Entity Framework 6 Code First - Custom Type Mapping

Question

I\'m using some models inside my domain which are not very serialization- or mapping-friendly, such as structs or classes from the System.Net.* namespace.

Answer 1

wrap a NotMapped property of type PhysicalAddress with a mapped string property that handles the conversions:

    [Column("PhysicalAddress")]
    [MaxLength(17)]
    public string PhysicalAddressString
    {
        get
        {
            return PhysicalAddress.ToString();
        }
        set
        {
            PhysicalAddress = System.Net.NetworkInformation.PhysicalAddress.Parse( value );
        }
    }

    [NotMapped]
    public System.Net.NetworkInformation.PhysicalAddress PhysicalAddress
    {
        get;
        set;
    }

Update: example code for comment asking about wrapping functionality in a class

[ComplexType]
public class WrappedPhysicalAddress
{
    [MaxLength( 17 )]
    public string PhysicalAddressString
    {
        get
        {
            return PhysicalAddress == null ? null : PhysicalAddress.ToString();
        }
        set
        {
            PhysicalAddress = value == null ? null : System.Net.NetworkInformation.PhysicalAddress.Parse( value );
        }
    }

    [NotMapped]
    public System.Net.NetworkInformation.PhysicalAddress PhysicalAddress
    {
        get;
        set;
    }

    public static implicit operator string( WrappedPhysicalAddress target )
    {
        return target.ToString();
    }

    public static implicit operator System.Net.NetworkInformation.PhysicalAddress( WrappedPhysicalAddress target )
    {
        return target.PhysicalAddress;
    }

    public static implicit operator WrappedPhysicalAddress( string target )
    {
        return new WrappedPhysicalAddress() 
        { 
            PhysicalAddressString = target 
        };
    }

    public static implicit operator WrappedPhysicalAddress( System.Net.NetworkInformation.PhysicalAddress target )
    {
        return new WrappedPhysicalAddress()
        {
            PhysicalAddress = target
        };
    }

    public override string ToString()
    {
        return PhysicalAddressString;
    }
}