check this, http://the--semicolon.blogspot.com/p/handling-enum-in-code-first-entity.html — iJay, Aug 26 '14 at 10:12

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 12 '12 at 09:58

You need to create a converter field to store the value as int in the database.

public int MyEnumValueInt {get;set;}

[NotMapped]
public MyEnum MyEnumValue
{
    get{ return (MyEnum)MyEnumValueInt;
    set{ MyEnumValueInt = (int)value;
}

Note: The enum support will be improved in EF 5.

score 1 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 10:33

1

Will point you towards

EF5 does not create enum columns

To give a summary of enum support in Entity Framework code first:

EF4: Not supported

EF5: only supported if you are targeting .net framework 4.5 and higher

EF6: only supported if you target .net 4.0 and higher

Cheers!

edited May 23 '17 at 10:33

Community

1
1

answered Oct 24 '14 at 10:26

Adam Diament

4,290
3
34
55

score 0 · Answer 3 · edited May 23 '17 at 10:34

0

I've answered two questions regarding Enums in EF; these should help you along:

Enums with EF code-first - standard method to seeding DB and then using?

and

EF 4.1 Code First - map enum wrapper as complex type

edited May 23 '17 at 10:34

Community

1
1

answered Apr 12 '12 at 10:01

Sergi Papaseit

15,999
16
67
101

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Aug 13 '14 at 05:17

You can use private properties in your model to map your data to whatever property type you want.

// Model
public class Piece
{

    // Subclass Piece to add mappings for private properties
    public class PieceConfig : EntityTypeConfiguration<Piece>
    {
        public PieceConfig()
        {
            Property(b => b.dbtype); // needed for EF to see the private property
        }
    }

    [Column("type", TypeName = "VARCHAR")]
    private string dbtype { get; set; }

    [NotMapped]
    public PIECE type
    {
        get { return (PIECE)Enum.Parse(typeof(PIECE), dbtype); }
        set { dbtype= value.ToString(); }
    }
}

Then you just need to add the configuration to your OnModelCreating method

modelBuilder.Configurations.Add(new Piece.PieceConfig());

enums in EF code first

4 Answers4