CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c#databaseasp.net-mvc-3entity-framework
BattlFrog
BattlFrog

Reputation: 3397

When is it necessary to dispose db connection

I have a class that contains several common methods customized for use in my MVC app, that I use in several places. Here is an example of some:

    private MyEntities db = new MyEntities();


    public List<SelectListItem> GetLocationList()
    {
        var query =
                db.v_LocationsAlphabetical.OrderByDescending(x => x.Category).ThenBy(x => x.LocationName).ToList()
                .Select(x => new SelectListItem
                {
                    Value = x.LocationID.ToString(),
                    Text = x.LocationName
                });

        return (query).ToList();
    }

    public IEnumerable<SelectListItem> GetStates()
    {
        var query = db.States.Select(x => new SelectListItem
        {
            Value = x.Abbr,
            Text = x.Name
        });

        return(query);
    }

    public List<Person> GetPeople()
    {
        var query = db.Person.OrderBy(m => m.LastName).ThenBy(m => m.FirstName).ToList();

        return (query);

    }

Each one of these methods makes a call to the database to get data and I was wondering if I need to add a dispose to each method. If not, why? Thanks.

Upvotes: 3

Views: 2235

Answers (3)

Robert McKee
Robert McKee

Reputation: 21477

No. DbContexts don't have to be manually disposed, unless you manually manage the connection yourself. Therefore, disposing them is usually optional.

Upvotes: 0

walther
walther

Reputation: 13600

There are multiple ways of handling db connection in .NET
One of my favorites is the one called one dbcontext per request, which basically means you initialize your dbcontext when needed, do the work without thinking about instantiating or disposing, and dispose automatically when the request is done. (kinda UnitOfWork-ish)

I've already shown this approach here. It's not only applicable to EF, but to Linq2SQL, ADO.NET, etc. as well.

Upvotes: 0

recursive
recursive

Reputation: 86084

You shouldn't call dispose in each method, because the lifetime of db is the same as that of the enclosing class since it's not a local variable in a method.

The typical way to handle this is to make the current class IDisposable and call db.Dispose() in the Dispose() method.

Upvotes: 6

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