Creating and Using Stored Procedures

Introduction to Working with Stored Procedures in Entity Framework

Entity Framework is an object-relational mapping framework used to simplify data access. It allows developers to write code to access and manipulate data stored in databases, without having to write SQL queries. Stored Procedures are pre-compiled SQL commands that can be used to access data in a database. In Entity Framework, stored procedures can be used to access, insert, update and delete data. In this guide, we will look at how to create and use stored procedures in Entity Framework.

Creating Stored Procedures

Creating stored procedures in Entity Framework requires the use of a SQL Server database. To create a stored procedure, open the SQL Server Management Studio and create a new query. Write the SQL query for the stored procedure and save it as a stored procedure.

Example of Creating a Stored Procedure

CREATE PROCEDURE dbo.GetCustomers
    @customerName varchar(255)
AS
BEGIN
    SELECT * FROM Customers
    WHERE CustomerName = @customerName
END

The above stored procedure is used to retrieve records from the Customers table where the CustomerName matches the value passed in the @customerName parameter.

Using Stored Procedures in Entity Framework

Once a stored procedure has been created in the database, it can be used in Entity Framework. To do this, use the DbContext.Database.SqlQuery() method. This method takes two parameters, the first is the name of the stored procedure and the second is the parameters that should be passed to the stored procedure.

Example of Using a Stored Procedure

var context = new EntityFrameworkContext();
var customerName = "John Smith";
var customers = context.Database.SqlQuery<Customer>("GetCustomers @customerName", 
                                                new SqlParameter("customerName", customerName));

The above code will execute the GetCustomers stored procedure, passing in the customerName parameter, and return the results as a list of Customer objects.

Tips for Working with Stored Procedures in Entity Framework

• Ensure that the stored procedure returns the expected results when executed directly in the database.
• Use parameters for all stored procedure inputs to prevent SQL injection attacks.
• Use the SqlParameter class to pass parameters to stored procedures.
• Use the DbContext.Database.ExecuteSqlCommand() method to execute stored procedures that do not return data.

Conclusion

Stored procedures can be used in Entity Framework to access, insert, update and delete data. To use stored procedures in Entity Framework, use the DbContext.Database.SqlQuery() or DbContext.Database.ExecuteSqlCommand() methods. When working with stored procedures, ensure that the stored procedure returns the expected results when executed directly in the database and use parameters for all stored procedure inputs to prevent SQL injection attacks.