Sqlite with in memory database throws mapping exception depending on connection string

[Airlea404]

I created a repository at https://github.com/Airlea404/EFExtensionsTest with the trial version to help explain it.

In our project we use database schemas, sqlite does not support that and ignores it if we use the connection string "Data Source=:memory:". If we use "Data Source=InMemorySample;Mode=Memory;Cache=Shared" however, BulkInsert throws an exception:

Exception thrown: 'System.Exception' in Z.EntityFramework.Extensions.EFCore.dll Unhandled exception. System.Exception: An error occured while resolving mapping by name. See the inner exception for details ---> System.Exception: Missing Column : CarId On entity : Car On Table : "test.Cars" at Z.BulkOperations.BulkOperation.(String , Boolean , Boolean , Boolean ) at Z.BulkOperations.BulkOperation.() --- End of inner exception stack trace --- at Z.BulkOperations.BulkOperation.() at Z.BulkOperations.BulkOperation.Execute() at Z.BulkOperations.BulkOperation.BulkInsert() at .BulkInsert[T](DbContext this, IEntityType entityType, IEnumerable1 list, Action1 options, SavingSelector savingSelector, Boolean forceSpecificTypeMapping, Boolean isOptimized) at .BulkInsert[T](DbContext this, IEnumerable1 entities, Action1 options, Boolean isBulkSaveChanges, Boolean isOptimized) at DbContextExtensions.BulkInsert[T](DbContext this, IEnumerable1 entities, Action1 options) at DbContextExtensions.BulkInsert[T](DbContext this, IEnumerable1 entities)
at EFExtensionsTest.CarRepository.BulkInsertCars(IEnumerable1 cars) in C:\code\EFExtensionsTest\EFExtensionsTest\CarRepository.cs:line 85 at Program.<Main>$(String[] args) in C:\code\EFExtensionsTest\EFExtensionsTest\Program.cs:line 25

It seems that with that specific connection string Z.EntityFramework.Extensions does use the schema and can't find the table (as shown by "On Table : "test.Cars"". The exception is also talking about a missing column, but I think it's actually about the table and the schema. If I remove the schema in CarsDbContext, it does work. This is not expected behaviour. Is this a bug?

[JonathanMagnan]

Hello @Airlea404 ,

The concept of Schema Name is not really supported in SQLite.

When you do entity.ToTable("Cars", "test");

EF Core (so without our library) never really use the test. It get ignored:

Table: Cars
Table: sqlite_sequence
info: 2026-05-11 08:24:49.788 RelationalEventId.CommandExecuted[20101] (Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Database.Command)
      Executed DbCommand (2ms) [Parameters=[@p0='Toyota' (Nullable = false) (Size = 6), @p1='Camry' (Nullable = false) (Size = 5)], CommandType='Text', CommandTimeout='30']
      INSERT INTO "Cars" ("Make", "Model")
      VALUES (@p0, @p1)
      RETURNING "CarId";
info: 2026-05-11 08:24:49.804 RelationalEventId.CommandExecuted[20101] (Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Database.Command)
      Executed DbCommand (0ms) [Parameters=[@p0='BMW' (Nullable = false) (Size = 3), @p1='3 Series' (Nullable = false) (Size = 8)], CommandType='Text', CommandTimeout='30']
      INSERT INTO "Cars" ("Make", "Model")
      VALUES (@p0, @p1)
      RETURNING "CarId";
info: 2026-05-11 08:24:49.805 RelationalEventId.CommandExecuted[20101] (Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Database.Command)
      Executed DbCommand (0ms) [Parameters=[@p0='Ford' (Nullable = false) (Size = 4), @p1='Mustang' (Nullable = false) (Size = 7)], CommandType='Text', CommandTimeout='30']
      INSERT INTO "Cars" ("Make", "Model")
      VALUES (@p0, @p1)
      RETURNING "CarId";
info: 2026-05-11 08:24:49.934 RelationalEventId.CommandExecuted[20101] (Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Database.Command)
      Executed DbCommand (0ms) [Parameters=[], CommandType='Text', CommandTimeout='30']
      SELECT "c"."CarId", "c"."Make", "c"."Model"
      FROM "Cars" AS "c"
ID: 1, Make: Toyota, Model: Camry
ID: 2, Make: BMW, Model: 3 Series
ID: 3, Make: Ford, Model: Mustang

So, I'm not really sure to understand this sentence "In our project we use database schemas", as no schema is used from query created by EF Core.

One solution on our side to this "bug" will be to ignore the schema name when we are in a SQLite database but for us, it looks more like a bad configuration (to specify a schema name) than a bug.

Let me know if we misunderstand something about the schema, as currently, we just don't know how to make it work through a schema either.

Best Regards,

Jon

[Airlea404]

Hi @JonathanMagnan, thank you for your reply.

You are right, EFCore ignores the schema when you use sqlite. We use mssql in production (so that's the reason schemas are configured), but in tests we use an in memory sqlite database. That works fine regarding the schemas as we don't need to change our configuration and EFCore just ignores them. But depending on the connection string that is used (see my referenced project) your BulkInsert ignores it as well (which is what I'd expect) or does not seem to ignore it and throws an exception.

"Data Source=:memory:" BulkInsert ignores the schema and works as expected.
"Data Source=InMemorySample;Mode=Memory;Cache=Shared" BulkInsert does not seem to ignore the schema. At least I think it's because of the schema because of the exception message. We'd like to use this connection string because that allows us to open multiple connections to the same in memory database.

I understand we could change our configuration and do not use a schema when sqlite is used. But I'd rather avoid that, since we'd only need to do that to make BulkInsert work with a specific connection string.

I hope this makes it more clear. Put in other words: can you explain why BulkInsert throws an exception in my reference project when the second connection string is used?

Or am I missing something that should be obvious?

[JonathanMagnan]

Hello @Airlea404 ,

Thank you for the additional information.

It would makes sense for us to start ignoring the schema name (like EF Core do), especially when you said "We use mssql in production (so that's the reason schemas are configured)".

I now better understand why you use this configuration. This is not for SQLite, but for SQL Server.

We will look at it and fix it on our side.

Best Regards,

Jon

[JonathanMagnan]

Hello @Airlea404,

Just to let you know that the schema name will be automatically ignored starting with the next release.

We currently don’t have a planned release date yet, but at worst, it should be around June 12.

Best regards,

Jon

[Airlea404]

Hello @JonathanMagnan,

That is great to hear. Thank you!