Add Controller in MVC4 not working

Question

I'm using VS 2010 Premium. I have a MVC4 project using SqlCe 4.0 with a entity framework model.

Model is:

  public class ProjectBuild
    {
       public int ProjectBuildID {get;set;}
       public string name {get;set;}
    }

  public class ProjectBuildContext:DbContext
     {
       public DbSet<ProjectBuild> builds {get;set;}
     }

Below is my connection string:

 add name="ProjectBuildContext" connectionString="Data Source=|DataDirectory|DB.sdf"
 providerName="System.Data.SqlServerCe.4.0"

When I try to create a new controller with the built in scaffolding too I get the following error:

"Unable to retrieve metadata for ProjectBuild"."Using the same DbCompiledModel to create contexts against different types of database servers is not supported. Instead, create a separate DbCompiledModel for each type of server being used.

possible duplicate of [MVC4 Scaffolding Add Controller gives error "Unable to retrieve metadata..."](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/12165185/mvc4-scaffolding-add-controller-gives-error-unable-to-retrieve-metadata) — Darin Dimitrov, Aug 29 '12 at 06:49
No cause in my DbContext I donot have a constructor which refers to DefaultConnection.. — user1632145, Aug 29 '12 at 07:13

score 28 · Accepted Answer · edited Feb 07 '13 at 23:44

28

I tried Fontanka16 solution, but it did not work, it turned out that my DbContext class was missing its default constructor defining the target CE database.

These are my steps summary:

Installed the Nuget package EntityFramework.SqlServerCompact.
Added the default constructor to my DbContext class.

public class SchoolContext : DbContext { public SchoolContext() : base("School") { } ... }

My connection string is:

<add name="SchoolContext" connectionString="Data Source=|DataDirectory|School.sdf" providerName="System.Data.SqlServerCe.4.0" />

Then it worked.

edited Feb 07 '13 at 23:44

Jake

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answered Sep 08 '12 at 23:57

Arnaldo237

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did not work for me :( gives **connection string cannot be null or empty string** error. also are the double asterisks at connection string name and database name for emphasis or required by SQL CE? – TheVillageIdiot Oct 15 '12 at 12:22
+1 worked for me as well! @TheVillageIdiot The formatting of this answer is a bit screwy. I tried to fix it but I couldn't make it happy. The `**` are intended to bold the text in the post for emphasis and should not be included in the connection string. – JohnnyHK Jan 07 '13 at 18:27
1

@JohnnyHK yes ** is to make things **bold** but it does not works in code-blocks – TheVillageIdiot Jan 07 '13 at 23:09

score 9 · Answer 2 · edited Oct 21 '12 at 11:58

9

I changed the name of my connection string back to DefaultConnection and then it worked, I tried at first to add the default constructor but received some warning about not having the correct assemblies references to.

edited Oct 21 '12 at 11:58

Uwe Keim

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answered Oct 21 '12 at 09:47

Thomas Bindzus

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This removes the error and allows the controller to be added, but making only this change - without adding the EntityFramework.SqlServerCompact package - seems to cause EF to use SQL Express instead. – Kimberly Oct 25 '12 at 19:21

score 6 · Answer 3 · edited Oct 11 '12 at 04:22

6

I'm new to using EF and MVC, but what I've found is that if you do not define the data connection (comment it out) or rename it in web.config, Visual Studio will allow you to add the controller. If no connection is defined then EF will automatically use SQLExpress. After the controller has been added you can add your connection string back to web.config and the program will function as expected.

//this solution is an excerpt from http://forums.asp.net/t/1838396.aspx/1?Error+while+adding+controller+class+Unable+to+retrieve+metadata+for+MvcMovie+Models+Movie+

edited Oct 11 '12 at 04:22

Himanshu

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answered Oct 11 '12 at 04:20

robert

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Thank you so much! This helped me - just commented the connection string, added the controller, uncommented it. Done! Looks like there's some problem with the SQL CE part in my connection string. – Oliver Mar 26 '13 at 20:57

score 5 · Answer 4 · answered Jan 11 '13 at 22:15

5

You should always initialize the superclass with base(string). Also found out that the name of connectionString in Web.config may not be same as the String you send to the super class contructor.

