ThrowawayDb

Easily create a disposable database that integration tests dead simple for Sql server using throwaway databases.

Available Packages

Package	Supports	Version
ThrowawayDb	SQL Server
ThrowawayDb.Postgres	Postgres
ThrowawayDb.MySQL	MySQL

Using SQL Server

Install ThrowawayDb from Nuget

dotnet add package ThrowawayDb

Use from your code

public static void Main(string[] args)
{
    using (var database = ThrowawayDatabase.FromLocalInstance("localhost\\SQLEXPRESS"))
    {
        Console.WriteLine($"Created database {database.Name}");

        // - Apply database migrations here if necessary
        // - Seed the database with data
        // - Execute your code against this database
        using var connection = new SqlConnection(database.ConnectionString);
        connection.Open();
        using var cmd = new SqlCommand("SELECT 1", connection);
        var result = Convert.ToInt32(cmd.ExecuteScalar());
        Console.WriteLine(result);
    }
}

In the snippet above, a dummy database with a random name is created using the current local instance of SQL Express on my machine. Moreover, the object database is an IDisposable and will drop the database at the end of the using clause when it's Dispose() is executed. It is that simple!

You can create the throwaway database in multiple ways:

// from Sql Express server locally with Integrated security
ThrowawayDatabase.FromLocalInstance("localhost\\SQLEXPRESS");

// Uses the default instance locally where Data Source = .
ThrowawayDatabase.FromDefaultLocalInstance();

// Using SQL Authentication with user credentials and an arbibrary host
ThrowawayDatabase.Create(username: "Zaid", password: "strongPassword", host: "192.168.1.100");

// Using a connection string where Initial Catalog is master
ThrowawayDatabase.Create(connectionString: "Data Source=localhost\\SQLEXPRESS;Initial Catalog=master;Integrated Security=True;");

// Specify a custom database prefix, otherwise it just uses ThrowawayDb
ThrowawayDatabase.FromLocalInstance("localhost\\SQLEXPRESS", "dbprefix_");

SQL server snapshot

You can create a snapshot of the database and restore it at a later point:

using var database = ThrowawayDatabase.FromLocalInstance("localhost\\SQLEXPRESS");

// execute necessary actions before initialising a snapshot
database.CreateSnapshot();

// execute some other actions which modify the database
database.RestoreSnapshot();

A snapshot can also be created as a snapshot scope. This way you ensure that the RestoreSnapshot method is always called.

using var database = ThrowawayDatabase.FromLocalInstance("localhost\\SQLEXPRESS");

using(var scope = database.CreateSnapshotScope())
{
    // execute actions that modifies the database, and that should only last inside this scope.
}

Using PostgreSQL server

Install ThrowawayDb.Postgres from Nuget

dotnet add package ThrowawayDb.Postgres

use from your code:

static void Main(string[] args)
{
    using (var database = ThrowawayDatabase.Create(username: "postgres", password: "postgres", host: "localhost"))
    {
        using var connection = new NpgsqlConnection(database.ConnectionString);
        connection.Open();
        using var cmd = new NpgsqlCommand("SELECT 1", connection);
        var result = Convert.ToInt32(cmd.ExecuteScalar());
        Console.WriteLine(result);
    }
}

Using MySQL server