Unable to find the requested .Net Framework Data Provider. VS 2017 Pro. MVC 5. EF 6. MySQL

Question

_{Friday, January 24, 2020 6:08 PM}

I was following a tutorial for using MySQL with EF6 and created an MVC5 app, naming it TestUniversity.
I ran "Install-Package MySql.ConnectorNET.Entity -Version 6.8.3.2" in Package Manager Console and got many lines including:
Successfully installed 'MySql.ConnectorNET.Data 6.8.3' to TestUniversity
The references include:
MySql.Data
MySql.Data.Entity.EF6

In the root Web.Config:
<connectionStrings>
<add name="MyDbContextConnectionString" providerName="MySql.Data.MySqlClient"
connectionString="server=<myserver>;UserId=<myuserid>;
database=Track;CharSet=utf8;Persist Security Info=True"/>
</connectionStrings>

I created Models named Course.cs, Enrollment.cs, and Student.cs
I right-click the Models Folder and select Add > Controller
In the dialog I select
MVC 5 Controller with views, using Entity Framework and click the Add button
I fill out Add Controller dialog with:
Student (TestUniversity.Models)
MyDbContext (TestUniversity.DAL)
Generate Views
Reference Script Libraries
Use a layout page
StudentController
And click the Add button

I get this Error window:
There was an error running the selected code generator:
'Unable to retrieve metadata for 'TestUniversity.Models.Student', Unable to find
the requested .Net Framework Data Provider. It may not be installed.

What went wrong and how can I fix it?
Thanks

All replies (7)

_{Friday, January 24, 2020 7:01 PM}

You need the MySQL data provider information in the web.comfig too

_{Friday, January 24, 2020 7:49 PM}

Thank you. I looked further in the root Web.Config. It contains:

<DbProviderFactories>
<remove name="MySQL Data Provider" invariant="MySql.Data.MySqlClient" />
<add name="MySQL Data Provider" invariant="MySql.Data.MySqlClient" description=".Net Framework Data Provider for MySQL" type="MySql.Data.MySqlClient.MySqlClientFactory, MySql.Data, Version=6.8.3.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=c5687fc88969c44d" />
</DbProviderFactories>

Does that provide the needful?

Thanks,

_{Friday, January 24, 2020 8:09 PM}

Oh, wait. I also found this:

<entityFramework>
<providers>
<provider invariantName="System.Data.SqlClient" type="System.Data.Entity.SqlServer.SqlProviderServices, EntityFramework.SqlServer" />
</providers>
</entityFramework>

So I changed it to: <provider invariantName="MySql.Data.MySqlClient" type="MySQL.Data.Entity.EF6" /> inside the <providers> element.

It is either wrong or not complete enough: Now I get:

There was an error running the selected code generator:
'Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation.'

_{Friday, January 24, 2020 9:00 PM}

IMO, you should use the EF 6 DB first approach in a dummy console program, becuase it generates the connectionstring and provider information is a generated app.config. You can then copy the information to your Web.config.

_{Saturday, January 25, 2020 1:30 AM}

>EF 6 DB first approach in a dummy console program

Thank you. I will give that a try.

_{Tuesday, January 28, 2020 2:37 PM}

>IMO, you should use the EF 6 DB first approach in a dummy console program

I am having difficulty finding examples/instructions of sufficient detail to do this. Can you supply a link to an appropriate example?

Thank you.

_{Thursday, January 30, 2020 2:31 AM}

Hi JonJacobs,

If you want an EF  6 DB first example, you can directly refer to the example on Microsoft official website, which is it's link:

/en-us/ef/ef6/modeling/designer/workflows/database-first

Best Regards,

YongQing.