In Entity Framework, how can I remove many rows? (without foreach)
entity-framework
Question
I'm using Entity Framework to remove a number of objects from a table. Since there is no parent object or foreign key, I am unable to manage this using OnDeleteCascade.
What I'm doing right now is
var widgets = context.Widgets
.Where(w => w.WidgetId == widgetId);
foreach (Widget widget in widgets)
{
context.Widgets.DeleteObject(widget);
}
context.SaveChanges();
It works, however I don't like the approach. Although I'm using EF4, I don't want to run SQL. This must be the best there is, right? I just want to be sure I'm not missing anything. I can use an extension method or helper to encapsulate it, but somewhere we'll still be running a foreach, am I right?
Accepted Answer
The best you can do right now is call DeleteObject in a loop if you don't want to directly run SQL.
However, by utilizing the extension mechanism I explain here, you may run SQL while keeping it entirely general purpose.
Nevertheless, the answer was for 3.5. Instead of reverting to the StoreConnection for 4.0, I would likely utilize the new ExecuteStoreCommand API.
Popular Answer
With EntityFramework 6, this has been somewhat simplified..RemoveRange()
.
Example:
db.People.RemoveRange(db.People.Where(x => x.State == "CA"));
db.SaveChanges();
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