Is There an Entity Framework 7 Database-First Poco Generator

Database First with EF7 in a Universal App

You can install SQL Server Compact/SQLite Toolbox and create model from database
SQL Server Compact/SQLite Toolbox DLL

Where is the EDMX

There is no edmx support in Entity Framework Core. It only supports a code-first approach. The option to add a new Entity Data Model will be added, but it will produce entity class files instead of an edmx file. The tooling development is a little bit behind the framework development currently.

AspnetCore updated from database

EF Core does not support the database first model as discussed many places including here and here.

If you follow the code first model with EF Core, you could get initial models by reverse engineering the database as described here. Then you would use migrations to update your database from there on as described here.

If you prefer a data-centric approach you might consider database projects to maintain the schema. You would need to manually keep the models in sync, but you could reverse engineer individual tables to mitigate the issues.

Moving EF 5 Database first Poco classes to separate project vs2012 EF5

Best answer that I know of is to simply cut the model.tt (insert appropriate name) file from the current project and add it to the desired project. I have gone so far as to rewrite the .tt files that EF uses for exactly that reason.

I am a fan of separation of concerns and put appropriate .tt files in the following projects: DataAccess (model.context.tt), Entity (model.tt) and Repository (model.repository.tt). Of course, you have to fiddle with the content of the .tt file to point it to the .edmx but that's trivial. To cause all the t4 transforms to take place, there is an option in VS2012, Build | Transform all T4, that will process all of the T4 files in a solution.

Follow this process:

Create your .edmx if it doesn't already exist.

Right click, select "Add Code Generation Item" to add the EF DbContext 5.0 generator if you haven't already done so (I'm presuming that's the one you want to tinker with but this process works with any t4).

This will get you your two .tt files - the model and the model.context.

Drop to a windows explorer, find the model.tt file in the directory, copy it to your "Entity" directory (wherever you want your t4 to generate to).

Back in VS, delete it from the .edmx project and "Add Existing Item" to your new project.

If, for instance, your two projects are named as above (DataAccess to contain the .edmx, Entity to contain the model information), then you need to change the name of the input file in the model.tt file in the value (line 5) "const string inputFile = "name of .edmx" to "..\Directory containing .edmx\name of .edmx".

Run the T4 and it just works.

Entity Framework Core Database-First Update after initial Scaffold?

Like you said yourself... The main problem with database first approach : You should never change the model manually and start renaming things etc. Except if you are 100 % sure that your database won't change anymore. If you'r not 100 % sure, just code with the model that has been auto-generated.

Re-Scaffolding will overwrite any changes made directly in the model class, erasing all what you have changed or added.

But you can make partial classes on the side that won't be overwritten by auto mapping :

public partial class TableName
{
    public string Name_of_a_property
    {get; set;}
}

It's a nice way to add code to your entity while being sure it won't be touched by auto-mapping. Just make sure the partial view has the same name as the auto-generated class and everything should be OK.

How to set default values in Entity Framework 6 (Database First)

Use the EF Reverse poco template- it will derive defaults from the database. You can override the InitializePartial method in your partial class to set defaults in code.

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