SQL Azure With Entity Framework

Introduction

In this article, we will see the following things -

• Prerequisites
• Implementation – Creating simple Empty MVC Web application
• Implementation – Connecting current application with Azure SQL using Entity Framework.

Prerequisites

• Some basic knowledge of Azure, like how to create in SQL Azure.
• Read this article for the basics of SQL Azure.

Implementation – Creating a simple empty MVC Web application

• Open Visual Studio that is preinstalled in your system.
• Go to File - New - Project and select Web Template - ASP.NET Web Application.
  
  
  

• Then, select empty MVC Template, as shown below.
  
  
  

• Now, create Home Controller in the Controllers folder.
• Right click on Controllers folder and click on Add - Controller.
  
   

• Add an empty Controller.
  
  
  

• Now, create an empty View.
• For that, right click on the index method and Add View.
  
  
  

• Click on "Add" button.

Implementation – Connecting current application with Azure SQL using Entity Framework.

• Now, create a SQL database in Azure.
• To create a SQL database in Azure, follow this article.
  
  
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• Connect it with local SQL Server using server name as the connection string and create a Employee table in it, as shown below.
  
  
  

• Now, configure the database in your application using Entity Framework.
• Right click on Project and install Entity Framework from NuGet packages by choosing the option “Manage packages”.
  
   

• Now, add the .edmx file as DB first approach and connect with SQL Azure entities, as shown below.
  
   

• Select EF designer from Database, as shown below.
  
   

• Then, choose the server name from SQL Azure DB Properties on the portal and create SQL Server connection using the credentials; choose DB from there and click on OK.
  
   

• Now, choose the table from the menu and click "Finish".
  
   

• Now, go to Controller and add some lines of code to insert into Employee table.
  
   

• Now, run the application and check employee table data from the SQL Server Object Explorer.
  
   

This is how we can use SQL Azure with Entity Framework.

Happy Learning.