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update-pipeline

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Implementation details for EF Core SaveChanges and the update pipeline. Use when changing CommandBatchPreparer, UpdateSqlGenerator, ModificationCommand, or related classes.

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Update Pipeline

Converts tracked entity changes into database INSERT/UPDATE/DELETE commands during SaveChanges().

Flow

SaveChanges() → DetectChanges() → IDatabase.SaveChanges() → UpdateAdapter creates IUpdateEntry list → CommandBatchPreparer.BatchCommands() → ModificationCommand per table row, composed of ColumnModification per column → SharedTableEntryMap is used to track entries mapped to the same row → Topological sort via Multigraph (FK dependency ordering) → Groups into ModificationCommandBatch (respects max batch size) → UpdateSqlGenerator generates SQL per batch → BatchExecutor executes all batches in a transaction → StateManager.AcceptAllChanges()

Concurrency

Concurrency tokens → WHERE conditions on UPDATE/DELETE. AffectedCountModificationCommandBatch checks affected rows. Throws DbUpdateConcurrencyException on mismatch.

Validation

  • SaveChanges() returns expected affected row count
  • Store-generated values propagate back to entities after INSERT/UPDATE
  • DbUpdateConcurrencyException thrown when expected for stale data