This allows changes to be stored based on the original object and changed object:

See:  https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/vstudio/bb896248%28v=vs.100%29.aspx

private static void ApplyItemUpdates(SalesOrderDetail originalItem,
SalesOrderDetail updatedItem)
{
using (AdventureWorksEntities context =
new AdventureWorksEntities())
{
context.SalesOrderDetails.Attach(updatedItem);
// Check if the ID is 0, if it is the item is new.
// In this case we need to chage the state to Added.
if (updatedItem.SalesOrderDetailID == 0)
{
// Because the ID is generated by the database we do not need to
// set updatedItem.SalesOrderDetailID.
context.ObjectStateManager.ChangeObjectState(updatedItem, System.Data.EntityState.Added);
}
else
{
// If the SalesOrderDetailID is not 0, then the item is not new
// and needs to be updated. Because we already added the
// updated object to the context we need to apply the original values.
// If we attached originalItem to the context
// we would need to apply the current values:
// context.ApplyCurrentValues(“SalesOrderDetails”, updatedItem);
// Applying current or original values, changes the state
// of the attached object to Modified.
context.ApplyOriginalValues(“SalesOrderDetails”, originalItem);
}
context.SaveChanges();
}
}