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Infinite recursion with Jackson on intermediate table

I am using Spring Boot and Jackson and Hibernate to create an API. Hibernate connects to a MySQL database.
I understand the good practices but I'm stuck on a particular point.
I have an n:m relationship that contains an extra field.
Ex: Author(id, ...) -> Written(idAuthor, idBook, date) <- Book(id, ...)
I understand how to map a traditional n:m relationship, but this technique does not apply to me this time.
For this, I found a source on the internet that showed the solution: create an intermediate class in my code that contains an Author type object and a Book type object + my additional fields.
#Entity
#Table(name = "Author")
public class Author implements Serializable {
/...
#Id
#GeneratedValue
private int id;
#OneToMany(mappedBy = "author", cascade = CascadeType.ALL)
private Set<Written> written= new HashSet<>();
/...
}
#Entity
#Table(name = "Book")
public class Book implements Serializable{
/...
#Id
#GeneratedValue
private int id;
#OneToMany(mappedBy = "book", cascade = CascadeType.ALL)
private Set<Written> written= new HashSet<>();
/...
}
public class Written implements Serializable {
#Id
#ManyToOne
#JoinColumn(name = "idAuthor")
private Author author;
#Id
#ManyToOne
#JoinColumn(name = "idBook")
private Book book;
//Extra fields ....
}
That's a bidirectional link.
With this code, I get an infinite recursivity error:
Resolved [org.springframework.http.converter.HttpMessageNotWritableException: Could not write JSON: Infinite recursion (StackOverflowError); nested exception is com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.JsonMappingException: Infinite recursion (StackOverflowError) (through reference chain: java.util.ArrayList[0]->com.exampleAPI.api.model.Book["written"])]
I tried to use #JsonIgnore, #JsonManagedReference and #JsonBackReference on the Written class, also tried to use transient keyword, but nothing worked.
I can't find any source on the internet that could help me, and neither can the documentation for this particular case.
Can someone help me?

When unhandled bidirectional relationship occurs, Jackson faces infinite recursion.
I tried to use #JsonIgnore, #JsonManagedReference and #JsonBackReference on the Written class
You need to use #JsonManagedReference and #JsonBackReference annotations separately to prevent these cycles between Book and Written. A side note, transient has nothing to do with the persistence but the serialization. JPA works with the #Transient annotation.
public class Book implements Serializable {
#OneToMany(mappedBy = "book", cascade = CascadeType.ALL)
#JsonBackReference
private Set<Written> written= new HashSet<>();
...
}
public class Written implements Serializable {
#Id
#ManyToOne
#JoinColumn(name = "idBook")
#JsonManagedReference
private Book book;
...
}
Important: Don't send database entities through REST (probably what you are up to do). Better create a DAO object without bidirectional relationship and map entities into DAOs. There are several libraries able to do that: I highly recommend MapStruct, however ModelMapper is also an option. If there is a lower number of such entities, using constructors/getters/setters would be enough.

xHow can I have #Id string for CrudRepository in Spring with Spring Data JPA?

The problem is that I am getting an exception using #RepositoryRestResource for my UserRepository that extends JpaRepository.
The reason for that is that findById is only accepting Long or Int types by default, even I have
#Id String id; and not #Id Int id in my entity definition.
I have tried searching StackOverflow and Google, but haven't found any solutions.
The error message is as follows:
"Failed to convert from type [java.lang.String] to type [java.lang.Integer] for value '3175433272470683'; nested exception is java.lang.NumberFormatException: For input string: \"3175433272470683\""
I want to make it work with a
#Id String id;
Any suggestions?
Many thanks in advances. It's a big privilege to ask questions here.
The Entity class:
#Entity // This tells Hibernate to make a table out of this class
#Table(name = "users")
public class XmppUser {
#Id
private java.lang.String username;
private String password;
private String serverkey;
private String salt;
private int iterationcount;
private Date created_at;
// #Formula("ST_ASTEXT(coordinates)")
// #Column(columnDefinition = "geometry")
// private Point coordinates;
// private Point coordinates;
private String full_name;
#OneToOne(fetch = FetchType.LAZY)
#JoinColumn(name = "username", nullable = true)
private XmppLast xmppLast;

