Entity Framework 5 deep copy/clone of an entity

Question

I am using Entity Framework 5 (DBContext) and I am trying to find the best way to deep copy an entity (i.e. copy the entity and all related objects) and then save the new entities in the database. How can I do this? I have looked into using extension methods such as CloneHelper but I am not sure if it applies to DBContext.

Answer 1

This is a generic extension method which allows generic cloning.

You have to fetch System.Linq.Dynamic from nuget.

    public TEntity Clone<TEntity>(this DbContext context, TEntity entity) where TEntity : class
    {

        var keyName = GetKeyName<TEntity>();
        var keyValue = context.Entry(entity).Property(keyName).CurrentValue;
        var keyType = typeof(TEntity).GetProperty(keyName, System.Reflection.BindingFlags.Public | System.Reflection.BindingFlags.Instance).PropertyType;

        var dbSet = context.Set<TEntity>();
        var newEntity =  dbSet
            .Where(keyName + " = @0", keyValue)
            .AsNoTracking()
            .Single();

        context.Entry(newEntity).Property(keyName).CurrentValue = keyType.GetDefault();

        context.Add(newEntity);

        return newEntity;
    }

The only thing you have to implement yourself is the GetKeyName method. This could be anything from return typeof(TEntity).Name + "Id" to return the first guid property or return the first property marked with DatabaseGenerated(DatabaseGeneratedOption.Identity)].

In my case I already marked my classes with [DataServiceKeyAttribute("EntityId")]

    private string GetKeyName<TEntity>() where TEntity : class
    {
        return ((DataServiceKeyAttribute)typeof(TEntity)
           .GetCustomAttributes(typeof(DataServiceKeyAttribute), true).First())
           .KeyNames.Single();
    }

Answer 2

Here's another option.

I prefer it in some cases because it does not require you to run a query specifically to get data to be cloned. You can use this method to create clones of entities you've already obtained from the database.

//Get entity to be cloned
var source = Context.ExampleRows.FirstOrDefault();

//Create and add clone object to context before setting its values
var clone = new ExampleRow();
Context.ExampleRows.Add(clone);

//Copy values from source to clone
var sourceValues = Context.Entry(source).CurrentValues;
Context.Entry(clone).CurrentValues.SetValues(sourceValues);

//Change values of the copied entity
clone.ExampleProperty = "New Value";

//Insert clone with changes into database
Context.SaveChanges();

This method copies the current values from the source to a new row that has been added.

Answer 3

One cheap easy way of cloning an entity is to do something like this:

var originalEntity = Context.MySet.AsNoTracking()
                             .FirstOrDefault(e => e.Id == 1);
Context.MySet.Add(originalEntity);
Context.SaveChanges();

the trick here is AsNoTracking() - when you load an entity like this, your context do not know about it and when you call SaveChanges, it will treat it like a new entity.

If MySet has a reference to MyProperty and you want a copy of it too, just use an Include:

var originalEntity = Context.MySet.Include("MyProperty")
                            .AsNoTracking()
                            .FirstOrDefault(e => e.Id == 1);