No design time data with entity framework 5 in Visual Studio - wpf

Question

Hi I build a simple test solution in VS 2012 with two projects.
One is a Class library and the other a WPF application.
Both use .NET 4.5.
In the class library I add an EF element (DataFirst) which maps a simple table.
Next I reference this project in my WPF project.
Add EF from Nuget and using a very simple MVVM like pattern I add a class which looks like this (please note - this is not production code - it's just to reproduce the problem).
public class Class1 {
public static Helper TheHelper { get; set; }
public Class1() {
TheHelper = new Helper();
}
}
public class Helper {
public Helper() {
Nam = "aaa";
}
string connectionString = "metadata=res://*/Mod.csdl|res://*/Mod.ssdl|res://*/Mod.msl;provider=System.Data.SqlClient;provider connection string=\";data source=.\\sqlx8r2;initial catalog=FCdata;integrated security=True;MultipleActiveResultSets=True;App=EntityFramework\"";
public string Nam { get; set; }
#region PCs
private List<PC> m_lPCs;
public List<PC> PCs {
get {
if(m_lPCs == null) {
try {
using(FCdataEntities dE = new FCdataEntities(connectionString)) {
m_lPCs = dE.PCs.ToList();
}
}
catch(Exception eX) {
m_lPCs = new List<PC>();
m_lPCs.Add(new PC() { Description = eX.Message });
}
}
return m_lPCs;
}
set {
if(m_lPCs != value) {
m_lPCs = value;
//RaisePropertyChanged(() => PCs);
}
}
}
#endregion
I also extended the context class like this:
public partial class FCdataEntities : DbContext {
public FCdataEntities(string strCon) : base(strCon) {
}
}
So I can pass the connection string which I copy from app.config.
In my main window I do a simple binding like this:
xmlns:local="clr-namespace:EFTest"
Title="MainWindow" Height="350" Width="1525">
<Window.Resources>
<local:Class1 x:Key="dG" />
</Window.Resources>
<Grid DataContext="{Binding Path=TheHelper, Source={StaticResource dG} }">
<Grid.RowDefinitions>
<RowDefinition Height="17*"/>
<RowDefinition Height="143*"/>
</Grid.RowDefinitions>
<TextBox Text="{Binding Nam}" />
<ListBox ItemsSource="{Binding PCs}" Grid.Row="1">
<ListBox.ItemTemplate>
<DataTemplate>
<TextBlock Text="{Binding Description}" />
</DataTemplate>
</ListBox.ItemTemplate>
</ListBox>
</Grid>
The solution works fine at runtime.
But in the VS Designer I get an exception shown in my "dummy obect" which I create in the catch block of the property.
Could not load file or assembly 'Windows, Version=255.255.255.255, Culture=neutral, ContentType=WindowsRuntime' or one of its dependencies. Operation is not supported. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80131515)
What I need is data at design time - and no "dummy data" - instead I want to get it from the DB - avoiding the use of EF (and use linq2sql for an example) works like a charm.
Did I make a mistake with the connection string (or so) - or is there simply a problem in EF 5.0?

Answer 1

This particular error is a known issue in Entity Framework 5 with the Visual Studio & Expression designers and has been fixed in the Entity Framework 6 source code. However there are other design time errors which I haven't been able to resolve which prevent Entity Framework code from running in the designer.