Install Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Tools to avoid embarrassment

[TheBottleCyber]

It took me a while to figure out somewhere the plugin worked, but in some project it did not and why it wasn't looking for the Startup Project, until I found that you have to use the Tools package to migrate. It would be cool to offer to install this package somehow, or install it automatically in the project which contains DatabaseContext

Unfortunately I don't know kotlin and Jetbrains plugins code, I can't create a PR, but I believe it's easy to do, thank you

[seclerp]

Hello,

Basic concepts and rules of using EF Core are out of the scope of this plugin, Currently, it's a clever wrapper over dotnet ef command line tool, so all requirements that are suitable for dotnet ef are also suitable for the plugin.

You can't execute any dotnet ef command without having .Design or .Tools NuGet package installed into startup project.

But even if we go this way of adding the functionality that you are talking about, how exactly do you expect it to be presented on the UI? We have a dropdown for startup projects, only correct projects could be listed there. We could make a comment near this field to describe a requirement for the dropdown a bit better, for example.

[TheBottleCyber]

Hi, @seclerp, thanks for the detailed reply.

I also saw that some plugin users created #issues(#112) with the same question, and they were asked to install the Tools package, which is correct. But we can simplify it.

The simplest way to detect detect is Tools installed:

1. The plugin already finds DatabaseContext whether Tools is installed or not
2. The plugin already finds any projects to create Migrations whether Tools is installed or not
3. If the startup project is not found (the startup project is determined by the Tools installation definition, I think):
   ask user to install Tools package (like "Drop Database" confirmation dialogue)
   

The hard way is install EntityFrameworkCore.Tools for a DatabaseContext project, I don't think that will work for everyone. You can use "Tools package is missed" dialog, but use "Install" and "Cancel" instead of "Ok".

[TheBottleCyber]

I'm talking about whether or not to output "Why is my project not listed here?" under the startup project if the project is found. However, I think it is not so important

[seclerp]

Ah, I see. No, let's just show the comment permanently, as you may have other projects in your solution.

[seclerp]

@TheBottleCyber please use such URL as a hyperlink on a label:

https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/18147-entity-framework-core-ui/f-a-q#why-i-cant-see-my-project-in-a-startup-projects-field

I will also create a feature issue in a couple of minutes.

Edit: Issue #114

[TheBottleCyber]

I just finished writing an .md file that you can put on github, I think it's the right thing to do. Should I create a pull request with the .md file?

[seclerp]

Lets move it to plugin marketplace F.A.Q. page. I will also add the link to this page to the README.

You could create a PR including your description and I will update the info on the F.A.Q. page.