Bulk Operations with Entity Framework Core 7.0

Entity Framework tracks all the entity changes and applies those changes to the database one by one when the SaveChanges() method is called. There was no way to execute bulk operations in Entity Framework Core without a dependency.

As you know the Entity Framework Extensions library was doing it but it was not free.

There was no other solution until now. Bulk Operations are now available in Entity Framework Core with .NET 7.

With .NET 7, there are two new methods such as ExecuteUpdate and ExecuteDelete available to execute bulk operations. It's a similar usage with the Entity Framework Core Extensions library if you're familiar with it.

You can visit the microsoft example here about how to use it.

It can be easily used with the DbContext.

awaitcontext.Tags.Where(t=>t.Text.Contains(".NET")).ExecuteDeleteAsync();

Using with ABP Framework

ABP Framework provides an abstraction over database operations and implements generic repository pattern. So, DbContext can’t be accessed outside of repositories.

You can use the ExecuteUpdate and ExecuteDelete methods inside a repository.

public class BookEntityFrameworkCoreRepository : EfCoreRepository<BookStoreDbContext, Book, Guid>, IBookRepository
{
    public BookEntityFrameworkCoreRepository(IDbContextProvider<BookStoreDbContext> dbContextProvider) : base(dbContextProvider)
    {
    }

    public async Task UpdateListingAsync()
    {
        var dbSet = await GetDbSetAsync();

        await dbSet
            .Where(x => x.IsListed && x.PublishedOn.Year <= 2022)
            .ExecuteUpdateAsync(s => s.SetProperty(x => x.IsListed, x => false));
    }

    public async Task DeleteOldBooksAsync()
    {
        var dbSet = await GetDbSetAsync();

        await dbSet
            .Where(x => x.PublishedOn.Year <= 2000)
            .ExecuteDeleteAsync();
    }
}

There is no need to take an action for bulk inserting. You can use the InsertManyAsync method of the repository instead of creating a new method for it if you don't have custom logic. It'll use a new bulk inserting feature automatically since it's available in EF Core 7.0.

public class MyDomainService : DomainService
{
    protected IRepository<Book, Guid> BookRepository { get; }

    public MyDomainService(IRepository<Book, Guid> bookRepository)
    {
        BookRepository = bookRepository;
    }

    public async Task CreateBooksAsync(List<Book> books)
    {
        // It'll use bulk inserting automatically.
        await BookRepository.InsertManyAsync(books);
    }
}

If you use ExecuteDeleteAsync or ExecuteUpdateAsync, then ABP's soft delete and auditing features can not work. Because these ABP features work with EF Core's change tracking system and these new methods doesn't work with the change tracking system. So, use them carefully.