--- title: Value Conversions in EF Core | daily.dev description: Value Converters in EF Core let you transform how entity properties map to database columns without changing either the domain model or schema. The piece... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/value-conversions-in-ef-core-zuulz4coe twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Value Conversions in EF Core | daily.dev og:description: Value Converters in EF Core let you transform how entity properties map to database columns without changing either the domain model or schema. The piece... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/value-conversions-in-ef-core-zuulz4coe og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/ZUULZ4cOe.png og:image:alt: Value Conversions in EF Core og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Value Conversions in EF Core **[NikolaTech](https://daily.dev/sources/nikolatech)** · 5 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Value Converters in EF Core let you transform how entity properties map to database columns without changing either the domain model or schema. The piece covers configuring converters in OnModelCreating, built-in support like HasConversion() and HasColumnType, pre-defined converter classes such as EnumToStringConverter, writing custom converters (including strongly typed IDs with ValueConverter), building a reusable generic converter for strongly typed IDs, and known limitations such as nulls not converting, inability to split a property across multiple columns, and restrictions with raw SQL parameters. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### How do I store a C# enum as a string in the database using EF Core? Use HasConversion() on the property in OnModelCreating, which lets EF Core automatically convert the enum to its string representation when saving and parse it back when reading. Alternatively, specify HasColumnType("nvarchar(20)") or explicitly use the built-in EnumToStringConverter class, or write custom Func expressions with HasConversion(toProvider, fromProvider). _Developers mapping enums to database columns can find more EF Core patterns like this on daily.dev._ ### How can I create a reusable EF Core value converter for strongly typed IDs? Define a generic converter class inheriting from ValueConverter constrained to an IStronglyTypedId interface, implementing conversion both ways using Activator.CreateInstance to build the wrapper type from a Guid. This lets you register the same converter for multiple ID types like UserId and OrderId with a single reusable class instead of duplicating conversion logic per entity. _Teams adopting strongly typed IDs can track EF Core domain-modeling techniques like this on daily.dev._ ### What are the known limitations of EF Core value converters? Value converters cannot convert null values, cannot split one property's conversion across multiple database columns or combine multiple columns into one property, and properties using value-converted types currently cannot be used as parameters in raw SQL APIs. These constraints matter when designing domain models that rely on custom type mappings alongside raw SQL queries. _Developers weighing value conversions against raw SQL needs can keep tabs on EF Core edge cases via daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Persisting a Rich Domain Model With EF Core](https://daily.dev/posts/persisting-a-rich-domain-model-with-ef-core-dqvtlqgt5) · Milan Jovanović · 42 upvotes · 1 comments --- Tags: [#backend](https://daily.dev/tags/backend), [#.net](https://daily.dev/tags/.net), [#c#](https://daily.dev/tags/c#) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/value-conversions-in-ef-core-zuulz4coe) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Value Conversions in EF Core","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/value-conversions-in-ef-core-zuulz4coe","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/value-conversions-in-ef-core-zuulz4coe"},"datePublished":"2026-10-04T13:05:56.006Z","dateModified":"2026-10-04T13:12:48.684Z","description":"Value Converters in EF Core let you transform how entity properties map to database columns without changing either the domain model or schema. 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