Entity Framework - positioning new entity after “Update Model”

Question

When using “Update Model from Database” a new entity usually appears at the bottom of diagram. This is quite annoying and it’s a time consuming. One must to scroll all over the diagram in order to find new entity. Sure, there are few details which can help:

• If new entity has relations, new relations are highlighted so it’s kind of help.
• One can always open “Model browser” and find an entity inside proper group of items.
• Multiple diagrams are less cluttered, so it’s easier to find entity in smaller diagram.

Still, the way EF decides where to put new entity can be really annoying. Sometimes I have an impression I have to scroll down to the equator to fetch new table ;-(

My question is: Is there any way to get EF works like database diagram in SQL Server, dropping new entity into upper left corner?

Answer 1

No, there isn't, sadly. Given what's going on there - any new tables MUST be on the diagram - I don't see much hope of a great improvement. If you generate the model from a complex db with e.g. 50 tables, dropping them all into the same corner is not going to help.

However, what you can do to find the new table(s) is this: click on the icon at the bottom right and hold the mouse down:

you will get a thumbnail of where all the tables are, and can move the mouse (still held down) over it and the main window will follow the area you are dragging over. Release the mouse button when you've found the one right at the bottom, and move it:

It doesn't fix it, but it makes it a bit easier.