Entity Framework 6
As we work on EF6 we will be creating feature specifications, walkthroughs and other documentation.
Runtime
Here is a list of the new features in the EF6 runtime and the documentation we have created for them.
- Async Query and Save adds support for the task-based asynchronous patterns that were introduced in .NET 4.5. We've created awalkthrough and a feature specification for this feature.
- Custom Code First Conventions allow write your own conventions to help avoid repetitive configuration. We provide a simple API for lightweight conventions as well as some more complex building blocks to allow you to author more complicated conventions. We’ve created a walkthough and a feature specification for this feature.
- Code First Mapping to Insert/Update/Delete Stored Procedures is now supported. We’ve created a feature specification for this feature.
- Connection Resiliency enables automatic recovery from transient connection failures. The feature specification shows how to enable this feature and how to create your own retry policies.
- Dependency Resolution introduces support for the Service Locator pattern and we've factored out some pieces of functionality that can be replaced with custom implementations. We’ve created a feature specification and a list of services that can be injected.
- Code-Based Configuration gives you the option of performing configuration – that was traditionally performed in a config file – in code. We've created an overview with some examples and a feature specification.
- Configurable Migrations History Table allows you to customize the definition of the migrations history table. This is particularly useful for database providers that require the appropriate data types etc. to be specified for the Migrations History table to work correctly. We’ve created a feature specification for this feature.
- Multiple Contexts per Database removes the previous limitation of one Code First model per database when using Migrations or when Code First automatically created the database for you. We’ve created a feature specification for this feature.
- DbModelBuilder.HasDefaultSchema is a new Code First API that allows the default database schema for a Code First model to be configured in one place. Previously the Code First default schema was hard-coded to "dbo" and the only way to configure the schema to which a table belonged was via the ToTable API.
- Enums, Spatial and Better Performance on .NET 4.0 - By moving the core components that used to be in the .NET Framework into the EF NuGet package we are now able to offer enum support, spatial data types and the performance improvements from EF5 on .NET 4.0.
- DbContext can now be created with a DbConnection that is already openedwhich enables scenarios where it would be helpful if the connection could be open when creating the context (such as sharing a connection between components where you can not guarantee the state of the connection).
- Default transaction isolation level is changed to READ_COMMITTED_SNAPSHOT for databases created using Code First, potentially allowing for more scalability and fewer deadlocks.
- DbContext.Database.UseTransaction and DbContext.Database.BeginTransaction are new APIs that enable scenarios where you need to manage your own transactions.
- Improved performance of Enumerable.Contains in LINQ queries.
- Significantly improved warm up time (view generation) – especially for large models – as the result of a contribution from AlirezaHaghshenas.
- DbModelBuilder.Configurations.AddFromAssembly method was contributed byUnaiZorrilla. If you are using configuration classes with the Code First Fluent API, this method allows you to easily add all configuration classes defined in an assembly.
- Custom Migrations Operations were enabled by a contribution fromiceclow and this blog post provides an example of using this new feature.
- Pluggable Pluralization & Singularization Service was contributed byUnaiZorrilla.
- Improved Transaction Support updates the Entity Framework to provide support for a transaction external to the framework as well as improved ways of creating a transaction within the Framework. See thisfeature specification for details.
Tooling
Here are the changes and features we are planning for the EF6 tooling.
- The Basicscovers things that aren’t classified as features but are required to provide a good tooling experience. Topics include branding, installation, supported VS versions, supported EF versions, etc.
- Tooling Consolidation will combine the EF Power Tools and the EF Designer to provide a single set of tooling with a single wizard for creating new models. We’ve created a feature specification for this feature.
Other Documentation
In addition to new features, here are some other topics relevant to EF6.
- Updated Provider Model - In previous versions of EF some of the core components were a part of the .NET Framework. In EF6 we've moved all these components into our NuGet package, allowing us to develop and deliver more features in a shorter time frame. This move required some changes to our provider model. We've created a document that details the changes required by providers to support EF6, and provided alist of providers that we are aware of with EF6 support.
- Upgrading Applications to EF6– In some cases you may need to update your EF5 code to work with EF6, see Updating Applications to use EF6.
Entity Framework 5
The EF5 release was largely completed prior to moving to CodePlex, these documents only include the final set of changes made in EF5.
Backlog
These documents are for features that have not yet been assigned a release.