Object Persistence using Hibernate

An Object-Relational mapping framework for object persistence

What Hibernate Does

Object - Relational mapping Transparent persistence & retrieval of objects Persistence of associations and collections Guaranteed uniqueness of an object (within a session)

Hibernate Features

O-R mapping using ordinary JavaBeans Can set attributes using private fields or private setter methods Lazy instantiation of collections (configurable) Polymorphic queries, object-oriented query language Cascading persist & retrieve for associations, including collections and many-to-many Transaction management with rollback Can integrate with other container-provided services

Application Architecture
User Interface UI event Application Logic data request data xfer object

domain object

Domain Objects
SessionFactory hibernate.cfg.xml *.hbm.xml class mappings Foundation Classes

DAO

Hibernate API
Hibernate

domain object

JDBC API
JDBC

ResultSet, etc.

Another View

Source: Hibernate Reference Manual (online)

Example of Persisting an Object

// get a Hibernate SessionFactory for Session management sessionFactory = new Configuration() .configure().buildSessionFactory(); // an Event object that we want to save Location ku = new Location( "Kasetsart University" ); ku.setAddress( "90 Pahonyotin Road; Bangkok" ); Event event = new Event("Java Days"); event.setLocation( ku ); Session session = sessionFactory.openSession(); Transaction tx = session.beginTransaction(); session.save( event ); tx.commit(); session.close();

Example of Retrieving an Object

// use the existing session factory Session session = sessionFactory.openSession(); // query Event objects for "Java Days" Transaction tx = session.beginTransaction(); Query query = session.createQuery( "from Event where name='Java Days'" ); List events = query.list( ); out.println("Upcoming Java Days events: "); for( Object obj : events ) { Event event = (Event) obj; String name = event.getName( ); Location loc = event.getLocation( ); ... } tx.commit( );

Using Named Parameters in Query

// use the existing session factory Session session = sessionFactory.openSession(); // Hibernate Query Language (HQL) can use named params Query query = session.createQuery( "from Event where name=:name"); query.setParameter( "name", "Java Days"); List events = query.list( ); out.println("Upcoming Java Days events: "); for( Object obj : events ) { Event event = (Event) obj; String name = event.getName( ); Location loc = event.getLocation( ); ...

Exercise 1

Configure a project with Hibernate

create an EventManager project add Hibernate libraries to the project add JAR for database driver

create a hibernate.cfg.xml file

create log4j.properties

Project Configuration for Hibernate

EventManager/ src/ hibernate.cfg.xml log4j.properties eventmgr/ domain/ Location.java location.hbm.xml build/ hibernate.cfg.xml log4j.properties eventmgr/ domain/ Location.class location.hbm.xml lib/ hibernate3.jar asm.jar ... the project base directory

Hibernate configuration file Log4J configuration file base package is "eventmgr"

O-R mapping file for a class copied here by IDE during build copied here by IDE during build

copied here by IDE during build Hibernate requires several jars

Where to Get Hibernate

http://www.hibernate.org

Local copy: http://se.cpe.ku.ac.th/download/hibernate

Required Hibernate Libraries

Libraries are in lib/ directory of Hibernate distribution. Which ones do you need?

See _README.txt or my Using Hibernate notes.

In your IDE:

create a Hibernate "library" add JARs to the library better than copying JAR files to your project

Required Libraries hibernate3.jar antlr-2.7.6.jar asm.jar cglib.jar commons-collections.jar commons-logging.jar dom4j.jar ehcache.jar jta.jar log4j.jar // and maybe xml-apis.jar

Create a Hibernate Library in Eclipse

1. Project -> Properties -> Java Build Path 2. select Libraries tab. 3. Click "Add Library..." and select "User Library", Next> 4. Create a new user library named "Hibernate" 5. Add Jar files

