Ignore Properties in OnModelCreating

Question

I'm attempting to use Bounded (Db) Contexts in Entity Framework 5.0, and I'm having problems excluding a property from one of the classes included in a specific context. Here is the information (I'll shorten for brevity)

BaseContext.cs

public class BaseContext<TContext> : DbContext where TContext : DbContext
{
    static BaseContext()
    {
        Database.SetInitializer<TContext>(null);
    }

    protected BaseContext()
        : base("name=Development")
    {

    }
}

IContext.cs

public interface IContext : IDisposable
{
    int SaveChanges();
    void SetModified(object entity);
    void SetAdded(object entity);
}

ISuiteContext.cs

public interface ISuiteContext : IContext
{
    IDbSet<Organizations> Organizations { get; set; }
    ...
}

SuiteContext.cs

public class SuiteContext : BaseContext<SuiteContext>, ISuiteContext
{
    public IDbSet<Organizations> Organizations { get; set; }
    ...
    ...

    protected override void OnModelCreating(DbModelBuilder modelBuilder)
    {
        modelBuilder.Configurations.Add(new OrganizationsConfiguration());
        ...
        ...

        modelBuilder.Ignore<Colors>();
    }
}

Organizations.cs:

public class Organizations
{
    public Organizations()
    {
        Colors = new List<Colors>();
        ...
        ...
    }

    public int Organization_ID { get; set; }
    public string Name { get; set; }
    public string Address_1 { get; set; }
    public string Address_2 { get; set; }
    public string City { get; set; }
    public string State { get; set; }
    public string ZipCode { get; set; }

    public ICollection<Colors> Colors { get; set; }
    ...
    ...
}

OrganizationConfiguration.cs:

public class OrganizationsConfiguration : EntityTypeConfiguration<Organizations>
{
    public OrganizationsConfiguration()
    {
        ToTable("Organizations");

        HasKey(o => o.Organization_ID);

        ...
        ...
        HasMany(o => o.Colors);
    }
}

How I'm Using (Web API Test Proj)

public class ValuesController : ApiController
{
    private readonly IUnitOfWork _uow;
    private readonly IOrganizationRepository _orgRepo;

    public ValuesController()
    {
        _uow = new UnitOfWork<SuiteContext>(new SuiteContext());
        _orgRepo = new OrganizationRepository(_uow);
    }

    // GET api/values
    public IEnumerable<Organizations> Get()
    {
        return _orgRepo.RetrieveAll().AsEnumerable();
    }
}

And the exception that is occurring:

The navigation property 'Colors' is not a declared property type on type 'Organizations'. Verify that it has not been excluded from the model and that it is a valid navigation property

All I want is for the 'SuiteContext' to have access to Organizations, but not the children (Colors, and a few others)

What am I missing? Perhaps I'm interpreting the exception incorrectly?

---

Update #1

I've tried (without success - same exception):

modelBuilder.Entity<Organizations>().Ignore(o =>o.Colors);

modelBuilder.Ignore<Colors>();

Update #2

I appears it has something to do with the OrganizationsConfiguration.cs class and the HasMany() methods. If I take out the HasMany(o => o.Colors), then I am able to Ignore the classes/properties the way I intend. However, this also causes the database creation to FAIL on recreation. Damned if I do, damned if I don't!

Answer 1

It looks like you're ignoring the class but you also need to ignore the property.

Ignore(o => o.Colors);

I've ignored scalar properties in apps before (and did that in the video you saw :) ) but not navigation properties, so I just tested to ensure that the model builder is happy with it. And it is. But you should just do a few integration tests to make sure it all works as expected in your app.

Answer 2

I know this is an old post and you probably have figured this out, though this may help someone else. The Ignore works well in a 1-1 scenario. The 1-Many is the issue.

In your example above, you would need to do the following:

 modelBuilder.Ignore<ICollection<Color>>();