Unique keys in Entity Framework 4
entity-framework, entity-framework-4, unique-key
Solution
I've tried defining the following tables:
- Orders [Id (primary, identity), ClientName, FriendlyOrderNum (unique)]
- OrderItems [Id (primary, identity), FriendlyOrderNum (unique), ItemName]
And a foreign key mapping from OrderItems.FriendlyOrderNum (Mant) to Orders.FriendlyOrderNum (one).
If unique non-primary keys are possible the following SSDL should work:
<Schema Namespace="EfUkFk_DbModel.Store" Alias="Self" Provider="System.Data.SqlClient" ProviderManifestToken="2008" xmlns:store="http://schemas.microsoft.com/ado/2007/12/edm/EntityStoreSchemaGenerator" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/ado/2009/02/edm/ssdl">
<EntityContainer Name="EfUkFk_DbModelStoreContainer">
<EntitySet Name="OrderItems" EntityType="EfUkFk_DbModel.Store.OrderItems" store:Type="Tables" Schema="dbo" />
<EntitySet Name="Orders" EntityType="EfUkFk_DbModel.Store.Orders" store:Type="Tables" Schema="dbo" />
</EntityContainer>
<EntityType Name="OrderItems">
<Key>
<PropertyRef Name="RowId" />
</Key>
<Property Name="RowId" Type="bigint" Nullable="false" StoreGeneratedPattern="Identity" />
<Property Name="OrderNum" Type="char" Nullable="false" MaxLength="5" />
<Property Name="ItemName" Type="varchar" MaxLength="100" />
</EntityType>
<!--Errors Found During Generation:
warning 6035: The relationship 'FK_OrderItems_Orders' has columns that are not part of the key of the table on the primary side of the relationship. The relationship was excluded.
-->
<EntityType Name="Orders">
<Key>
<PropertyRef Name="RowId" />
</Key>
<Property Name="RowId" Type="bigint" Nullable="false" StoreGeneratedPattern="Identity" />
<Property Name="ClientName" Type="varchar" MaxLength="100" />
<Property Name="OrderNum" Type="char" Nullable="false" MaxLength="5" />
</EntityType>
<!-- AsafR -->
<Association Name="FK_OrderItems_Orders">
<End Role="Orders" Type="EfUkFk_DbModel.Store.Orders" Multiplicity="1">
</End>
<End Role="OrderItems" Type="EfUkFk_DbModel.Store.OrderItems" Multiplicity="*" />
<ReferentialConstraint>
<Principal Role="Orders">
<PropertyRef Name="OrderNum" />
</Principal>
<Dependent Role="OrderItems">
<PropertyRef Name="OrderNum" />
</Dependent>
</ReferentialConstraint>
</Association>
</Schema></edmx:StorageModels>
It doesn't. There's also no possibility for adding more <key> elements in an <EntityType>.
My conclusion is that non-primary unique keys are not support in EF 4.
Problem
An existing DB schema has unique, non-primary, keys, and some foreign keys that rely on them. Is it possible to define unique keys, which are not primary keys, in Entity Framework v4? How?