Entity Framework's Database Seed Method

public class StudentDbInitializer : DropCreateDatabaseIfModelChanges<StudentContext>
{
    protected override void Seed(StudentContext context)
    {
        var students = new List<Student>
        {
            new Student { Name = "Abhimanyu K Vatsa", Address = "Bokaro" },
            new Student { Name = "Deepak Kumar Gupta", Address = "Bokaro" },
            new Student { Name = "Manish Kumar", Address = "Muzaffarpur" },
            new Student { Name = "Rohit Ranjan", Address = "Patna" },
            new Student { Name = "Shivam", Address = "Motihari" }
        };
        students.ForEach(s => context.Students.Add(s));
        context.SaveChanges();
    }
}

Step 6. Seed Dummy Data to Database

So, we have dummy data that I will seed to the database and the database will be created at run time. Now, we need to make a call, here you go.

Database.SetInitializer<StudentContext>(new StudentDbInitializer());

Step 7. Complete Code

Find the complete code of my console application.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Data.Entity;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;

namespace ConsoleApplication5_Seed
{
    public class Student
    {
        public int StudentId { get; set; }
        public string Name { get; set; }
        public string Address { get; set; }
    }

    public class StudentContext : DbContext
    {
        public DbSet<Student> Students { get; set; }
    }

    public class StudentDbInitializer : DropCreateDatabaseIfModelChanges<StudentContext>
    {
        protected override void Seed(StudentContext context)
        {
            var students = new List<Student>
            {
                new Student { Name = "Abhimanyu K Vatsa", Address = "Bokaro" },
                new Student { Name = "Deepak Kumar Gupta", Address = "Bokaro" },
                new Student { Name = "Manish Kumar", Address = "Muzaffarpur" },
                new Student { Name = "Rohit Ranjan", Address = "Patna" },
                new Student { Name = "Shivam", Address = "Motihari" }
            };
            students.ForEach(s => context.Students.Add(s));
            context.SaveChanges();
        }
    }

    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            using (var context = new StudentContext())
            {
                Database.SetInitializer<StudentContext>(new StudentDbInitializer());

                var stdQuery = (from d in context.Students select new { Id = d.StudentId, Name = d.Name });

                foreach (var q in stdQuery)
                {
                    Console.WriteLine("ID : " + q.Id + ", Name : " + q.Name);
                }

                Console.ReadKey();
            }
        }
    }
}

Now, if you run the application you will see all the dummy data that we have created and initialized above.

Step 8. MVC Apps

I am an ASP.NET guy, so I'd like to tell you something here on MVC. In MVC we call the SetInitializer method from Application_Start() method that can be found in Global.asax.cs file. Find here a sample.

protected void Application_Start()
{
    System.Data.Entity.Database.SetInitializer(new StudentDbInitializer());

    AreaRegistration.RegisterAllAreas();

    WebApiConfig.Register(GlobalConfiguration.Configuration);
    FilterConfig.RegisterGlobalFilters(GlobalFilters.Filters);
    RouteConfig.RegisterRoutes(RouteTable.Routes);
}

I hope you like it. Thanks.