How to Use MySql with Entity Framework 4 and Code-First Development: A Step-by-Step Guide?

Using MySql with Entity Framework 4 and the Code-First Development CTP

Scott Guthrie's recent post on code-first development with Entity Framework 4 sparked interest in experimenting with it using MySql instead of Sql Server. However, configure Entity Framework 4 to generate the database automatically with MySql.

Exception:

The initial attempt resulted in a ProviderIncompatibleException, indicating that the NerdDinners database did not exist. Creating the database manually also did not resolve the issue, leading to a second ProviderIncompatibleException stating that "DatabaseExists is not supported by the provider".

Resolution:

After further exploration, a few key points emerged:

1. Database Creation: MySql requires the existence of the database before using Entity Framework 4. The initial expectation of automatic database creation did not align with MySql's behavior.
2. DbContext Connection: Each DbContext instance requires a corresponding connection string in the web.config file. In the provided code snippet, the "NerdDinners" context must have a connection string named "NerdDinners".
3. Table Naming: Entity Framework 4 uses the DBSet property name to determine the table name. Careful consideration should be taken when naming these properties to obtain the desired table names.
4. Web.Config Modification: When deploying the MVC application with MySQL, a DataFactory needs to be included in the web.config file to address potential compatibility issues with MySql connectors. The following code should be added to the web.config:

<code class="xml"><system.data>
  <DbProviderFactories>
    <add name="MySQL Data Provider"
         invariant="MySql.Data.MySqlClient"
         description=".Net Framework Data Provider for MySQL"
         type="MySql.Data.MySqlClient.MySqlClientFactory, MySql.Data, Version=6.3.6.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=c5687fc88969c44d" />
  </DbProviderFactories>
</system.data></code>

5. Dll Inclusion: Copying the MySQL DLLs into the deployment and setting their CopyLocal attribute to True ensures compatibility.

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