Programming Entity Framework 2nd Edition

Description

Get a thorough introduction to ADO.NET Entity Framework 4 -- Microsoft's core framework for modeling and interacting with data in .NET applications. The second edition of this acclaimed guide provides a hands-on tour of the framework latest version in Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4. Not only will you learn how to use EF4 in a variety of applications, you'll also gain a deep understanding of its architecture and APIs.

 Written by Julia Lerman, the leading independent authority on the framework, Programming Entity Framework covers it all -- from the Entity Data Model and Object Services to WCF Services, MVC Apps, and unit testing. This book highlights important changes for experienced developers familiar with the earlier version.

* Understand the core concepts you need to make the best use of the EF4 in your applications
* Learn to query your data, using either LINQ to Entities or Entity SQL
* Create Windows Forms, WPF, ASP.NET Web Forms, and ASP.NET MVC applications
* Build and consume WCF Services, WCF Data Services, and WCF RIA Services
* Use Object Services to work directly with your entity objects
* Create persistent ignorant entities, repositories, and write unit tests
* Delve into model customization, relationship management, change tracking, data concurrency, and more
* Get scores of reusable examples -- written in C# (with notes on Visual Basic syntax) -- that you can implement right away

CONTENTS:

Foreword; Preface; Who This Book Is For; How This Book Is Organized; What You Need to Use This Book; This Book’s Website; Conventions Used in This Book; Using Code Examples; Safari(R) Books Online; Comments and Questions; Acknowledgments; Author Note for Third Printing, August 2011; Entity Framework 4.1 (Code First and DbContext) Has Released; Entity Framework June 2011 CTP; Chapter 1: Introducing the ADO.NET Entity Framework; 1.1 The Entity Relationship Model: Programming Against a Model, Not the Database; 1.2 The Entity Data Model: A Client-Side Data Model; 1.3 Entities: Blueprints for Business Classes; 1.4 The Backend Database: Your Choice; 1.5 Entity Framework Features: APIs and Tools; 1.6 The Entity Framework and WCF Services; 1.7 What About ADO.NET DataSets and LINQ to SQL?; 1.8 Entity Framework Pain Points Are Fading Away; 1.9 Programming the Entity Framework; Chapter 2: Exploring the Entity Data Model; 2.1 Why Use an Entity Data Model?; 2.2 The EDM Within the Entity Framework; 2.3 Walkthrough: Building Your First EDM; 2.4 Inspecting the EDM in the Designer Window; 2.5 The Model’s Supporting Metadata; 2.6 Viewing the Model in the Model Browser; 2.7 Viewing the Model’s Raw XML; 2.8 CSDL: The Conceptual Schema; 2.9 SSDL: The Store Schema; 2.10 MSL: The Mappings; 2.11 Database Views in the EDM; 2.12 Summary; Chapter 3: Querying Entity Data Models; 3.1 Query the Model, Not the Database; 3.2 Your First EDM Query; 3.3 Querying with LINQ to Entities; 3.4 Querying with Object Services and Entity SQL; 3.5 Querying with Methods; 3.6 The Shortest Query; 3.7 ObjectQuery, ObjectSet, and LINQ to Entities; 3.8 Querying with EntityClient to Return Streamed Data; 3.9 Translating Entity Queries to Database Queries; 3.10 Avoiding Inadvertent Query Execution; 3.11 Summary; Chapter 4: Exploring LINQ to Entities in Greater Depth; 4.1 Getting Ready with Some New Lingo; 4.2 Projections in Queries; 4.3 Projections in LINQ to Entities; 4.4 Using Navigations in Queries; 4.5 Joins and Nested Queries; 4.6 Grouping; 4.7 Shaping Data Returned by Queries; 4.8 Loading Related Data; 4.9 Retrieving a Single Entity; 4.10 Finding More Query Samples; 4.11 Summary; Chapter 5: Exploring Entity SQL in Greater Depth; 5.1 Literals in Entity SQL; 5.2 Projecting in Entity SQL; 5.3 Using Navigation in Entity SQL Queries; 5.4 Using Joins; 5.5 Nesting Queries; 5.6 Grouping in Entity SQL; 5.7 Shaping Data with Entity SQL; 5.8 Understanding Entity SQL’s Wrapped and Unwrapped Results; 5.9 Summary; Chapter 6: Modifying Entities and Saving Changes; 6.1 Keeping Track of