ErikEJ.EntityFramework.SqlServerCompact 6.4.0-beta1

Entity Framework 6 SQL Server Compact provider for .NET 5 (and later)

This Entity Framework provider includes everything required to start creating and using a SQL Server Compact embedded database with Entity Framework 6.

You can read more about using the SQL Server Compact ADO.NET provider with .NET Core in my blog post here

Getting started

Create a file called NuGet.config with the following contents in the same directory as your .NET solution or projects:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<configuration>
    <packageSources>
        <add key="erikej" value="https://ci.appveyor.com/nuget/entityframework6-erikej" />
        <add key="nuget.org" value="https://api.nuget.org/v3/index.json" />
    </packageSources>
</configuration>

Then add a PackageReference like this:

<ItemGroup>
    <PackageReference Include="ErikEJ.EntityFramework.SqlServerCompact" Version="6.4.0-*" />
</ItemGroup>

Provider Configuration

There are various ways to configure Entity Framework to use this provider.

You can register the provider in code using an attribute:

[DbConfigurationType(typeof(SqlCeDbConfiguration))]
public class SchoolContext : DbContext
{
    public SchoolContext() : base()
    {
    }

    public DbSet<Student> Students { get; set; }
}

If you have multiple classes inheriting from DbContext in your solution, add the DbConfigurationType attribute to all of them.

Or you can use the SetConfiguration method before any data access calls:

 DbConfiguration.SetConfiguration(new SqlCeDbConfiguration());

Or you can add the following lines to your existing DbConfiguration class:

SetProviderFactory(SqlCeProviderServices.ProviderInvariantName, SqlServerCe.SqlCeProviderFactory.Instance);
SetProviderServices(SqlCeProviderServices.ProviderInvariantName, SqlCeProviderServices.Instance);

You can also use XML/App.Config based configuration:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<configuration>
  <configSections>
    <section name="entityFramework" type="System.Data.Entity.Internal.ConfigFile.EntityFrameworkSection, EntityFramework, Version=6.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" requirePermission="false" />
  </configSections>
  <entityFramework>
    <providers>		
      <provider invariantName="System.Data.SqlServerCe.4.0" type="System.Data.Entity.SqlServer.SqlCeProviderServices, ErikEJ.EntityFramework.SqlServerCompact" />
    </providers>
  </entityFramework>
</configuration>

If you use App.Config with a .NET Core / .NET 5 or later app, you must register the DbProviderFactory in code once:

DbProviderFactories.RegisterFactory(SqlCeProviderServices.ProviderInvariantName, SqlServerCe.SqlCeProviderFactory.Instance);

Feedback

Please report any issues, questions and suggestions here