How do I Implement a Circular Reference in Entity Core Framework 5

I am trying to store a set of nodes that have references to other nodes using Entity Framework Core. Each node can reference X number of nodes. Let's use the following graph as an example.

Below is a map of which nodes go with.

A -> B

B -> C

C -> B

C -> A

C -> D

D -> C

Here is my setup in Entity Framework Core. I am using a List of Locations

public class Location  {     public Guid Id { get; set; }     public string Name { get; set; }     public List<Location> Locations { get; set; }  }  

I then map A to B. Everything goes well. But when I try to reference B to A it produces a circular reference error. Here a and b are both Location types.

a.Locations.Add(b);  context.SaveChanges();    b.Locations.Add(a);  context.SaveChanges();  // Circular Reference Error Here  

I think using the Fluent API holds the key. I've tried the following but that leads to an error about a missing key but I don't have a way to add a key. Here is my attempt.

modelBuilder.Entity<Location>(e =>   {       e.HasMany(l => l.Locations)           .WithMany(l => l.Locations);   });  

How do I implement a circular many to many relationship as described?

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/66631153/how-do-i-implement-a-circular-reference-in-entity-core-framework-5 March 15, 2021 at 09:03AM