(ASP.net 3.5, C#, SQL Express 2008)
I want to have a Web Form, where I can search for "Solutions" (my table) using a keyword entered by the user and after the result comes back and populates a GridView.
I already have parts of this search via a stored procedure that is hooked up to my Entity Data Model. On this page I have an EntityDataSource. How can I make this EntityDataSource grab data from my stored procedure?
I realize I could just fetch the result via the Entity context (which works), and bind it to the grid, but if I don't hook it up to the EntityDataSource I won't get automatic paging and sorting (which has been another struggle of mine in the past)
Try using the Function Import
.
Here is a good blog post for you to check out. ADO.NET Entity Framework Tools: Stored Procedures, by Guy Burstein
Update: Sorry I missed the part about the EntityDataSource
so I don't know of any property exposed to access a function import from the EDS, but your can try to use the CommandText property.
<asp:EntityDataSource ID="SolutionsDataSource" runat="server"
CommandText="DataModel.SearchFunction(@Keywords)"
ConnectionString="name=AdventureWorksEntities">
<CommandParameters>
<asp:ControlParameter Name="Keywords"
ControlID="SearchTextbox" Type="String"/>
</CommandParameters>
</asp:EntityDataSource>
Update: Well it seems that I have some bad news. After using Reflector to dive deep into the EntityDataSource
. The EntityDataSourceView
is constructed using QueryBuilderUtils.ConstructQuery
, which then in turn calls context.CreateQuery<T>
. What you would need to execute the function import is a call to context.ExecuteFunction<T>
. There doesn't seem to be any support for the ExecuteFunction in this release, the blogs I was reading did mention that it was planned, but it didn't make it into this release, whether or not it will be in future releases I can't say.
That being said I would recommend using an ObjectDataSource
, which you can construct in a way that still supports paging, sorting, etc. If you open an ObjectDataSource question on this topic send me a comment here and I'll take a look.