Managing Stored Procedures with Entity Framework Core Migrations in .NET 8

Entity Framework Core (EF Core) offers a robust way to manage your database schema using the Code First approach. With .NET 8, the process of handling stored procedures in EF Core migrations remains straightforward and effective. In this post, I’ll guide you through incorporating stored procedures as part of your migrations.

Why Use Stored Procedures?

Stored procedures can optimize complex database operations, encapsulate logic for reuse, and improve maintainability. With EF Core, while you can call stored procedures using methods like FromSqlInterpolated, there’s no built-in support to define and create them directly in code. However, we can use EF Core migrations to manage stored procedures effectively.

Step-by-Step Guide

1. Create an Empty Migration

To begin, generate an empty migration to house the stored procedure.

1dotnet ef migrations add GetOutboxMessages
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This command generates a migration file with empty Up and Down methods.

2. Define the Stored Procedure in the Migration

Modify the Up and Down methods of the generated migration to create and drop the stored procedure, respectively.

1using Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Migrations;
2
3namespace YourNamespace.Migrations
4{
5    public partial class GetOutboxMessages : Migration
6    {
7        protected override void Up(MigrationBuilder migrationBuilder)
8        {
9            const string sp = 
10            """
11            CREATE PROCEDURE [dbo].[GetOutboxMessages]
12                @BatchSize INT
13            AS
14            SELECT TOP (@BatchSize) Id, Content
15            FROM OutboxMessages WITH (UPDLOCK, READPAST)
16            WHERE ProcessedOnUtc IS NULL
17            ORDER BY OccurredOnUtc;
18            """;
19
20            migrationBuilder.Sql(sp);
21        }
22
23        protected override void Down(MigrationBuilder migrationBuilder)
24        {
25            migrationBuilder.Sql("DROP PROCEDURE [dbo].[GetOutboxMessages]");
26        }
27    }
28}
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Key Updates for .NET 8:

Improved SQL Syntax Support: Ensure your SQL scripts align with any database-specific features introduced in .NET 8 compatibility.

Enhanced Logging: Use EF Core’s enhanced logging features to debug stored procedure execution during migrations.

3. Apply the Migration

Run the following command to update the database schema and create the stored procedure.

1dotnet ef database update
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This will execute the Up method and create the stored procedure in your database.

Conclusion

Using EF Core migrations to manage stored procedures provides a seamless way to version and deploy database logic. With .NET 8, the process remains powerful and integrates well with modern development practices. By including stored procedures in your migrations, you can ensure consistency across environments and streamline your deployment workflows.

Happy coding!