ComputerGamesORM

Three-layer .NET 8 Windows Forms desktop application with Entity Framework Core Code First and SQL Server LocalDB.

Solution Architecture

• ComputerGamesORM.WinForms - primary presentation layer. Contains the polished WinForms CRUD UI, DI startup, LocalDB configuration, validation feedback, confirmation dialogs, and async event handlers.
• ComputerGamesORM.Business - business logic layer. Contains service contracts, DTOs, edit models, validation rules, and CRUD operations.
• ComputerGamesORM.Data - data access layer. Contains EF Core entities, configurations, DbContext, repository implementation, migrations, design-time context factory, and database initializer.
• ComputerGamesORM.Presentation - legacy console presentation kept for reference and compatibility.
• ComputerGamesORM.Tests - NUnit tests for service-level CRUD and validation behavior using SQLite in-memory relational storage.

Database Model

Code First creates database ComputerGamesORM with two related tables:

• Games
  • Id primary key
  • Name required, max length 200, unique index
• GameDescriptions
  • Id primary key
  • Description required, max length 2000
  • GameId required foreign key to Games.Id

The relationship is one-to-one. Deleting a game cascades to its description.

NuGet Packages

Main packages used:

• Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore
• Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.SqlServer
• Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Design
• Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Tools
• Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.Json
• Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection
• Microsoft.Extensions.Logging.Abstractions
• Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Sqlite for relational tests
• NUnit, NUnit3TestAdapter, Microsoft.NET.Test.Sdk

WinForms Features

• Modern dark UI with responsive table/details layout
• Search by ID, game name, or description
• Customized DataGridView
• Details/edit panel
• Add, edit, delete, save, cancel, refresh workflows
• Input validation with ErrorProvider
• Duplicate name prevention in BLL
• Delete confirmation dialog
• Status notifications
• Startup database migration and sample seed data

Build, Test, and Run

Restore dependencies:

dotnet restore

Restore EF Core CLI tool:

dotnet tool restore

Build and test:

dotnet build
dotnet test

Run the Windows Forms app:

dotnet run --project src/ComputerGamesORM.WinForms

The WinForms app uses LocalDB by default:

Server=(localdb)\MSSQLLocalDB;Database=ComputerGamesORM;Trusted_Connection=True;TrustServerCertificate=True;MultipleActiveResultSets=true

The database is migrated automatically on startup.

The Docker target is intentionally limited to the legacy console project. The production WinForms UI is an interactive Windows desktop application and should be launched on Windows.

EF Core Migration Commands

Add a migration:

dotnet ef migrations add InitialCreate --project src/ComputerGamesORM.Data --startup-project src/ComputerGamesORM.WinForms --context ComputerGamesContext --output-dir Migrations

Apply migrations manually:

dotnet ef database update --project src/ComputerGamesORM.Data --startup-project src/ComputerGamesORM.WinForms --context ComputerGamesContext

Future Improvements

• Add pagination for very large game catalogs.
• Add richer metadata such as genre, platform, release year, and publisher.
• Add integration tests against SQL Server LocalDB in addition to the SQLite relational tests.
• Add import/export for CSV or Excel catalog management.