So for example :

<add name="MovieDBContext"  ....... />

public class MovieDBContext : DbContext
{
   public MovieDBContext() : base("Movie") { }
}

So you see, the "MovidDBContect" is different from "Movie".

answered Jan 11 '13 at 22:15

Jaanus

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This one though similar to other answers but actually helped me in fixing issue. – Rohit May 25 '13 at 13:09

score 2 · Answer 5 · answered Jul 07 '13 at 13:42

2

Create the Controller
Add the String Context in web.config

It's a chronological problem not a bug. Source : from Vô Thường's comm http://www.itorian.com/2012/10/unable-to-retrieve-metadata-for.html

answered Jul 07 '13 at 13:42

WOlF

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score 2 · Answer 6 · answered Mar 14 '14 at 03:44

2

A note if it helps anyone. I just had this problem.

This Fixed it: 1. Commenting out the Connection String 2. Rebuild Website without Connection String 3. Add Controller 4. Uncomment Connection String 5. Rebuild Website

All Works Fine.

answered Mar 14 '14 at 03:44

ChrisB

21
1

David Graham · Answer 7 · 2016-01-10T19:28:13.480

2

I was having this problem when adding a API 2.0 / MVC5 controller with Entity Framework 6 and an MySQL database.

[DbConfigurationType(typeof(MySqlEFConfiguration))]

Comment this class attribute out. Build project. Then adding a controller works for me on MySql.

Uncomment after controller is added and continue as normal.

edited Jan 10 '16 at 19:28

answered Jan 10 '16 at 18:34

David Graham

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score 1 · Answer 8 · answered Aug 31 '12 at 20:09

1

This is going to seem like the dumbest thing, but do you have a connection made to your database elsewhere? I was running into this same exact problem. I had the database open in the Server Explorer view (I had made a connection to my SDF file). Once I closed this connection, everything worked perfectly.

answered Aug 31 '12 at 20:09

JasCav

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No I dont have open connections in Server Explorer.. I did close connections and try but no use :( – user1632145 Sep 03 '12 at 00:07

Fontanka16 · Answer 9 · 2012-09-04T21:28:01.237

1

Ok, this is my evil solution to the problem. I finally made it work. Win8 VS2012 EF5 MVC4

Make sure you have the Nuget package EntityFramework.SqlServerCompact installed
At first, do not add the DbContext manually. Instead, use the from the scaffolding menu
When you have created one Controller+Views using scaffolding, switch back to your old connectionstring in the web.config - the one using SQL CE 4.0. Then everything works fine for me

edited Sep 04 '12 at 21:28

answered Sep 03 '12 at 21:44

Fontanka16

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THe above solution worked for me, but when i added more classes to the context it did not work again. – Fontanka16 Sep 16 '12 at 19:05
Hey!! i am using MySql. Didn't find a solution yet. anything? – Koushik Saha Oct 28 '14 at 09:14

score 1 · Answer 10 · answered Jan 31 '13 at 17:20

I feel like this is related, but I used the solution above to fix the problem and let me build controllers again. The problem I had after that was that I couldn't seem to find my SQL Compact database after that in server explorer. It appeared to be working when I added the application, but I couldn't find it. Once I removed the constructor: public class SchoolContext : DbContext { public SchoolContext() : base("School") { } .

I was able to see the db again. I'm still in development and need to add more controllers, so I'll have to use it again, I guess. But this took me all morning to figure out why I suddenly couldn't see the database in server explorer anymore.

score 1 · Answer 11 · answered Feb 01 '13 at 06:02

If you're using VS 2012, you will need to also tell EF to use SQL Compact instead of localDb.

<entityFramework>
<defaultConnectionFactory type="System.Data.Entity.Infrastructure.SqlCeConnectionFactory, EntityFramework">
  <parameters>
    <parameter value="System.Data.SqlServerCe.4.0" />
  </parameters>
</defaultConnectionFactory>

An easier way is to install the EF SQL Compact Nuget package.

For more details, check out this blog entry.

Add Controller in MVC4 not working

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