How to do a simple entity copy in Linq-to-SQL? - linq-to-sql

Question

When using a Linq-to-SQL class, how can I make a simple copy of an entity and save it?
My entity has a guid for a unique ID that gets automatically generated in the SQL Server.
I don't require a "deep clone".
I tried to use some clone methods that are out there but I couldn't figure out how to get everything serialized that needed to be serialized (got stuck on the DataContext not being serializable).
Can I just get an entity, detach it from the DataContext, null out the unique ID and InsertOnSubmit in a new DataContext? If so, how would I do this?
VB.net code preferred but not required.
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UPDATE:
Public Shared Function ReIssue(RequestID As Guid) As Guid
Dim req As Request
Dim new_req As Request
Using dc1 As New MBDataContext()
req = (From r In dc1.Requests Where r.ID = RequestID).Single()
End Using
new_req = req
new_req.ID = Guid.Empty
new_req.CreateDate = Nothing
Using dc2 As New MBDataContext()
dc2.Requests.InsertOnSubmit(new_req)
dc2.SubmitChanges()
End Using
End Function
I get an error: An attempt has been made to Attach or Add an entity that is not new, perhaps having been loaded from another DataContext. This is not supported.
on this line: dc2.Requests.InsertOnSubmit(new_req)

Answer 1

Nulling out the unique id and then calling InsertOnSubmit is the right way to go. Some things you have to consider though:
What is the type of the id? Is it an int? A Guid? Is it nullable? If it is nullable, make sure to set it to null, if it is an int, then to 0, or a Guid, then to Guid.Empty.
Does the type have a timestamp of some kind? If so, then you have to reset/set it to null as well, depending on the type.
Once you've done that, you can call InsertOnSubmit and then SubmitChanges and the change should take place.
Note, if you are doing this for a large number of records, you are better off writing a stored procedure which will perform the insert into the table using a select from the other table. It will be much faster that way (you won't be loading the data from the database into memory then pushing it back, inserting the records one at a time).

Answer 2

This method seems to have worked perfectly.
Making the final code look like this:
Public Shared Function ReIssue(RequestID As Guid) As Guid
Using dc As New MBDataContext()
Dim req As Request
req = (From r In dc.Requests Where r.ID = RequestID).Single()
Dim new_req As Request = DirectCast(Entity.Copy(req, New Request()), Request)
dc.Requests.InsertOnSubmit(new_req)
dc.SubmitChanges()
req.ActiveRequestParentID = new_req.ID
dc.SubmitChanges()
Return new_req.ID
End Using
End Function
Public NotInheritable Class Entity
Private Sub New()
End Sub
Public Shared Function Copy(source As Object, destination As Object) As Object
Dim sourceProps As System.Reflection.PropertyInfo() = source.[GetType]().GetProperties()
Dim destinationProps As System.Reflection.PropertyInfo() = destination.[GetType]().GetProperties()
For Each sourceProp As System.Reflection.PropertyInfo In sourceProps
Dim column As ColumnAttribute = TryCast(Attribute.GetCustomAttribute(sourceProp, GetType(ColumnAttribute)), ColumnAttribute)
If column IsNot Nothing AndAlso Not column.IsPrimaryKey Then
For Each destinationProp As System.Reflection.PropertyInfo In destinationProps
If sourceProp.Name = destinationProp.Name AndAlso destinationProp.CanWrite Then
destinationProp.SetValue(destination, sourceProp.GetValue(source, Nothing), Nothing)
Exit For
End If
Next
End If
Next
Return destination
End Function
End Class