%VOSWARNING% %META:TOPICPARENT{name="VirtIngresEntityFrameworkUsage"}% ---+++Manually creating EDM Associations (FKs) for the Ingres Tutorial database The following steps will detail what is required to manually create *Associations* in your Entity Data Model. Before commencing the process, you will need to determine where these associations exist and their multiplicity (e.g., one-to-one, one-to-many, etc.). NOTE: These steps will need to be repeated for each association. 1 The first Association I will deal with is the relationship between cust_orders and cust_info, identified by the presence of the Scalar Property cust_no in both entities. This is a one-to-one relationship, as an entry in a customer order may only be associated with one customer's information. %BR%%BR%

%BR%%BR% 1 To add the Association, right-click on the Customer entity. Then, click *Add* -> *Association*. %BR%%BR%

%BR%%BR% 1 You will now see the *Add Association* dialog. %BR%%BR%

%BR%%BR% 1 Hit *OK*. The diagram will be refreshed to include the newly created association.%BR%%BR% 1 You now need to edit the mappings associated with the newly created association, so right-click the association on the diagram and select *Table Mapping* to display the *Mapping Details* pane. %BR%%BR%

%BR%%BR% 1 Click the line that reads <Add a Table or View> to reveal a drop down list of all entities. %BR%%BR%

%BR%%BR% 1 Here you need to select the entity on the right/far side of the association (the entity where the foreign key exists). In this example, it is the cust_orders entity. %BR%%BR%

%BR%%BR% 1 The *Mapping Details* pane now refreshes to display both ends of the association. You will now be required to provide relevant target store data types in the *Column* column for the key fields, as depicted here. %BR%%BR%

%BR%%BR% 1 Once the mapping is complete, you can build the project using *Build* -> *Build Solution*. NOTE: It is worthwhile to (re)build as each association is made, since the error messages can be a little confusing. %BR%%BR%

%BR%%BR% 1 This should result in the following error, which is included here, since I (the author) found it misleading. %BR%%BR%

%BR%%BR% This error indicates that there are two sources — in this case, the cust_orders entity's Scalar Property cust_no and the Navigation Property cust_info in — which are being mapped to the same target column — the Ingres column cust_orders.cust_no — which is not supported. %BR%%BR%

%BR%%BR% 1 The solution is simple! Delete the mapping for Scalar Property cust_orders.cust_no. Its only purpose is to hold data representing a relationship/association (it is a Foreign Key), which has already been represented by the newly-created association and resulting Navigation Property cust_no.%BR%%BR% Right-click on cust_orders.cust_no. Then, click *Delete*. %BR%%BR%

%BR%%BR% 1 The model diagram will refresh to reflect this change. %BR%%BR%

%BR%%BR% 1 Build the project, again, using *Build* -> *Build Solution*. %BR%%BR%

%BR%%BR% 1 The project should now build fine. %BR%%BR%

%BR%%BR% You will need to repeat these steps for each association until you have a completed Entity Data Model. %BR%%BR%

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