Update 1.0.12

• Updated seed mechanism, DbContext no longer needs to extend SeededDbContext, which has been deprecated.
• 'View' creation system for creating queries of readonly objects

(10/12/2016) The below document has been updated to reflect intended usecase.

Purpose

The purpose of DataSeed is to help you manage the data that gets pre-filled in your database when using EntityFramework's code-first model. DataSeed helps you pre-fill your database with lookup tables and testing data.

Usage

Create a seed

Create a new Seed class (by convention, in a /DataMigrations folder) to inject data into your database with update-database.

public class AddClassesSample : Seed<MyDbContext>
{
    protected Random Random { get; } = new Random(0x01);

	// Only run this seed once
	public override bool ShouldRun(MyDbContext context) =>
		context.Classes.Any() == false;
    
	// Apply the seed
    public override void Apply(MyDbContext context)
    {
        // Add classes
        context.Classes.Add(new Class
        {
            Id   = Random.NextGuid(),
            Name = "Biology 101"
        });

        context.Classes.Add(new Class
        {
            Id   = Random.NextGuid(),
            Name = "Physics 201"
        });
    }
}

Invoke the dataseed

Using DataSeed is simple, after installing the package to your code-first enabled project, open your Configuration.cs file, in the Seed method, add the following call:

protected override void Seed(MyDbContext context)
{
    this.Execute(context, new [] {
		new AddClassesSample(),
		// ... Add more seeds here
	});
}

This is DataSeed's hook into the standard EntityFramework seeding process. Now DataSeed will automatically be looped in when you invoke update-database. The input Seed classes are run in-order, inside a transaction. If any of the seeds failed, the transaction is rolled back.

More information

You can find additional information on my blog here

Future

• Further documentation is coming to address usage of 'DbViews'.