Entity framework - Check if entry exists before insertion and auto-increment

Question

I'm currently facing a minor issue regarding the process of saving data in EF. I am trying to insert or update multiple lines in a single transaction with an auto-incremented field.

Here is my code:

var Orders = ctx.Orders;
foreach (var order in ordersForm)
{
    var OrderEntity = Orders.Find(order.orderId);
    if (OrderEntity == null)
    {
        OrderEntity = new Order();
    }

    OrderEntity.Name = order.name;
    OrderEntity.Date = DateTime.Now;
    ...

    // If no order in the set --> add order
    if (!Orders.Local.Any(e => e == OrderEntity))
    {
        Orders.Add(OrderEntity);
    }
    if (ctx.Entry(Order).State == EntityState.Added 
       || ctx.Entry(Order).State == EntityState.Modified)
    {
        OrderEntity.DateModified = DateTime.Now;
        OrderEntity.LastUpdatedBy = Session["user"].ToString();
    }
    ...
}
ctx.SaveChanges();

So I am trying to get an entity from the db or the cache:

• if it exists then I update it
• if not, then I create a new one that I add to the context after setting the properties. The id will then be incremented at the database level after calling SaveChanges().

Please, note that since I didn't call the SaveChanges method my newly added entity will have an empty Id.

The problem comes up when I iterate a second time and that I have to create another object:

• if I call the Find method, it will return the entity added in the previous iteration. because the ID will be the same (null). The consequence is that my previously created object will be overwritten by the current one.

Here are my options:

• I know I could avoid this issue by using a Where instead of a Find but this is not an option, since it is supposed to save resources by requesting the store first.
• I could perform a check of the Id provided by the form first, and whether its value is null or not create an object or use the Find statement. However, I don't want to add more logic to my code if possible
• I could generate a temporary unique Id when I create the new object. But this is not very clean in my opinion.

This is the situation... I would like to know if there is any method or "pattern" which exists for this specific case or if I should aim one of the "solutions" mentioned above?

---

EDIT To my great misfortune, the system was made in a very questionable way...(not by me, hehe) T_T

To make it simple, there are two fields that are updated each time a change is made: updated_by and last_updated. This means that whenever you want to save data the updated_by field is different from the value in the database. So whenever you save data all objects are considered as modified since this field is updated.

That is why I need to go through a loop to update only the fields that I need (which means all the fields except the 2 mentioned).

Answer 1

Out of curiosity why is where not an option? personally i would do this by splitting the update items and the add items into two lists the use add range to add all the new items at the same time.

var newitems = ordersform.Where(i=> Orders.All(ii=>ii != i);
var updateItems = ordersform.Where(i=> Orders.Any(ii=> ii==i);
updateItems.Foreach(i => {Update Item};
Orders.AddRange(newItems);
ctx.SaveChanges();