Entities; 6.2 Saving Changes Back to the Database; 6.3 Inserting New Objects; 6.4 Inserting New Parents and Children; 6.5 Deleting Entities; 6.6 Summary; Chapter 7: Using Stored Procedures with the EDM; 7.1 Updating the Model from a Database; 7.2 Working with Functions; 7.3 Mapping Functions to Entities; 7.4 Using the EDM Designer Model Browser to Import Additional Functions into Your Model; 7.5 Mapping the First of the Read Stored Procedures: ContactsbyState; 7.6 Mapping a Function to a Scalar Type; 7.7 Mapping a Function to a Complex Type; 7.8 Summary; Chapter 8: Implementing a More Real-World Model; 8.1 Introducing the BreakAway Geek Adventures Business Model and Legacy Database; 8.2 Creating a Separate Project for an EDM; 8.3 Inspecting and Cleaning Up a New EDM; 8.4 Setting Default Values; 8.5 Mapping Stored Procedures; 8.6 Working with Many-to-Many Relationships; 8.7 Inspecting the Completed BreakAway Model; 8.8 Building the BreakAway Model Assembly; 8.9 Summary; Chapter 9: Data Binding with Windows Forms and WPF Applications; 9.1 Data Binding with Windows Forms Applications; 9.2 Data Binding with WPF Applications; 9.3 Summary; Chapter 10: Working with Object Services; 10.1 Where Does Object Services Fit into the Framework?; 10.2 Processing Queries; 10.3 Materializing Objects; 10.4 Managing Object State; 10.5 Managing Relationships; 10.6 Taking Control of ObjectState; 10.7 Sending Changes Back to the Database; 10.8 Implementing Serialization, Data Binding, and More; 10.9 Summary; Chapter 11: Customizing Entities; 11.1 Partial Classes; 11.2 Using Partial Methods; 11.3 Subscribing to Event Handlers; 11.4 Creating Your Own Partial Methods and Properties; 11.5 Overriding Default Code Generation; 11.6 Summary; Chapter 12: Data Binding with RAD ASP.NET Applications; 12.1 Using the EntityDataSource Control to Access Flat Data; 12.2 Understanding How the EntityDataSource Retrieves and Updates Your Data; 12.3 Working with Related EntityReference Data; 12.4 Working with Hierarchical Data in a Master/Detail Form; 12.5 Exploring EntityDataSource Events; 12.6 Building Dynamic Data Websites; 12.7 Summary; Chapter 13: Creating and Using POCO Entities; 13.1 Creating POCO Classes;;;;;; 13.2 Change Tracking with POCOs; 13.3 Loading Related Data with POCOs; 13.4 Exploring and Correcting POCOs’ Impact on Two-Way Relationships; 13.5 Using Proxies to Enable Change Notification, Lazy Loading, and Relationship Fix-Up; 13.6 Using T4 to Generate POCO Classes; 13.7 Creating a Model That Works with Preexisting Classes; 13.8 Code First: Using Entity Framework with No Model at All; 13.9 Summary; Chapter 14: Customizing Entity Data Models Using the EDM Designer; 14.1 Mapping Table per Type Inheritance for Tables That Describe Derived Types; 14.2 Mapping Unique Foreign Keys; 14.3 Mapping an Entity to More Than One Table; 14.4 Splitting a Single Table into Multiple Entities; 14.5 Filtering Entities with Conditional Mapping; 14.6 Implementing Table per Hierarchy Inheritance for Tables That Contain Multiple Types; 14.7 Creating Complex Types to Encapsulate Sets of Properties; 14.8 Using Additional Customization Options; 14.9 Summary; Chapter 15: Defining EDM Mappings That Are Not Supported by the Designer; 15.1 Using Model-Defined Functions; 15.2 Mapping Table per Concrete (TPC) Type Inheritance for Tables with Overlapping Fields; 15.3 Using QueryView to Create Read-Only Entities and Other Specialized Mappings; 15.4 Summary; Chapter 16: Gaining Additional Stored Procedure and View Support in the Raw XML; 16.1 Reviewing Procedures, Views, and UDFs in the EDM; 16.2 Working with Stored Procedures That Return Data; 16.3 Executing Queries on Demand with ExecuteStoreQuery; 16.4 Adding Native Queries to the Model; 16.5 Adding Native Views to the Model; 16.6 Using Commands That Affect the Database; 16.7 Mapping Insert/Update/Delete to Types Within an Inheritance Structure; 16.8 Implementing and Querying with User-Defined Functions (UDFs); 16.9 Summary; Chapter 17: Using EntityObjects in WCF Services; 17.1 Planning for an Entity Framework - Agnostic Client; 17.2 Building a Simple WCF Service with EntityObjects; 17.3 Implementing the Service Interface; 17.4 Building a Simple Console App to Consume an EntityObject Service; 17.5 Creating WCF Data Services with Entities; 17.6 Understanding How WCF RIA Services Relates to the Entity Framework; 17.7 Summary; Chapter 18: Using POCOs and Self-Tracking Entities in WCF Services; 18.1 Creating WCF-Friendly POCO Classes; 18.2 Building a WCF Service That Uses POCO Classes; 18.3 Using the Self-Tracking Entities Template for WCF Services; 18.4 Using POCO Entities with WCF Data and RIA Services; 18.5 Sorting Out the Many Options for Creating Services; 18.6 Summary; Chapter 19: Working with Relationships and Associations; 19.1 Deconstructing Relationships in the Entity Data Model; 19.2 Understanding the Major Differences Between Foreign Key Associations and Independent Associations; 19.3 Deconstructing Relationships Between Instantiated Entities; 19.4 Defining Relationships Between Entities; 19.5 Learning a Few Last Tricks to Make You a Relationship Pro; 19.6 Summary; Chapter 20: Real World Apps: Connections, Transactions, Performance, and More; 20.1 Entity Framework and Connections; 20.2 Fine-Tuning Transactions; 20.3 Understanding Security; 20.4 Fine-Tuning Performance; 20.5 Exploiting Multithreaded Applications; 20.6 Exploiting .NET 4 Parallel Computing; 20.7 Summary; Chapter 21: Manipulating Entities with ObjectStateManager and MetadataWorkspace; 21.1 Manipulating Entities and Their State with ObjectStateManager; 21.2 Using ObjectStateManager to Build an EntityState Visualizer; 21.3 Using the MetadataWorkspace; 21.4 Building Dynamic Queries and Reading Results; 21.5 Creating and Manipulating Entities Dynamically; 21.6 Summary; Chapter 22: Handling Exceptions; 22.1 Preparing for Exceptions; 22.2 Handling EntityConnectionString Exceptions; 22.3 Handling Query Compilation Exceptions; 22.4 Creating a Common Wrapper to Handle Query Execution Exceptions; 22.5 Handling Exceptions Thrown During SaveChanges Command Execution; 22.6 Handling Concurrency Exceptions; 22.7 Summary; Chapter 23: Planning for Concurrency Problems; 23.1 Understanding Database Concurrency Conflicts; 23.2 Understanding Optimistic Concurrency Options in the Entity Framework; 23.3 Implementing Optimistic Concurrency with the Entity Framework; 23.4 Handling OptimisticConcurrencyExceptions; 23.5 Handling Concurrency Exceptions at a Lower Level; 23.6 Handling Exceptions When Transactions Are Your Own; 23.7 Summary; Chapter 24: Building Persistent Ignorant, Testable Applications; 24.1 Testing the BreakAway Application Components; 24.2 Getting Started with Testing; 24.3 Creating Persistent Ignorant Entities; 24.4 Building Tests That Do Not Hit the Database; 24.5 Using the New Infrastructure in Your Application; 24.6 Application Architecture Benefits from Designing Testable Code; 24.7 Considering Mocking Frameworks?; 24.8 Summary; Chapter 25: Domain-Centric Modeling; 25.1 Creating a Model and Database Using Model First; 25.2 Using the Feature CTP Code-First Add-On; 25.3 Using SQL Server Modeling’s "M” Language; 25.4 Summary; Chapter 26: Using Entities in Layered Client-Side Applications; 26.1 Isolating the ObjectContext; 26.2 Separating Entity-Specific Logic from ObjectContext Logic; 26.3 Working with POCO Entities; 26.4 Summary; Chapter 27: Building Layered Web Applications; 27.1 Understanding How ObjectContext Fits into the Web Page Life Cycle; 27.2 Building an N-Tier Web Forms Application; 27.3 Building an ASP.NET MVC Application; 27.4 Editing Entities and Graphs on an MVC Application; 27.5 Summary; Entity Framework Assemblies and Namespaces; Unpacking the Entity Framework Files; Exploring the Namespaces; Data-Binding with Complex Types; Using Complex Types with ASP.NET EntityDataSource; Identifying Unexpected Behavior When Binding Complex Types; Additional Details About Entity Data Model Metadata; Seeing EDMX Schema Validation in Action; Additional Conceptual Model Details; Additional SSDL Metadata Details; Additional MSL Metadata Details; Colophon;