Entity Framework/SQL2008 - How to Automatically Update LastModified fields for Entities?

.net, c#, datetime-generation, entity-framework-4, sql-server-2008

Solution

As i have a service layer mediating between my controllers (im using ASP.NET MVC), and my repository, i have decided to auto-set the fields here.

Also, my POCO's have no relationships/abstractions, they are completely independant. I would like to keep it this way, and not mark any virtual properties, or create base classes.

So i created an interface, IAutoGenerateDateFields:

public interface IAutoGenerateDateFields
{
   DateTime LastModified { get;set; }
   DateTime CreatedOn { get;set; }
}

For any POCO's i wish to auto-generate these fields, i implement this inteface.

Using the example in my question:

public class PocoWithDates : IAutoGenerateDateFields
{
   public string PocoName { get; set; }
   public DateTime CreatedOn { get; set; }
   public DateTime LastModified { get; set; }
}

In my service layer, i now check if the concrete object implements the interface:

public void Add(SomePoco poco)
{
   var autoDateFieldsPoco = poco as IAutoGenerateDateFields; // returns null if it's not.

   if (autoDateFieldsPoco != null) // if it implements interface
   {
      autoDateFieldsPoco.LastModified = DateTime.Now;
      autoDateFieldsPoco.CreatedOn = DateTime.Now;
   }

   // ..go on about other persistence work.
}

I will probably break that code in the Add out to a helper/extension method later on.

But i think this is a decent solution for my scenario, as i dont want to use virtuals on the Save (as i'm using Unit of Work, Repository, and Pure POCO's), and don't want to use triggers.

If you have any thoughts/suggestions, let me know.

Problem

If i have the following entity: ``` public class PocoWithDates { public string PocoName { get; set; } public DateTime CreatedOn { get; set; } public DateTime LastModified { get; set; } } ``` Which corresponds to a SQL Server 2008 table with the same name/attributes... How can i automatically: - Set the CreatedOn/LastModified field for the record to now (when doing INSERT) - Set the LastModified field for the record to now (when doing UPDATE) When i say automatically, i mean i want to be able to do this: ``` poco.Name = "Changing the name"; repository.Save(); ``` Not this: ``` poco.Name = "Changing the name"; poco.LastModified = DateTime.Now; repository.Save(); ``` Behind the scenes, "something" should automatically update the datetime fields. What is that "something"? I'm using Entity Framework 4.0 - is there a way that EF can do that automatically for me? (a special setting in the EDMX maybe?) From the SQL Server side, i can use DefaultValue, but that will only work for INSERT's (not UPDATE's). Similarly, i can set a default value using a constructor on the POCO's, but again this will only work when instantiating the object. And of course i could use Triggers, but it's not ideal. Because i'm using Entity Framework, i can hook into the SavingChanges event and update the date fields here, but the problem is i need to become "aware" of the POCO's (at the moment, my repository is implemented with generics). I would need to do some sort of OO trickery (like make my POCO's implement an interface, and call a method on that). I'm not adversed to that, but if i have to do that, i would rather manually set the fields. I'm basically looking for a SQL Server 2008 or Entity Framework 4.0 solution. (or a smart .NET way) Any ideas? EDIT Thanks to @marc_s for his answer, but i went with a solution which is better for my scenario.

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