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.net-4.0entity-framework-4navigation-propertiescomplextype

EF4 complex type with navigation property (is it possible) or alternatives?


I hit the wall with doing EF4 Model with DB first approach using Linq-to-Entities with POCO...

I have two tables: Customer and NamePrefix that are related via NamePrefixId. Columns are:

Customer             NamePrefix
----------           ----------
CustomerId (PK)      NamePrefixId (PK)
NamePrefixId (FK)
LastName
FirstName
MiddleInitial
....

In this instance the Customer entity has a navigational property NamePrefix. I created a complex type NameOfPerson, so that I can use it in other entities. The complex type consists of NamePrefixId, LastName, FirstName, MiddleInitial. But now I am getting the following error message on the navigational property to NamePrefix:

Error 111: There is no property with name 'NamePrefixId' defined in type referred by Role 'Customer'.

Is there a way to accomplish this?


Solution

  • This is described directly in Complex type help page. Complex types cannot contain navigation properties.