Changing column default values in EF5 Code First

Question

I\'m trying to use CF to build a model for an existing database. I have a column in which I forgot to set a sane default value. And rather than compromise the purity of th

Answer 1

Here's a solution that was inspired by this post. It's not exactly an elegant method, but it works for me.

        public static void DropDefaultConstraint(string tableName, string columnName, Action executeSQL)
        {
            // Execute query that drops the UDF that finds the default constraint name
            var query = @"
                    -- recreate UDF 
                    if object_id('[dbo].[GetDefaultConstraintName]') is not null
                    begin 
                        drop function [dbo].[GetDefaultConstraintName]
                    end
                ";
            executeSQL(query);

            // Execute query that (re)creates UDF that finds the default constraint name
            query = @"
                    create function [dbo].[GetDefaultConstraintName] (
                        @TableName varchar(max),
                        @ColumnName varchar(max))
                    returns varchar(max)
                    as
                    begin
                        -- Returns the name of the default constraint for a column

                        declare @Command varchar(max)
                        select
                            @Command = d.name
                        from
                            ((
                            sys.tables t join
                            sys.default_constraints d
                                on
                                    d.parent_object_id = t.object_id) join
                            sys.columns c
                                on
                                    c.object_id = t.object_id and
                                    c.column_id = d.parent_column_id)
                        where
                            t.name = @TableName and
                            c.name = @ColumnName
                        return @Command
                    end
                ";
            executeSQL(query);

            // Execute query that actually drops the constraint
            query = string.Format(@"
                    -- Use UDF to find constraint name
                    DECLARE @Constraint_Name VARCHAR(100)
                    SET @Constraint_Name = [dbo].GetDefaultConstraintName('{0}','{1}')

                    if LEN(@Constraint_Name) > 0 
                    BEGIN
                        DECLARE @query VARCHAR(300)
                        SET @query = 'ALTER TABLE {0} DROP CONSTRAINT ' + @Constraint_Name

                        execute(@query)
                    END", tableName, columnName);
            executeSQL(query);
        }

And in your migration, you can call it like this:

DropDefaultConstraint(TableName, "DefaultTaxPerDollar", q => Sql(q));

The reason for using the lamba is because you have to make three distinct calls to Sql(). I was never able to get this to work as one long query - tried many combinations of the keyword GO in many different places. I also tried reversing the logic on the first query so that the UDF only gets recreated if it does not exist, and it didn't work. I suppose recreating it every time is more robust anyway.