Add Library or jar for Database Driver

For Embedded Derby Database /path-to-derby/lib/derby.jar

For HSQLDB /path-to-hsqldb/lib/hsqldb.jar

hibernate.cfg.xml for Embedded Derby DB

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?> <!DOCTYPE hibernate-configuration PUBLIC "-//Hibernate/Hibernate Configuration DTD 3.0//EN" "http://hibernate.sourceforge.net/hibernateconfiguration-3.0.dtd"> <hibernate-configuration> <session-factory> <property name="dialect"> org.hibernate.dialect.DerbyDialect</property> <property name="connection.driver_class"> org.apache.derby.jdbc.EmbeddedDriver</property> <property name="connection.url"> jdbc:derby:/temp/eventmgr;create=true</property> <property name="hbm2ddl.auto">create</property> <!-- O-R mappings for persistent classes --> <mapping resource="eventmgr/domain/Location.hbm.xml"/> </session-factory> Remove after database created </hibernate-configuration>

hibernate.cfg.xml for MySQL

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?> <!DOCTYPE hibernate-configuration PUBLIC ... remainder omitted > <hibernate-configuration> <session-factory> <property name="dialect"> org.hibernate.dialect.MySQLDialect </property> <property name="connection.driver_class"> com.mysql.jdbc.Driver </property> <property name="connection.username">student</property> <property name="connection.password">secret </property> <property name="connection.url"> jdbc:mysql://se.cpe.ku.ac.th/eventmgr </property> <!-- Object-Relational mappings for classes --> <mapping resource="eventmgr/domain/Location.hbm.xml"/> ... other mappings omitted </session-factory> </hibernate-configuration>

XML Syntax, 1

XML Declaration: "this file contains XML"

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>

Root Element: "this whole file is a hibernate-configuration"

<hibernate-configuration> content of document goes here <hibernate-configuration>

Child Elements: define content, have a tree-like nested structure

<session-factory> ... </session-factory>

Tree structure & Scope: all elements must have a closing tag
<class name="Event" table="EVENTS"> a start element <property name="location" /> element start & end </class> an end tag

XML Syntax, 2

Attributes: values must always be quotes, no duplicates

<class name="Event" table="EVENTS">

Special characters: < > & ' " must use reference except in CDATA
<message> &quot;Hello &lt;b&gt;world&lt;/b&gt;&quot </message>

Child Elements can be repeated (depends on DTD)

<courselist name="courses"> <course>object oriented programming</course> <course>software spec &amp; design</course> </courselist>

Elements can sometimes be written as attributes

<course> <id>219341</id> </course> <course id="219341"/>

Logging

Hibernate apps will log errors and/or activity. Two choices:

Java SDK logging (since JDK 1.4) Log4j

if you use Log4j, create a log4j.properties in your application source root directory.
Copy this file from the Hibernate etc/ directory.

Sample log4j.properties

Too long to print here See an actual file, for example:

[hibernate.dir]/doc/tutorial/src/log4j.properties

Configuration logging of Hibernate: log4j.logger.org.hibernate=warn Log the SQL generated by Hibernate: #log4j.logger.org.hibernate.SQL=debug Log JDBC bind parameters (can be security leak): log4j.logger.org.hibernate.type=info

Exercise 2

Define a Location class and LOCATIONS table Write the class Create a mapping file for Location: Location.hbm.xml

Create the Location class

Location class
Location id: int name: String address: String

LOCATIONS table (Hibernate can auto-generate this)

PK
LOCATIONS id INTEGER name VARCHAR(80) address VARCHAR(160)

Write the Location class

package eventmgr.domain; public class Location { private int id; private String name; private String address; public Location() { } public public public public public public }

Use JavaBean conventions in Persistent object classes.

// a no argument constructor

int getId( ) { return id; } void setId( int id ) { this.id = id; } String getName( ) { return name; } void setName( String n ) { this.name = n; } String getAddress( ) { return address; } void setAddress( String a ) { address = a; }

Hibernate can access private methods

package eventmgr.domain; public class Location { private int id; private String name; private String address; public Location() { }

OK to use "private" or "protected" for mutators.

public int getId( ) { return id; } private void setId( int id ) { this.id = id; } public String getName( ) { return name; } private void setName( String n ) { this.name = n; } public String getAddress( ) { return address; } private void setAddress( String a ) { address = a; } }

Hibernate can access private data, too

public class Location { private int id; private String name; private void setName( String name ) { if ( name.length() < 3 ) new RuntimeException("name too short"); ... } Some mutator methods contain data validity

checks or other complicated logic.

to tell Hibernate to set the field values directly (don't use the "set" method) in the class mapping file write:
<hibernate-mapping default-access="field"> ...

