How to update only one field using Entity Framewor

Question

Here's the table

Users

UserId
UserName
Password
EmailAddress

and the code..

public void ChangePassword(int userId, string password){
//code to update the password..
}

Answer 1

You can tell EF which properties have to be updated in this way:

public void ChangePassword(int userId, string password)
{
  var user = new User { Id = userId, Password = password };
  using (var context = new ObjectContext(ConnectionString))
  {
    var users = context.CreateObjectSet<User>();
    users.Attach(user);
    context.ObjectStateManager.GetObjectStateEntry(user)
      .SetModifiedProperty("Password");
    context.SaveChanges();
  }
}

Answer 2

In EntityFramework Core 2.x there is no need for Attach:

 // get a tracked entity
 var entity = context.User.Find(userId);
 entity.someProp = someValue;
 // other property changes might come here
 context.SaveChanges();

Tried this in SQL Server and profiling it:

exec sp_executesql N'SET NOCOUNT ON;
UPDATE [User] SET [someProp] = @p0
WHERE [UserId] = @p1;
SELECT @@ROWCOUNT;

',N'@p1 int,@p0 bit',@p1=1223424,@p0=1

Find ensures that already loaded entities do not trigger a SELECT and also automatically attaches the entity if needed (from the docs):

    ///     Finds an entity with the given primary key values. If an entity with the given primary key values
    ///     is being tracked by the context, then it is returned immediately without making a request to the
    ///     database. Otherwise, a query is made to the database for an entity with the given primary key values
    ///     and this entity, if found, is attached to the context and returned. If no entity is found, then
    ///     null is returned.

Answer 3

public void ChangePassword(int userId, string password)
{
  var user = new User{ Id = userId, Password = password };
  using (var db = new DbContextName())
  {
    db.Entry(user).State = EntityState.Added;
    db.SaveChanges();
  }
}

Answer 4

Entity framework tracks your changes on objects that you queried from database via DbContext. For example if you DbContext instance name is dbContext

public void ChangePassword(int userId, string password){
     var user = dbContext.Users.FirstOrDefault(u=>u.UserId == userId);
     user.password = password;
     dbContext.SaveChanges();
}

Answer 5

i'm using this:

entity:

public class Thing 
{
    [Key]
    public int Id { get; set; }
    public string Info { get; set; }
    public string OtherStuff { get; set; }
}

dbcontext:

public class MyDataContext : DbContext
{
    public DbSet<Thing > Things { get; set; }
}

accessor code:

MyDataContext ctx = new MyDataContext();

// FIRST create a blank object
Thing thing = ctx.Things.Create();

// SECOND set the ID
thing.Id = id;

// THIRD attach the thing (id is not marked as modified)
db.Things.Attach(thing); 

// FOURTH set the fields you want updated.
thing.OtherStuff = "only want this field updated.";

// FIFTH save that thing
db.SaveChanges();

Answer 6

Combining several suggestions I propose the following:

    async Task<bool> UpdateDbEntryAsync<T>(T entity, params Expression<Func<T, object>>[] properties) where T : class
    {
        try
        {
            var entry = db.Entry(entity);
            db.Set<T>().Attach(entity);
            foreach (var property in properties)
                entry.Property(property).IsModified = true;
            await db.SaveChangesAsync();
            return true;
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine("UpdateDbEntryAsync exception: " + ex.Message);
            return false;
        } 
    }

called by

UpdateDbEntryAsync(dbc, d => d.Property1);//, d => d.Property2, d => d.Property3, etc. etc.);

Or by

await UpdateDbEntryAsync(dbc, d => d.Property1);

Or by

bool b = UpdateDbEntryAsync(dbc, d => d.Property1).Result;