Entity Framework Extensions InsertKeepIdentity

Definition

The BulkOperation.InsertKeepIdentity sets if the source identity value should be preserved on Insert. When not specified, identity values are assigned by the destination.

In the following example, the InsertKeepIdentity is enabled and the specified value for IdentityInt column will be stored in the database instead of the database generated values on INSERT operation.

List<Customer> list =  new List<Customer>() 
{
    new Customer() { CustomerID = 1, IdentityInt = 3, Name ="Customer_A" }, 
    new Customer() { CustomerID = 2, IdentityInt = 2, Name ="Customer_B" }, 
    new Customer() { CustomerID = 3, IdentityInt = 4, Name ="Customer_C" }
};
				
using (var context = new EntityContext())
{
    context.BulkInsert(list, options => options.InsertKeepIdentity = true);
}

Try it in EF6 | Try it in EF Core

Purpose

The InsertKeepIdentity option let you keep the source identity value when inserting.

For example, when importing a file, you may want to keep the value specified.