Schema to create Locations table

This works for MySQL. Hibernate can generate table schema at runtime. CREATE TABLE locations ( id INTEGER NOT NULL, name VARCHAR(80) NOT NULL, address VARCHAR(160), PRIMARY KEY(id) ) DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8 ;
mysql> use eventmgr ; mysql> source tableschema.sql ;

O-R Mapping for the Location class

Map between object attributes and table columns.
Location id: int name: String address: String

O-R Mapping requires a mapping file

PK

LOCATIONS id INTEGER name VARCHAR(80) address VARCHAR(160)

Mapping File Location.hbm.xml

An XML file describing how to map object to table. Filename: Location.hbm.xml
<!DOCTYPE hibernate-mapping PUBLIC ... remainder omitted > <hibernate-mapping package="eventmgr.domain"> <class name="Location" table="LOCATIONS"> <id name="id" column="id"> <!-- let hibernate choose id for new entities --> <generator class="native"/> </id> <property name="name" column="name" not-null="true"/> <property name="address"/> </class> </hibernate-mapping>

Mapping File Explained

root element of a hibernate mapping <hibernate-mapping> <class name="eventmgr.domain.Location" table="LOCATIONS" options... > <id name="id" column="id" mapping for one class unsaved-value="0"> <generator class="native"/> </id> object attribute mappings </class> </hibernate-mapping>

Every persistent class needs an "identifier" attribute and column.

The identifier is used to establish object identity (obj1 == obj2) and locate the table row for a persisted object. The id is usually the Primary Key of the table.

Attribute Mapping: <property .../>

Name of the attribute in Java class <property name="name" column="name type=name not-null="true /> Column name in the database table Hibernate or Java data type (usually you can omit it)

Constraints

You omit elements if Hibernate can guess the value itself: <property <!-- omit <property <!-- omit <property name="address" column="ADDRESS" type="string"/> data type and Hibernate will determine it --> name="address" column="ADDRESS"/> column if same as attribute (ignoring case)--> name="address"/>

What you have so far

Project configured for Hibernate Hibernate configuration file Location class and mapping file Location.hbm.xml Configure a database schema

(for learning, we will auto-generate schema)

HibernateUtil: a Session Factory (1)

// always use the same sessionFactory (Singleton) SessionFactory sessionFactory = new Configuration() .configure().buildSessionFactory(); // use sessionFactory to get a Session Session session = sessionFactory.openSession(); // or the more convenient: Session session = sessionFactory.getCurrentSession();

HibernateUtil -sessionFactory: SessionFactory +getSessionFactory( ): SessionFactory +getCurrentSession( ): Session +openSession( ): Session

HibernateUtil: a Session Factory (2)

public class HibernateUtil { private static SessionFactory sessionFactory = null; private static final Logger log = Logger.getLogger(..); public static SessionFactory getSessionFactory() { if ( sessionFactory == null ) { try { // Create the SessionFactory sessionFactory = new Configuration() .configure().buildSessionFactory(); } catch (Exception e) { System.err.println("sessionFactory error "+ ex); log.error("SessionFactory creation failed", ex); //throw new ExceptionInInitializerError(ex); } } return sessionFactory;

HibernateUtil: a Session Factory (3)

/** * Get the current Hibernate session. * This creates a new session if no current session. * @return the current Hibernate Session */ public static Session getCurrentSession() { return getSessionFactory().getCurrentSession(); } public static Session openSession() { return getSessionFactory().openSession();

Persistence Test: LocationTest.java

public class TestLocation { public static void testSave() { Location loc1 = new Location( ); loc1.setName("Kasetsart University"); loc1.setAddress("90 Pahonyotin Rd, Bangkok"); Location loc2 = new Location(); loc2.setName("UCLA"); loc2.setAddress("Westwood, California"); Session session = HibernateUtil.getCurrentSession(); Transaction tx = session.beginTransaction(); session.saveOrUpdate( loc1 ); session.saveOrUpdate( loc2 ); tx.commit(); System.out.println("Locations saved"); }

Persistence Test: LocationTest.java

public static void testQuery() { System.out.println("Retrieving locations"); Session session = HibernateUtil.getCurrentSession(); Transaction tx = session.beginTransaction(); Query query = session.createQuery("from Location"); // query.list() returns objects, cast to List<Location> List<Location> list = (List<Location>)query.list( ); tx.commit(); for(Location l : list ) out.printf("%d %s %s\n", l.getId(), l.getName(), l.getAddress() ); if ( session.isOpen() ) session.close(); } public static void main( String [] args) { testSave( ); testQuery( );

Exercise 3

Test object uniqueness:

In one session get the same location two times and compare using (ku1 == ku2). Are they same? In different sessions get the same location and compare (ku1 == ku2). Are they same?

