Debugging Package Manager Console Update-Database Seed Method - entity-framework-5

Question

I wanted to debug the Seed() method in my Entity Framework database configuration class when I run Update-Database from the Package Manager Console but didn't know how to do it. I wanted to share the solution with others in case they have the same issue.

Answer 1

Here is similar question with a solution that works really well.
It does NOT require Thread.Sleep.
Just Launches the debugger using this code.
Clipped from the answer
if (!System.Diagnostics.Debugger.IsAttached)
System.Diagnostics.Debugger.Launch();

Answer 2

The way I solved this was to open a new instance of Visual Studio and then open the same solution in this new instance of Visual Studio. I then attached the debugger in this new instance to the old instance (devenv.exe) while running the update-database command. This allowed me to debug the Seed method.
Just to make sure I didn't miss the breakpoint by not attaching in time I added a Thread.Sleep before the breakpoint.
I hope this helps someone.

Answer 3

If you need to get a specific variable's value, a quick hack is to throw an exception:
throw new Exception(variable);

Answer 4

A cleaner solution (I guess this requires EF 6) would IMHO be to call update-database from code:
var configuration = new DbMigrationsConfiguration<TContext>();
var databaseMigrator = new DbMigrator(configuration);
databaseMigrator.Update();
This allows you to debug the Seed method.
You may take this one step further and construct a unit test (or, more precisely, an integration test) that creates an empty test database, applies all EF migrations, runs the Seed method, and drops the test database again:
var configuration = new DbMigrationsConfiguration<TContext>();
Database.Delete("TestDatabaseNameOrConnectionString");
var databaseMigrator = new DbMigrator(configuration);
databaseMigrator.Update();
Database.Delete("TestDatabaseNameOrConnectionString");
But be careful not to run this against your development database!

Answer 5

I know this is an old question, but if all you want is messages, and you don't care to include references to WinForms in your project, I made some simple debug window where I can send Trace events.
For more serious and step-by-step debugging, I'll open another Visual Studio instance, but it's not necessary for simple stuff.
This is the whole code:
SeedApplicationContext.cs
using System;
using System.Data.Entity;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Windows.Forms;
namespace Data.Persistence.Migrations.SeedDebug
{
public class SeedApplicationContext<T> : ApplicationContext
where T : DbContext
{
private class SeedTraceListener : TraceListener
{
private readonly SeedApplicationContext<T> _appContext;
public SeedTraceListener(SeedApplicationContext<T> appContext)
{
_appContext = appContext;
}
public override void Write(string message)
{
_appContext.WriteDebugText(message);
}
public override void WriteLine(string message)
{
_appContext.WriteDebugLine(message);
}
}
private Form _debugForm;
private TextBox _debugTextBox;
private TraceListener _traceListener;
private readonly Action<T> _seedAction;
private readonly T _dbcontext;
public Exception Exception { get; private set; }
public bool WaitBeforeExit { get; private set; }
public SeedApplicationContext(Action<T> seedAction, T dbcontext, bool waitBeforeExit = false)
{
_dbcontext = dbcontext;
_seedAction = seedAction;
WaitBeforeExit = waitBeforeExit;
_traceListener = new SeedTraceListener(this);
CreateDebugForm();
MainForm = _debugForm;
Trace.Listeners.Add(_traceListener);
}
private void CreateDebugForm()
{
var textbox = new TextBox {Multiline = true, Dock = DockStyle.Fill, ScrollBars = ScrollBars.Both, WordWrap = false};
var form = new Form {Font = new Font(#"Lucida Console", 8), Text = "Seed Trace"};
form.Controls.Add(tb);
form.Shown += OnFormShown;
_debugForm = form;
_debugTextBox = textbox;
}
private void OnFormShown(object sender, EventArgs eventArgs)
{
WriteDebugLine("Initializing seed...");
try
{
_seedAction(_dbcontext);
if(!WaitBeforeExit)
_debugForm.Close();
else
WriteDebugLine("Finished seed. Close this window to continue");
}
catch (Exception e)
{
Exception = e;
var einner = e;
while (einner != null)
{
WriteDebugLine(string.Format("[Exception {0}] {1}", einner.GetType(), einner.Message));
WriteDebugLine(einner.StackTrace);
einner = einner.InnerException;
if (einner != null)
WriteDebugLine("------- Inner Exception -------");
}
}
}
protected override void Dispose(bool disposing)
{
if (disposing && _traceListener != null)
{
Trace.Listeners.Remove(_traceListener);
_traceListener.Dispose();
_traceListener = null;
}
base.Dispose(disposing);
}
private void WriteDebugText(string message)
{
_debugTextBox.Text += message;
Application.DoEvents();
}
private void WriteDebugLine(string message)
{
WriteDebugText(message + Environment.NewLine);
}
}
}
And on your standard Configuration.cs
// ...
using System.Windows.Forms;
using Data.Persistence.Migrations.SeedDebug;
// ...
namespace Data.Persistence.Migrations
{
internal sealed class Configuration : DbMigrationsConfiguration<MyContext>
{
public Configuration()
{
// Migrations configuration here
}
protected override void Seed(MyContext context)
{
// Create our application context which will host our debug window and message loop
var appContext = new SeedApplicationContext<MyContext>(SeedInternal, context, false);
Application.Run(appContext);
var e = appContext.Exception;
Application.Exit();
// Rethrow the exception to the package manager console
if (e != null)
throw e;
}
// Our original Seed method, now with Trace support!
private void SeedInternal(MyContext context)
{
// ...
Trace.WriteLine("I'm seeding!")
// ...
}
}
}

Answer 6

Uh Debugging is one thing but don't forget to call:
context.Update()
Also don't wrap in try catch without a good inner exceptions spill to the console.
https://coderwall.com/p/fbcyaw/debug-into-entity-framework-code-first
with catch (DbEntityValidationException ex)

Answer 7

I have 2 workarounds (without Debugger.Launch() since it doesn't work for me):
To print message in Package Manager Console use exception:
throw new Exception("Your message");
Another way is to print message in file by creating a cmd process:
// Logs to file {solution folder}\seed.log data from Seed method (for DEBUG only)
private void Log(string msg)
{
string echoCmd = $"/C echo {DateTime.Now} - {msg} >> seed.log";
System.Diagnostics.Process.Start("cmd.exe", echoCmd);
}