Entity Framework Classic Using EF Classic with EF 6

Description

In some special scenario, you might want to use EF Classic in the same project as EF6.

By default, it doesn't work since both libraries are the same library (Entity Framework) so share similar code which leads to reference conflict.

To make it work, you need to:

  • Use an extern alias in one of both libraries
  • Use another config section for entity framework classic

Extern Alias

Using extern alias allow solving namespace issue when two libraries use the same fully-qualified type names.

Usually, you choose one of them to keep the global alias (can be accessed without specifying the extern alias) and you specify an alias for the other. You can also use an alias for both libraries.

We recommend following alias name:

  • Entity Framework 6: EF6
  • Entity Framework Classic: EFClassic

Once an alias has been specified, you need to use it in your using directive.

Example EF6

extern alias EF6;
using EF6::System.Data.Entity;

Example EF Classic

extern alias EFClassic;
using EFClassic::System.Data.Entity;

Config Section

We recommend to use the entityFrameworkClassic section name in your config file.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<configuration>
  <configSections>
    <section name="entityFramework" type="System.Data.Entity.Internal.ConfigFile.EntityFrameworkSection, EntityFramework, Version=6.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b77a5c561934e089" requirePermission="false" />
    <section name="entityFrameworkClassic" type="System.Data.Entity.Internal.ConfigFile.EntityFrameworkSection, Z.EntityFramework.Classic, Version=7.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=afc61983f100d280" requirePermission="false" />
  </configSections>
  <startup>
    <supportedRuntime version="v4.0" sku=".NETFramework,Version=v4.5" />
  </startup>
  <entityFramework>
    <providers>
      <provider invariantName="System.Data.SqlClient" type="System.Data.Entity.SqlServer.SqlProviderServices, EntityFramework.SqlServer" />
    </providers>
  </entityFramework>
  <entityFrameworkClassic>
    <providers>
       <provider invariantName="System.Data.SqlClient" type="System.Data.Entity.SqlServer.SqlProviderServices, Z.EntityFramework.Classic.SqlServer" />
    </providers>
  </entityFrameworkClassic>
</configuration>

and specify the name to the EntityFrameworkManager for EF Classic:

EntityFrameworkManager.ConfigSectionName = "entityFrameworkClassic";

Demo

You can find a demo here: https://github.com/zzzprojects/EntityFramework-Classic/tree/master/demo



Contents

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