Test transparent persistence:

Modify a location inside a session. Does database change? Reattach a modified object to new session. Does database change?

Getting a Unique Result

Session session = HibernateUtil.getCurrentSession(); Query query = session.createQuery( "from Location where name=Kasetsart University"); // query.uniqueResult() returns only first match Location ku1 = (Location) query.uniqueResult( );

Pattern matches "like" - use "%" as wildcard character

Session session = HibernateUtil.getCurrentSession(); Query query = session.createQuery( "from Location l where l.name like 'Kasetsart%'"); // query.uniqueResult() returns only first match Location ku1 = (Location) query.uniqueResult( );

Mapping a Class with Associations

Event id: long name: String startDate: Date location: Location Location id: int 1 name: String address: String

Simplified version of Event class.

O-R Mapping of n-to-1 Associations

Event id: long name: String startDate: Date location: Location Location id: int 1 name: String address: String
The Data Mapper converts a n-to-1 association to a foreign key relation (persist) or foreign key to object (retrieve).

EVENTS PK id BIGINT name VARCHAR start_date TIMESTAMP FK location_id INTEGER

LOCATIONS PK id INTEGER name VARCHAR address VARCHAR

Mapping for Event (Event.hbm.xml)

Use <many-to-one name="attribute" ... /> to map a reference to another object.
<!DOCTYPE hibernate-mapping PUBLIC ... remainder omitted > <hibernate-mapping package="eventmgr.domain"> <class name="Event" table="EVENTS"> ... <property name="startDate" column="start_date" type="timestamp" /> <many-to-one name="location" column="location_id" class="Location" /> </class> </hibernate-mapping> you can omit class (Hibernate can determine itself)

Test: Save an Event

public static void testSave() { Location loc1 = new Location( ); loc1.setName("Kasetsart University"); loc1.setAddress("90 Pahonyotin Rd, Bangkok"); Event event = new Event( ); event.setName("Java Days"); event.setLocation( loc1 ); event.setStartDate( new Date(108,Calendar.JULY, 1) ); Session session = HibernateUtil.getCurrentSession(); Transaction tx = session.beginTransaction(); session.saveOrUpdate( event ); tx.commit(); System.out.println("Event saved"); }

Did you get an Error?

The Location doesn't exist in database (transient object).
Exception in thread "main org.hibernate.TransientObjectException: object references an unsaved transient instance - save the transient instance before flushing: eventmgr.domain.Location

Persisting the Event location

Solutions: 1. save location during the transaction (manual save) 2. tell Hibernate to cascade the save operation (automatically save Location)
<many-to-one name="location" column="location_id" class="Location" cascade="save-update" />

cascade="none"
"all" "save-update"

don't cascade operations

cascade all operations (be careful) cascade save and updates

"delete-orphan" cascade all, delete unreferenced orphan children

Test: Retrieve an Event

public static void testRetrieve() { System.out.println("Retrieving event"); Session session = HibernateUtil.getCurrentSession(); Transaction tx = session.beginTransaction(); Query query = session.createQuery( "from Event e where e.name= :name"); query.setParameter("name", "Java Days"); // query.list() returns objects, cast to List<Location> List<Event> list = (List<Event>)query.list( ); tx.commit(); for(Event e : list ) out.printf("%d %s %s\n", e.getId(), e.getName(), e.getLocation().getName() ); }

Lazy Instances and Proxies

Transaction tx = session.beginTransaction(); Query query = session.createQuery( "from Event e where e.name=:name"); query.setParameter("name", "Java Days"); List<Event> list = (List<Event>)query.list( ); tx.commit();

for(Event e : list ) out.printf("%d %s %s\n", e.getId(), e.getName(), e.getLocation().getName() );

