Question

I have the following:

    if (chemexist == false) // conditionally creating WtrChem record
    {
      WtrChem wc = new WtrChem();
      wc.Contact = "John Smith";
      ..
      wc.Phone = ("800-888-9988");
      Db.WtrChem.Add(wc);
      Db.SaveChanges();
    }


    WtrChemDetail psw = new WtrChemDetail (); // creating details record for WtrChem
    psw.Comments = comment;
    ..
    .. 
    Db.WtrChemDetail.Add(psw);
    Db.SaveChanges();

The code will first create the master record and then create a detail record. What I have works. I am wondering if there is a more efficient way to doing what I have above in terms of best practices.

Answer 1

You probably want to model this a bit different where the detail is a property on the master.

Something like this perhaps:

// Get the item. Include makes sure that you get the referenced detail as well.
WtrChem wc = Db.WtrChem.Include(x => x.Detail).SingleOrDefault();

if (wc == null) // creating WtrChem record
{
   // If it wasn't found, create and add
   wc = new WtrChem();
   Db.WtrChem.Add(wc);
}

wc.Contact = "John Smith";
..
wc.Phone = ("800-888-9988");

// Deal with the 
WtrChemDetail psw = new WtrChemDetail (); // creating details record for WtrChem
psw.Comments = comment;      
wc.Detail = psw;

Db.SaveChanges();

If you use this approach, the reference between the master and the detail will be sorted automatically.

You need to add a using statement in order to make the .Include(..) lambda to work:

using System.Data.Entity;