How do I view the SQL generated by the Entity Framework?

Question

How do I view the SQL generated by entity framework ?

(In my particular case I\'m using the mysql provider - if it matters)

Answer 1

For me, using EF6 and Visual Studio 2015 I entered query in the immediate window and it gave me the generated SQL Statement

Answer 2

I am doing integration test, and needed this to debug the generated SQL statement in Entity Framework Core 2.1, so I use DebugLoggerProvider or ConsoleLoggerProvider like so:

[Fact]
public async Task MyAwesomeTest
    {
        //setup log to debug sql queries
        var loggerFactory = new LoggerFactory();
        loggerFactory.AddProvider(new DebugLoggerProvider());
        loggerFactory.AddProvider(new ConsoleLoggerProvider(new ConsoleLoggerSettings()));

        var builder = new DbContextOptionsBuilder<DbContext>();
        builder
            .UseSqlServer("my connection string") //"Server=.;Initial Catalog=TestDb;Integrated Security=True"
            .UseLoggerFactory(loggerFactory);

        var dbContext = new DbContext(builder.Options);

        ........

Here is a sample output from Visual Studio console:

Answer 3

EF Core 5.0

This loooong-awaited feature is available in EF Core 5.0! This is from the weekly status updates:

var query = context.Set<Customer>().Where(c => c.City == city);
Console.WriteLine(query.ToQueryString())

results in this output when using the SQL Server database provider:

DECLARE p0 nvarchar(4000) = N'London';

SELECT [c].[CustomerID], [c].[Address], [c].[City], [c].[CompanyName],
[c].[ContactName], [c].[ContactTitle], [c].[Country], [c].[Fax], [c].[Phone],
[c].[PostalCode], [c].[Region]
FROM [Customers] AS [c]
WHERE [c].[City] = @__city_0

Notice that declarations for parameters of the correct type are also included in the output. This allows copy/pasting to SQL Server Management Studio, or similar tools, such that the query can be executed for debugging/analysis.

woohoo!!!

Answer 4

To have the query always handy, without changing code add this to your DbContext and check it on the output window in visual studio.

    protected override void OnModelCreating(DbModelBuilder modelBuilder)
    {
        Database.Log = (query)=> Debug.Write(query);
    }

Similar to @Matt Nibecker answer, but with this you do not have to add it in your current code, every time you need the query.

Answer 5

You can do the following in EF 4.1:

var result = from x in appEntities
             where x.id = 32
             select x;

System.Diagnostics.Trace.WriteLine(result .ToString());

That will give you the SQL that was generated.

Answer 6

SQL Management Studio => Tools => SQL Server profiler

File => New Trace...

Use the Template => Blank

Event selection => T-SQL

Lefthandside check for: SP.StmtComplete

Column filters can be used to select a specific ApplicationName or DatabaseName

Start that profile running then trigger the query.

Click here for Source information