Setting the default value of a DateTime Property t

Question

Does any one know how I can specify the Default value for a DateTime property using the System.ComponentModel DefaultValue Attribute?

for example I try this:

[DefaultValue(typeof(DateTime),DateTime.Now.ToString("yyyy-MM-dd"))]
public DateTime DateCreated { get; set; }

And it expects the value to be a constant expression.

This is in the context of using with ASP.NET Dynamic Data. I do not want to scaffold the DateCreated column but simply supply the DateTime.Now if it is not present. I am using the Entity Framework as my Data Layer

Cheers,

Andrew

Answer 1

How you deal with this at the moment depends on what model you are using Linq to SQL or EntityFramework?

In L2S you can add

public partial class NWDataContext
{
    partial void InsertCategory(Category instance)
    {
        if(Instance.Date == null)
            Instance.Data = DateTime.Now;

        ExecuteDynamicInsert(instance);
    }
}

EF is a little more complicated see http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc716714.aspx for more info on EF buisiness logic.