Can I Embed an object in an EF entity (serialize on save, deserialize on access)?

Question

I have a class that I want to keep meta data for -- there a several interaction scenarios so meta allows me to keep different meta for different interaction types.

Answer 1

The feature HasConversion saved my life. Unlock all json formats! Enjoy it!

public partial class Feed
{
    public int Id { get; set; }

    //this column will be mapped to a "nvarchar(max)" column. perfect!
    public Dictionary Meta { get; set; }
}

public class FeedsDbContext : DbContext
{

    public FeedsDbContext(DbContextOptions options)
        : base(options)
    {
    }

    public virtual DbSet Feed { get; set; }

    protected override void OnModelCreating(ModelBuilder builder)
    {
        base.OnModelCreating(builder);

        builder.Entity(entity =>
        {
            entity.Property(p => p.Meta).HasConversion(
                x => JsonConvert.SerializeObject(x) //convert TO a json string
                , x => JsonConvert.DeserializeObject>(x) //convert FROM a json string
            );
        });
    }

}