MVC 3, Entity Framework 4.x, Database First, Desperation

VS2010 Pro + SqlServer Express.

Having been dropped into ASP.NET MVC 3 with no guidance but the web (2 books on order), I can't even get off the ground.

The MVC itself I开发者_如何学C get. Not a problem. PHP, Ruby, and even ghastly WebForms firmly tucked into my toolbelt, with a long history of C++ QT client-server development before that.

Tying ASP.NET MVC 3 to a database using EF4 ORM is killing me.

The goals:

1. Use database modeled by DBA. I can specify all naming conventions, but code first is not an option!
2. Import to EDMX. This will be regularly updated using VS tools from the DBA's DB, never edited directly.
3. Generate partial classes from EDMX, for use as model. This will regularly be updated using VS tools, never edited directly.
4. Use 'buddy' to extend above model class with code as the Controllers/Views need.
5. Intuitively use the resulting model, pass it to the view, retrieve posts into it for insert/save, etc...

I've seen and read so many blogs, forum posts, walkthroughs, and stack overflow posts regarding this very use case. I even tried riding the magic unicorn, followed by the latest 4.2beta1 with DbContext generators.

But can't get off the ground. I follow instructions, but just not understanding how to do anything with it. What conventions does the 'buddy' require (if any)? How do I use it? How do I get data with it? How do I write data? Every example looks different. MVC guides are always focused on the UI side. EF guides don't cover usage in the MVC.

These are basic questions, and I'm feeling like the most incompetent idiot in the WWW right now.

Is anyone out there currently using MVC3 & EF4.x in the way I describe above?

This video is a good starting resource. Its a video of a guy creating an app from scratch that uses entity and a sql database (though he makes the db in the video, its still good for seeing some basics in action). You can see how he pulls data from the database, displays it on the page, and saves changes back to the database.

The first question I would ask is why are you stuck on using EF as an ORM or even insisting an ORM at all? I'd choose tools to suit the job here, especially given the constraints of the data layer.

Buddy classes were a concept invented in a day when the main .NET ORMs had no code-first option as ORM-encumbered class instances really don't behave well under things like model binding. Nevermind you could not decorate them with the DataAnnotations one used to indicate fields were required. Typically, the technical requirement is to use [MetadataType] attributes to tie your buddies to your models and perhaps something like AutoMapper to map data to and fro.

All that said, as a guy who has a few apps with lots of buddies and lots of automapping going on, you might want to think otherwise -- it is a bit of a maintenance nightmare. I'm living it.

There are some really good getting-started videos and tutorials right on ASP.NET MVC's site. The "Model (Data)" section is Entity Framework focused and touches on hot/trending topics like Repositories and Units Of Work.