Question

When I try to map a column to a char data type in my model class I get an error:

The property ‘[ColumnName]’ is not a
declared property on type ‘[ClassName]’.
Verify that the property has not been
explicitly excluded from the model by
using the Ignore method or
NotMappedAttribute data annotation.
Make sure that it is a valid primitive
property.

What are the valid primitive types for EF Code First?

Answer 1

This is interesting but you really cannot map char property. I just checked it and if you want to have char(1) in the database you must use string property with following mapping:

modelBuilder.Entity<MyEntity>()
            .Property(p => p.MyProperty)
            .HasMaxLength(1)
            .IsFixedLength()
            .IsUnicode(false);

It is not only problem of Code-first. It is whole EF limitation because EDMX designer also doesn’t show char type. I think allowed types will be same as described in CSDL reference for EDMX because code first is just wrapper around the same mapping infrastructure.