When Should I Use Self-Tracking Entities in .NET?

Understanding the Purpose and Benefits of Self Tracking Entities

Self tracking entities (STEs) are a powerful feature in .NET that provide additional functionality over basic Entity Framework (EF) entities. These entities can be generated from *.edmx files and offer significant advantages in certain scenarios.

Advantages of Self Tracking Entities

Unlike regular EF entities, STEs retain change tracking even after being detached from the live ObjectContext. This enables them to track changes even in disconnected scenarios. A common use case for STEs is in disconnected networking environments, such as .NET to .NET communication over web services.

In such scenarios, STEs eliminate the complexities of manually merging changes between the client and server. The request to the web service returns an STE, which the client can modify. When passed back in a subsequent web service call, the service can process the changes using the STE's internal change tracking feature.

Comparison with RIA Services

While RIA services also provide client-side or shared classes, STEs offer a distinct advantage. They are not interoperable solutions, as their functionality relies on sharing STE code between the server and client. This makes them particularly suitable for situations where the server and client have access to the same entity framework context, eliminating the need for data contracts or web service classes.

Conclusion

Self tracking entities provide a convenient and efficient way to handle disconnected scenarios in .NET. Their change tracking ability allows for seamless handling of data changes, reducing the complexity of merging changes manually. While they have limitations in interoperability, STEs remain a valuable tool for certain applications.

The above is the detailed content of When Should I Use Self-Tracking Entities in .NET?. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!