You must change the type of the ID type parameter in the repository to match with the id attribute type on your entity.
From the Spring docs:
Interface Repository<T,ID>
Type Parameters:
T - the domain type the repository manages
ID - the type of the id of the entity the repository manages
Based on
#Entity // This tells Hibernate to make a table out of this class
#Table(name = "users")
public class XmppUser {
#Id
private java.lang.String username;
//...
}
It should be
public interface UserRepository extends CrudRepository<XmppUser, String> {
//..
}
See:
https://docs.spring.io/spring-data/commons/docs/current/api/org/springframework/data/repository/CrudRepository.html#findById(ID)
https://docs.spring.io/spring-data/commons/docs/current/api/org/springframework/data/repository/Repository.html

You could try something like this:
#Id
#GeneratedValue(generator = "uuid")
#GenericGenerator(name = "uuid", strategy = "uuid2")
#Column(name = "PR_KEY")
private String prKey;
If you want to read more about this subject you could begin looking throw here or here

according to the latest version of spring data jpa(2.1.10 GA), you can use it like
here is the link

JpaRepository is a special case of CrudRepository. Both JpaRepository and CrudRepository declare two type parameters, T and ID. You will need to supply these two class types. For example,
public interface UserRepository extends CrudRepository<XmppUser, java.lang.String> {
//..
}
or
public interface UserRepository extends JpaRepository<XmppUser, java.lang.String> {
//..
}
Notice that the second type java.lang.String must match the type of the primary key attribute. In this case, you cannot specify it as String or Integer, but it is java.lang.String instead.
Try not to name a customized class as String. It is a bad practice to use the same class name as already present in the JDK.

I think there is an approach to solve this problem.
Let's say, Site is our #Entity.
#Id
private String id;
getters setters
then you can invoke findById as follow
Optional<Site> site = getSite(id);
Note: this worked for me, I hope it will help someone.

Hibernate and #JoinFormula: org.hibernate.mapping.Formula cannot be cast to org.hibernate.mapping.Column

