Is there any way to specify Database level default values in EF CodeFirst?

Question

I have a need for the database that is created by EF CodeFirst to support default values so that non-nullable values can be inserted into the database when a value is not provided.

For example, I'd like to add a default date to a date column using so that the date column doesn't require a value when something is inserted into it outside of the model.

I know I can control this with defaults in code when using the model to update, but the the reason for this is primarily for model Updates. I frequently use RedGate's SqlCompare to update structures, but structure updates often fail on non-nullable, non-default fields because the new column needs some value to validate the schema, and so the column addition fails. Default values (and nullables) would allow for this. Nullables work, but that introduce other issues in dealing with null values in code that I'd like to avoid unless the model requires it.

Is there any way to accomplish getting default values into columns with EF CodeFirst either using the Fluent API or Attributes?

Answer 1

Yes, you need to use the HasDatabaseGeneratedOption method with DatabaseGeneratedOption of Computed

.HasDatabaseGeneratedOption(DatabaseGeneratedOption.Computed)

The only limitation is that you cannot update the values from code.