Configure a One-to-Many Relationship

• Jul 30, 2025
• 5 minutes to read

This lesson explains how to create a One-to-Many relationship between two entities and how XAF generates the UI for such a relationship.

Note

Before you proceed, take a moment to review the previous lessons:

• Implement a Data Model: Basics
• Extend the Data Model
• Supply Initial Data

Employee-Department Relationship

1. In the MySolution.Module\Business Objects folder, create the Department class. Replace the generated class declaration with the following code:

   using DevExpress.Persistent.Base;
   using DevExpress.Persistent.BaseImpl.EF;
   using System.ComponentModel;
   
   namespace MySolution.Module.BusinessObjects {
       [DefaultClassOptions]
       [DefaultProperty(nameof(Title))]
       public class Department : BaseObject {
           public virtual string Title { get; set; }
           public virtual string Office { get; set; }
       }
   }
   

   The code applies the DefaultProperty attribute to the Department class. Use this attribute to specify the most descriptive property of your class. Default property values are displayed in the following UI elements:

   • Detail form captions
   • The leftmost column of a List View
   • Lookup List Views

   Refer to the following topic for more information: Data Annotations in Data Model.

2. Go to the MySolution.Module\MySolutionDbContext file and add a DbSet of the Department class:

   public class MySolutionEFCoreDbContext : DbContext {
       //...
       public DbSet<Department> Departments { get; set; }
   }
   

3. Add the Department reference property to the Employee class:

   //...
   public class Employee : BaseObject {
       //...
       public virtual Department Department { get; set; }
   }
   

   When you add a reference property of one entity type to another entity type, you establish the “One” part of the relationship between these entities. In this case it is a relationship between the Department and Employee entity classes.

   Note that the property has the virtual access modifier for lazy loading implementation. For additional information, refer to the Microsoft documentation: Lazy Loading.

4. Add the Employees collection property to the Department class and initialize it in the constructor:

   // ...
   using System.Collections.ObjectModel;
   //...
   public class Department : BaseObject {
       //..
       public virtual IList<Employee> Employees { get; set; } = new ObservableCollection<Employee>();
   }
   

   This way, you implement the “Many” part of the relationship between the Department object and the Employee object.

5. Run the application.

   Open the Department Detail View. You can see the Employees group. This is how XAF renders the Employees collection property.

   To add objects to the Employees collection, use the New or Link button in this tab. The Link button allows users to add references to existing Employee objects.

   ASP.NET Core Blazor

   

   Windows Forms

   

   To remove a reference to an object from this collection, select this object and click Unlink.

   Tip

   If you create a new Department and then create a new Employee in the Employees collection, the associated Department is not immediately visible in the Detail View of the newly created Employee object. The link between these objects is added later when you save the Employee object. To change this behavior, use the XafApplication.LinkNewObjectToParentImmediately property. When the property value is true, the application creates a link and saves it immediately after you click New.

6. Open the Employee Detail View. In this view, XAF creates a lookup editor for the Department reference property. Lookup editors support incremental filtering. This editor uses a special type of View — Lookup List View. The Lookup List View includes a single column that displays the values of the default property. In your application, these are the values of the Title property.

   ASP.NET Core Blazor

   

   Windows Forms

   

Note

The most common pattern for a relationship is to define properties on both ends of the relationship. At the same time, according to the conventions of Entity Framework Core, it is sufficient to add only the reference property (the “One” part). It establishes the “One-To-Many” relationship between entities and Entity Framework Core automatically creates a foreign key to the related table in the database.

The main difference between these techniques is how XAF renders the application’s UI. When you omit the “Many” part of the relationship, XAF doesn’t create an editor for the omitted collection property in the Detail View of the entity class. You can see an example of this in the following lesson: Implement Reference Properties.

Exercise: Create an Employee-PhoneNumber Relationship

1. Create a PhoneNumber class and implement a One-To-Many relationship between this class and the Employee class. This time the Employee should be the “One” part of the relationship, while the PhoneNumber should be the “Many” part. You can find the type declaration in the code sample below.

   Tip

   Remember to register the new entity in DbContext.

   Use the code sample below to replace the autogenerated class declaration in the PhoneNumber class:

   using DevExpress.Persistent.BaseImpl.EF;
   using System.ComponentModel;
   
   namespace MySolution.Module.BusinessObjects;
   
   [DefaultProperty(nameof(Number))]
   public class PhoneNumber : BaseObject {
        public virtual String Number { get; set; }
        public virtual String PhoneType { get; set; }
        public override String ToString() {
            return Number;
        }
   }
   

   This class is not visible in the navigation control.

2. Run the application. Open the Employee Detail View to see the Phone Numbers group:

   ASP.NET Core Blazor

   

   Windows Forms

   

Next Lesson

Configure a Many-to-Many Relationship