I'm using Entity Framework with Web API 2. I have a boat entity with properties like name, price etc. Those simple properties update fine when sent by Put to the web api controller. The boat entity also has a many to one relationship with an entity called BoatType. Boat types are "Yacht", "Motor Yacht" etc.
When a boat entity is updated in the controller the foreign key for boat type in the database doesn't get updated. Do I have to somehow manually update the child entity value or is there a way to get EF to do this automatically?
Here's an example PUT request sent to web API:
{
"$id":"1",
"Images":[],
"BoatType": {
"$id":"3",
"Boat":[],
"Id":1,
"DateCreated":"2015-09-15T13:14:39.077",
"Name":"Yacht"
},
"Id":2,
"Name":"Schooner",
"Description":"A harmless schooner",
"DateCreated":"2015-09-15T17:59:37.8",
"Price":65000
}
Here's the update function in web API:
[ResponseType(typeof(void))]
public async Task<IHttpActionResult> Put(int id, Boat boat)
{
if (id != boat.Id)
{
return BadRequest();
}
_db.Entry(boat).State = EntityState.Modified;
try
{
await _db.SaveChangesAsync();
}
catch (DbUpdateConcurrencyException)
{
if (!BoatExists(id))
{
return NotFound();
}
else
{
throw;
}
}
return StatusCode(HttpStatusCode.NoContent);
}
I've looked at similar questions like Entity Framework Code First Update Does Not Update Foreign Key, Entity Framework does not update Foreign Key object and Update foreign key using Entity Framework but none seem to have quite the same scenario (or the answers didn't help me understand my issue).
Here's the Boat and BoatType model classes (auto-generated by EF designer).
public partial class Boat
{
[System.Diagnostics.CodeAnalysis.SuppressMessage("Microsoft.Usage", "CA2214:DoNotCallOverridableMethodsInConstructors")]
public Boat()
{
this.Images = new HashSet<Image>();
}
public int Id { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
public string Description { get; set; }
public System.DateTime DateCreated { get; set; }
public Nullable<double> Price { get; set; }
[System.Diagnostics.CodeAnalysis.SuppressMessage("Microsoft.Usage", "CA2227:CollectionPropertiesShouldBeReadOnly")]
public virtual ICollection<Image> Images { get; set; }
public virtual BoatType BoatType { get; set; }
}
public partial class BoatType
{
[System.Diagnostics.CodeAnalysis.SuppressMessage("Microsoft.Usage", "CA2214:DoNotCallOverridableMethodsInConstructors")]
public BoatType()
{
this.Boat = new HashSet<Boat>();
}
public int Id { get; set; }
public System.DateTime DateCreated { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
[System.Diagnostics.CodeAnalysis.SuppressMessage("Microsoft.Usage", "CA2227:CollectionPropertiesShouldBeReadOnly")]
public virtual ICollection<Boat> Boat { get; set; }
}
