Audit Fields Using Entity Framework Code First ? Jonathan Creamer's Dev Diary

Fields Using Entity Framework Code First

One common need among database creation is auditing. Fields likeDateCreated, DateLastUpdated, etc...etc... Well with EF Code First,there is one pretty easy way of getting it accomplished.

EF Code First uses a class that inherits from a DbContext to storeall of the different Entities used in your application. It lookssomething like...

public class MyContext : DbContext{public DbSet<MyEntity> MyEntities { get; set; }}

By overriding the SaveChanges method like this...

public override int SaveChanges(){// var auditUser = HttpContext.Current.User.Identity.Name;DateTime auditDate = DateTime.UtcNow;foreach (DbEntityEntry<IAuditable> entry in ChangeTracker.Entries<IAuditable>()){if (entry.State == EntityState.Added){entry.Entity.CreatedOn = auditDate;entry.Entity.ModifiedOn = auditDate;// entry.Entity.CreatedBy = auditUser;// entry.Entity.ModifiedBy = auditUser;}else if (entry.State == EntityState.Modified){entry.Entity.ModifiedOn = auditDate;// entry.Entity.ModifiedBy = auditUser;}}return base.SaveChanges();}

You can uncomment the two user fields and update the user with this code as well.