Scaffold-dbcontext Strings for Database-First in .NET Core

Introduction

When working with Entity Framework Core in ASP.NET Core applications, generating DbContext and models is a crucial step. In this blog post, we'll explore three methods to simplify this process: using scaffolding commands, adhering to standard practices, and leveraging EF Core Power Tools in Visual Studio.
In this guide, we'll delve into the following three approaches to facilitate DbContext and model generation:

1. Scaffolding Command in the console.
2. Using standard methods.
3. Utilizing EF Core Power Tools.

Method 1. Scaffolding Command

Step 1. Execute scaffolding command in Tools -- > NuGet Package Manager -- > Package Manager Console.

Step 2. Add the connection string directly.

scaffold-dbcontext -provider Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.SqlServer -connection "Data Source=(Server);Initial Catalog=(Database Name);UserId=(Username);Password=(Password);TrustServerCertificate=true;"  -OutputDir Models

Step 3. Scaffold DbContext and models using the Scaffold-DbContext command.

Method 2. Standard Practices

Step 1. Add connection string in app.settings.json.

{
  "ConnectionStrings": {
    "DefaultConnection": "Data Source=(Server Name);Initial Catalog=(Database Name);user id=(Username for connection on db);password=(Password);TrustServerCertificate=True;"
  }
}

Step 2. Manually create a DbContext file. The class name should be ("DatabaseName"+Context.cs).

• NuGet Packages Required
  • Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore
  • Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.SqlServe
  • Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Tools

using Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore;

namespace BackEnd.Models //solution name models
{

    //**The class name should be ("DatabaseName"+Context.cs)**
    // database name  = TryDbApproch. 
    // class name  = TryDbApprochContext.cs.

    public class TryDbApprochContext : DbContext   
    {
        public TryDbApprochContext(DbContextOptions<TryDbApprochContext> options)
            : base(options)
        {
        }
    
}

Step 3. Configure DbContext and connection string in program.cs.

var connectionString = builder.Configuration.GetConnectionString("DefaultConnection");

builder.Services.AddDbContext<TryDbApprochContext>(options =>
        options.UseSqlServer(connectionString));

or

var connectionString = builder.Configuration.GetConnectionString("DefaultConnection");

builder.Services.AddDbContext<TryDbApprochContext>(options => options.UseSqlServer(connectionString, serverOptions =>
{
    serverOptions.EnableRetryOnFailure(
        maxRetryCount: 3,       // Maximum number of retry attempts
        maxRetryDelay: TimeSpan.FromSeconds(30), // Maximum delay between retries
        errorNumbersToAdd: null); // Specific error numbers to retry on (null retries on all transient errors)
}));