Entity Framework Extensions Soft Delete

Problem

You want to soft delete some entities currently in deleted state with BulkSaveChanges.

using (var ctx = new CurrentContext())
{
    var lastLogin = DateTime.Now.AddYears(-2);
    var list = ctx.Customers.Where(x => x.LastLogin < lastLogin).ToList();
    ctx.Customers.RemoveRange(list);
    
    // HOW to automatically handle soft delete?
    ctx.BulkSaveChanges();
}

Solution

You can use the EntityFrameworkManager.PreBulkSaveChanges property to change state & value from entities prior to the BulkSaveChanges execution.

Example

EntityFrameworkManager.PreBulkSaveChanges = context =>
{
    foreach (var entry in context.ChangeTracker.Entries())
    {
        if (entry.State == EntityState.Deleted && entry.Entity is Customer)
        {
            entry.State = EntityState.Modified;
            ((Customer) entry.Entity).IsDeleted = true;
        }
    }
};

using (var ctx = new CurrentContext())
{
    var lastLogin = DateTime.Now.AddYears(-2);
    var list = ctx.Customers.Where(x => x.LastLogin < lastLogin).ToList();
    ctx.Customers.RemoveRange(list);
    ctx.BulkSaveChanges();
}

Problem

You want to soft delete some entities currently in deleted state with BulkDelete.

using (var ctx = new CurrentContext())
{
    var lastLogin = DateTime.Now.AddYears(-2);
    var list = ctx.Customers.Where(x => x.LastLogin < lastLogin).ToList();
    
    // HOW to automatically handle soft delete?
    ctx.BulkDelete(list);
}

Solution

Unfortunately, there is no way to SoftDelete using BulkDelete. Since BulkDelete doesn't use ChangeTracker for optimization reasons, you will have to implement yourself an extension method to handle this scenario.

Example

public static class Extensions
{
    public static void BulkHardOrSoftDelete<T>(this DbContext ctx, IEnumerable<T> items) where T : class
    {
        var hardDelete = new List<T>();
        var softDelete = new List<T>();

        foreach (var item in items)
        {
            var customer = item as Customer;
            if (customer != null)
            {
                customer.IsDeleted = true;
                softDelete.Add(item);
            }
            else
            {
                hardDelete.Add(item);
            }
        }

        if (hardDelete.Count > 0)
        {
            ctx.BulkDelete(hardDelete);
        }
        if (softDelete.Count > 0)
        {
            ctx.BulkUpdate(softDelete);
        }
    }
}

using (var ctx = new CurrentContext())
{
	var lastLogin = DateTime.Now.AddYears(-2);
	var list = ctx.Customers.Where(x => x.LastLogin < lastLogin).ToList();

	ctx.BulkHardOrSoftDelete(list);
}
Last updated: 2023-02-25
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