title: Entity Framework with large number of tables
body: <p>Our database has about 500 tables we'd like to use in our EF model. Of those I'd be happy to start with 50 or fewer just to get our feet wet after working in plain ADO.net for years.</p>
  
  <p>The problem is, our SQL server contains many thousands of other tables that exist in our database that have been created through the years and many that are dynamically generated. Believe it or not:</p>
  
  <pre><code>select count(*) from INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES
  73261
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>So that's a lot of tables. I have found that pretty much every tool I've tried to design, build or template EF models or entities either hangs or does not return a list of tables. Even SQL Server Object Explorer in VS2012 won't list the tables and instead shows the Tables folder with a little "x" over the icon. So I can't even select a subset of tables.</p>
  
  <p>What options do I have for using EF? Is there a template where I can explicitly define the tables that I want to use entities for? Even with 50 tables, I don't want to hand code each one in an empty EDMX.</p>