Error: LazyInstantiationException

Hibernate uses lazy instantiation and proxy objects

Hibernate instantiates the location object when it is first accessed We closed the transaction before accessing the location

Two Solutions
1. Modify our code: getLocation( ) before closing the session.
List<Event> list = (List<Event>)query.list( ); for(Event e : list ) out.printf("%d %s %s\n", e.getId(), e.getName(), e.getLocation().getName() ); tx.commit( );

2. Tell Hibernate not to use lazy instantiation of Location objects (in Location.hbm.xml)
<class name="Location" table="LOCATIONS" lazy="false"> ... </class>

Creating a Component for Address

Location id: int name: String address: Address Address 1 street: String city: String province: String

id 101 102

LOCATIONS name address Kasetsart University street Seacon Square

city

province

Organizing your Work

Use DAO to separate OR behavior from the rest of your project.

A DAO for the Location class

The "useful" methods depend on the domain class and the application.
LocationDao findById(id: int) : Location findByName(name : String): Location[*] find(query: String) : Location[*] save(loc: Location) : boolean delete(loc: Location) : boolean

Java code for Simple LocationDao

package eventmgr.dao; import ...;

public class SimpleLocationDao {

private static final Logger logger = Logger.getLogger(LocationDao.class); public LocationDao() { } public Location findById( int id ) public List<Location> findByName( String name )

public List<Location> find( String query )

public boolean save( Location loc ) public boolean delete( Location loc ) }

The core of findById( ) - use "load"

public Location findById( int id ) { Location result = null; Session session = null; Transaction tx = null; try { session = HibernateUtil.getCurrentSession(); tx = session.beginTransaction(); result = (Location)session.load(Location.class, id); tx.commit(); session.close( ); } catch ... } return result; }

The details of findById( )

public Location findById( int id ) { Location result = null; Session session = null; Transaction tx = null; try { session = HibernateUtil.getCurrentSession(); tx = session.beginTransaction();

result = (Location)session.load(Location.class,id);
tx.commit(); } catch (ObjectNotFoundException e) { logger.info("Object not found. id = "+id, e); if ( tx != null && ! tx.wasCommitted() ) tx.rollback(); } catch (HibernateException e) { logger.error("Hibernate exception", e); if ( tx != null && ! tx.wasCommitted() ) tx.rollback(); } finally { if ( session != null && session.isOpen() ) session.close(); } return result;
}

The core of findByName( ) - "query"

public List<Location> findByName( String name ) { List<Location> result; ... try { session = HibernateUtil.getCurrentSession(); tx = session.beginTransaction(); Query query = session.createQuery( "from Location where name=:name" ); query.setParameter( "name", name ); result = (List<Location>) query.list( ); tx.commit(); session.close( ); } catch ... return result; }

Details of findByName( )

Exercise

The core of save( ) - "saveOrUpdate"

public boolean save( Location location ) { boolean result = false; ... try { session = HibernateUtil.getCurrentSession(); tx = session.beginTransaction(); session.saveOrUpdate( location ); tx.commit(); session.close( ); result = true; } catch ... return result; }

Details of save

Exercise

The core of delete( ) - "delete"

public boolean delete( Location location ) { boolean result = false; ... try { session = HibernateUtil.getCurrentSession(); tx = session.beginTransaction(); session.delete( location ); tx.commit(); session.close( ); result = true; } catch ... return result; }

Redundant Code

Every DAO method has the same boilerplate code:

Session session = null; Transaction tx = null; try { session = HibernateUtil.getCurrentSession(); tx = session.beginTransaction();

do the work here

tx.commit(); } catch (ObjectNotFoundException e) { logger.info("Object not found. "+id, e); if ( tx != null && ! tx.wasCommitted() ) tx.rollback(); } catch (HibernateException e) { logger.error("Hibernate exception", e); if ( tx != null && ! tx.wasCommitted() ) tx.rollback(); } finally { if ( session != null && session.isOpen() ) session.close(); }

Factor out Redundant Code

Class SimpleLocationDao { private Session session; private Transaction tx; // declare as attributes

public Location findById( int id ) { try { beginTransaction( ); do the work here commitTransaction( ); } catch (ObjectNotFoundException e) { handleError( e ); } catch (HibernateException e) { handleError( e ); } finally { if ( session != null && session.isOpen() ) session.close(); }

