Mapping composite keys using EF code first

Question

Sql server table:

SomeId PK varchar(50) not null 
OtherId PK int not null

How should I map this in EF 6 code first?

public class MyTable
{
    [Key]
    public string SomeId { get; set; }

    [Key]
    public int OtherId { get; set; }
}

I've seen some examples where you have to set the order for each column, is that required?

Is there official documentation on this somewhere?

Answer 1

You definitely need to put in the column order, otherwise how is SQL Server supposed to know which one goes first? Here's what you would need to do in your code:

public class MyTable
{
  [Key, Column(Order = 0)]
  public string SomeId { get; set; }

  [Key, Column(Order = 1)]
  public int OtherId { get; set; }
}

You can also look at this SO question. If you want official documentation, I would recommend looking at the official EF website.

EDIT: I just found a blog post from Julie Lerman with links to all kinds of EF 6 goodness. You can find whatever you need here.

Answer 2

For Mapping Composite primary key using Entity framework we can use two approaches.

1) By Overriding the OnModelCreating() Method

For ex: I have the model class named VehicleFeature as shown below.

public class VehicleFeature
{
    public int VehicleId { get; set; }
    public int FeatureId{get;set;}
    public Vehicle Vehicle{get;set;}
    public Feature Feature{get;set;}
}

The Code in my DBContext would be like ,

public class VegaDbContext : DbContext
{
    public DbSet<Make> Makes{get;set;}

    public DbSet<Feature> Features{get;set;}
    public VegaDbContext(DbContextOptions<VegaDbContext> options):base(options)        
    {           

    }
    // we override the OnModelCreating method here.
    protected override void OnModelCreating(ModelBuilder modelBuilder)
    {
        modelBuilder.Entity<VehicleFeature>().HasKey(vf=> new {vf.VehicleId, vf.FeatureId});
    }
}

2) By Data Annotations.

public class VehicleFeature
{
    [DatabaseGenerated(DatabaseGeneratedOption.Identity)]  
    [Key]
    public int VehicleId { get; set; }
    [DatabaseGenerated(DatabaseGeneratedOption.Identity)]   
    [Key]
    public int FeatureId{get;set;}
    public Vehicle Vehicle{get;set;}
    public Feature Feature{get;set;}
}

Please refer the below links for the more information.

1) https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj591617(v=vs.113).aspx

2) How to add a composite unique key using EF 6 Fluent Api?

Answer 3

I thought I would add to this question as it is the top google search result.

As has been noted in the comments, in EF Core there is no support for using annotations (Key attribute) and it must be done with fluent.

As I was working on a large migration from EF6 to EF Core this was unsavoury and so I tried to hack it by using Reflection to look for the Key attribute and then apply it during OnModelCreating

// get all composite keys (entity decorated by more than 1 [Key] attribute
foreach (var entity in modelBuilder.Model.GetEntityTypes()
    .Where(t => 
        t.ClrType.GetProperties()
            .Count(p => p.CustomAttributes.Any(a => a.AttributeType == typeof(KeyAttribute))) > 1))
{
    // get the keys in the appropriate order
    var orderedKeys = entity.ClrType
        .GetProperties()
        .Where(p => p.CustomAttributes.Any(a => a.AttributeType == typeof(KeyAttribute)))
        .OrderBy(p => 
            p.CustomAttributes.Single(x => x.AttributeType == typeof(ColumnAttribute))?
                .NamedArguments?.Single(y => y.MemberName == nameof(ColumnAttribute.Order))
                .TypedValue.Value ?? 0)
        .Select(x => x.Name)
        .ToArray();

    // apply the keys to the model builder
    modelBuilder.Entity(entity.ClrType).HasKey(orderedKeys);
}

I haven't fully tested this in all situations, but it works in my basic tests. Hope this helps someone

Answer 4

You can use PrimaryKey attribute in EF7. The [PrimaryKey] attribute was introduced in EF Core 7.0. Use the Fluent API in older versions.

Example:

[PrimaryKey(nameof(State), nameof(LicensePlate))]
internal class Car
{
    public string State { get; set; }
    public string LicensePlate { get; set; }

    public string Make { get; set; }
    public string Model { get; set; }
}

Reference: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/ef/core/modeling/keys?tabs=data-annotations

Answer 5

Through Configuration, you can do this:

Model1
{
    int fk_one,
    int fk_two
}

Model2
{
    int pk_one,
    int pk_two,
}

then in the context config

public class MyContext : DbContext
{
    protected override void OnModelCreating(DbModelBuilder modelBuilder)
    {
        modelBuilder.Entity<Model1>()
            .HasRequired(e => e.Model2)
            .WithMany(e => e.Model1s)
            .HasForeignKey(e => new { e.fk_one, e.fk_two })
            .WillCascadeOnDelete(false);
    }
}