Entity Framework 4.1 “Code First” SetInitializer not being called again after Database.Delete

Question

Trying to do some unit testing with EF 4.1 code first. I have my live db (SQL Server) and my unit test DB( Sql CE). After fighting (and losing) with EF, Sql CE 4.0 and Trans

Answer 1

I got around this by calling 'InitializeDatabase' manually. Like so:

   [SetUp]
    public void Init()
    {

        var initializer = new MyTestContextInitializer();
        System.Data.Entity.Database.SetInitializer(initializer);

        _dbContext = ContainerFactory.Container.GetInstance<IContext>();
        initializer.InitializeDatabase((MyTestContext)_dbContext);

        _testConnection = _dbContext.ConnectionString;
    }

    [TearDown]
    public void Cleanup()
    {
        System.Data.Entity.Database.Delete(_testConnection);

        _dbContext.Dispose();
    }

I think it may be a bug with EF 4.1 RC.

Answer 2

It took me almost a day to find out what caused my strange unittest behaviour: the database connection stayed open or the database was not created with a every new test. I searched everywhere for the root of the cause: MSTest (no Admin rights or where working copies of files somehow deleted?), SQL Server Express/CE (login failure?), Unity (objects not disposed?) or Entity Framework (no proper database initialization?). It turned out to be EF. Thanks a lot for the answer!

Answer 3

It's not a bug, the initializer set with

System.Data.Entity.Database.SetInitializer

is only called when the context is created for the first time in the AppDomain. Hence, since you're running all your tests in a single AppDomain, it's only called when the first test is ran.