Duplicate Code Between DAO

In every DAO, the CRUD methods are almost the same Consider save( ) ...

public boolean save( Location location ) { boolean result = false; ... try { beginTransaction( ); session.saveOrUpdate( location ); commitTransaction( ); } catch ( ... ) { handleException( e ); } finally { ... } return result; }

Apply the Layer Superclass Pattern

AbstractDao #load( class, id ) : Object #find( class, query ) : List #saveOrUpdate( object: Object ) #delete( object: Object )

LocationDao

EventDao

SpeakerDao

AbstractDao.save
protected Object save( Object obj ) { Object result = null; try { beginTransaction(); result = session.saveOrUpdate( obj ); commitTransaction();
} catch (ObjectNotFoundException e) { handleError( e ); } catch (HibernateException e) { handleError( e ); } finally { closeSession( ); }

return result; }

LocationDao using Layer Superclass

public class LocationDao extends AbstractDao {

public boolean save( Location location ) { return super.save( location ); }

AbstractDao.load
protected Object load( Class clazz, Serializable id ) { Object result = null; try { beginTransaction(); result = session.load( clazz, id); commitTransaction()
} catch (ObjectNotFoundException e) { handleError( e ); } catch (HibernateException e) { handleError( e ); } finally { closeSession( ); }

return result; }

LocationDao using Layer Superclass

public class LocationDao extends AbstractDao {

public LocationDao( ) { super( ); }

public Location findById( int id ) { return (Location) super.load( Location.class, id ); }

Exercise
use your SimpleLocationDao to write a layer superclass named AbstractDao. write a LocationDao that extends AbstractDao

Hibernate Query Language (HQL)

Query query = session.createQuery( "from Event where name='Java Days'");

Query query = session.createQuery( "select e from Event e where e.name='Java Days'");

Hibernate queries you Hibernate Query Language (HQL). HQL is object-centric - use class and property names, not SQL table names.

HQL example
Problem: Find all events which are held at Kasetsart HQL:
String query = "select e from Event e where e.location.name = 'Kasetsart University'"; Query q = session.createQuery( query );

SQL and JDBC:

String sqlquery = "select * from EVENTS e join LOCATIONS l ON e.location_id = l.id where l.name = 'Kasetsart University'"; Statement stmt = connection.createStatement( sqlquery );

Many-to-one Associations
public class Event { private long id; private String name; private Location location; // 1-to-many assoc. private Date startDate; private long duration; public Event( ) { } ... }

Event.hbm.xml Mapping File

<!DOCTYPE hibernate-mapping PUBLIC ... remainder omitted > <hibernate-mapping package="eventmgr.domain"> <class name="Event" table="EVENTS"> <id name="id" column="id"> <generator class="native"/> </id> <property name="name" column="name" not-null="true"/> <property name="startDate" column="start_date" column="timestamp"/> <property name="duraction" /> <many-to-one name="location" column="location_id" class="Location"/> </class> </hibernate-mapping>

Cascading Save & Update

When you save an Event, should Hibernate automatically save the location, too? no: then you must save the location yourself Yes: specify cascade = "save-update"
<class name="Event" table="EVENTS"> <id name="id" column="id"> <generator class="native"/> </id> ... <many-to-one name="location" column="location_id" class="Location" cascade="save-update"/> </class>

Other choices for cascade: all, none, save-update, delete

Learning Hibernate

Tutorial at www.hibernate.org Another good tutorial: http://www.allapplabs.com/hibernate/hibernate_tutorials .htm Peak & Heudecker, Hibernate Quickly, 2006. Baur & King, Java Persistence with Hibernate, 2007, update of Hibernate in Action, and much longer. Baur & King, Hibernate in Action, 2005, considered the best Hibernate book, by one of the Hibernate creators.

Hibernate Tools
Hibernate Tools Eclipse plugin - HibernateConsole and more

Test HQL queries, browse database

Middlegen - generates class mapping files (hbm.xml) from an existing database schema. Has Eclipse plugin. Hibernate Synchronizer - generates class mapping files (hbm.xml) and Java classes from a database schema. hbm2ddl - creates a database schema (in SQL) from a hbm.xml file. hbm2java - creates a Java class from a hbm.xml file.