I'm trying to write a hibernate adapter for an old database schema. This schema does not have a dedicated id column, but uses about three other columns to join data.
On some tables, I need to use coalesce. This is what I came up with so far:
About the definition:
A car can have elements, assigned by the car's user or by the car's group of users.
If FORIGN_ELEMENT holds a user's name, definition will be 'u'
If FORIGN_ELEMENT holds a group's name, definition will be 'g'
This also means, one table (CAR_TO_ELEMENT) is misused to map cars to elements and cargroups to elements. I defined a superclass CarElement and subclasses CarUserElement and CarGroupElement.
state is either "active" or an uninteresting string
I set definitition and state elsewhere, we do not need to worry about this.
Use DEP_NR on the join table. If it's zero, use USR_DEP_NR. I did this with COALESCE(NULLIF()) successfully in native SQL and want to achieve the same in Hibernate with Pojos.
Okay, here we go with the code:
#Entity
#Table(name="CAR")
public class Car extends TableEntry implements Serializable {
#Id
#Column(name="DEP_NR")
private int depnr;
#Id
#Column(name="USER_NAME")
#Type(type="TrimmedString")
private String username;
#ManyToOne(fetch = FetchType.EAGER, targetEntity=CarGroup.class)
#JoinColumns(value={
#JoinColumn(name="GROUP_NAME"),
#JoinColumn(name="DEP_NR"),
#JoinColumn(name="state"),
})
private CarGroup group;
#OneToMany(fetch=FetchType.EAGER, targetEntity=CarUserElement.class, mappedBy="car")
private Set<CarUserElement> elements;
}
#Entity
#Table(name="CAR_GROUP")
public class CarGroup extends TableEntry implements Serializable {
#Id
#Column(name="DEP_NR")
private int depnr;
#Id
#Column(name="GROUP_NAME")
#Type(type="TrimmedString")
private String group;
#ManyToOne(fetch = FetchType.EAGER, targetEntity=Car.class)
#JoinColumns(value={
#JoinColumn(name="GROUP_NAME"),
#JoinColumn(name="DEP_NR"),
#JoinColumn(name="state"),
})
private Set<Car> cars;
#OneToMany(fetch=FetchType.EAGER, targetEntity=CarGroupElement.class, mappedBy="car")
private Set<CarGroupElement> elements;
}
#MappedSuperclass
public class CarElement extends TableEntry {
#Id
#ManyToOne(fetch = FetchType.EAGER, targetEntity=Element.class)
#JoinColumns(value={
#JoinColumn(name="ELEMENT_NAME"),
#JoinColumn(name="state"),
})
private Element element;
}
#Entity
#Table(name="CAR_TO_ELEMENT")
public class CarUserElement extends CarElement {
#Id
#Column(name="DEFINITION")
private char definition;
#Id
#ManyToOne(fetch = FetchType.LAZY)
#JoinColumnsOrFormulas(value = {
#JoinColumnOrFormula(formula=#JoinFormula(value="COALESCE(NULLIF(DEP_NR, 0), USR_DEP_NR)", referencedColumnName="DEP_NR")),
#JoinColumnOrFormula(column=#JoinColumn(name="FORIGN_ELEMENT", referencedColumnName="USER_NAME")),
#JoinColumnOrFormula(column=#JoinColumn(name="STATE", referencedColumnName="STATE"))
})
private Car car;
}
#Entity
#Table(name="CAR_TO_ELEMENT")
public class CarGroupElement extends CarElement {
#Id
#Column(name="DEFINITION")
private char definition;
#Id
#ManyToOne(fetch = FetchType.LAZY)
#JoinColumnsOrFormulas(value = {
#JoinColumnOrFormula(formula=#JoinFormula(value="COALESCE(NULLIF(DEP_NR, 0), USR_DEP_NR)", referencedColumnName="DEP_NR")),
#JoinColumnOrFormula(column=#JoinColumn(name="FORIGN_ELEMENT", referencedColumnName="GROUP_NAME")),
#JoinColumnOrFormula(column=#JoinColumn(name="STATE", referencedColumnName="STATE"))
})
private Car car;
}
I tried all available versions of hibernate (from 3.5.1 [first version with #JoinColumnsOrFormulas] up to 4.x.x), but I always get this error:
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.ClassCastException: org.hibernate.mapping.Formula cannot be cast to org.hibernate.mapping.Column
at org.hibernate.cfg.annotations.TableBinder.bindFk(TableBinder.java:351)
at org.hibernate.cfg.annotations.CollectionBinder.bindCollectionSecondPass(CollectionBinder.java:1338)
at org.hibernate.cfg.annotations.CollectionBinder.bindOneToManySecondPass(CollectionBinder.java:791)
at org.hibernate.cfg.annotations.CollectionBinder.bindStarToManySecondPass(CollectionBinder.java:719)
at org.hibernate.cfg.annotations.CollectionBinder$1.secondPass(CollectionBinder.java:668)
at org.hibernate.cfg.CollectionSecondPass.doSecondPass(CollectionSecondPass.java:66)
at org.hibernate.cfg.Configuration.originalSecondPassCompile(Configuration.java:1597)
at org.hibernate.cfg.Configuration.secondPassCompile(Configuration.java:1355)
at org.hibernate.cfg.Configuration.buildSessionFactory(Configuration.java:1737)
at org.hibernate.cfg.Configuration.buildSessionFactory(Configuration.java:1788)
Other hibernate users seem to have the same problem: They can't get it working with any version, see this thread and other stackoverflow questions:
https://forum.hibernate.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1010559
To be more complete, here's my TrimmedString Class:
https://forum.hibernate.org/viewtopic.php?p=2191674&sid=049b85950db50a8bd145f9dac49a5f6e#p2191674
Thanks in advance!
PS: It works with joining just these three colulmns with just one DEP-NR-Column (i.e. either DEP_NR OR USR_DEP_NR using just #JoinColumns). But I need this coalesce(nullif()).

I ran into a similar problem, and it seems that the issue is that you are using a #Formula inside an #Id. Hibernate wants Ids to be insertable, and Formulas are read-only.
In my case I was able to work around the problem by making the individual columns Id properties on their own, and making the joined object a separate property. I don't know if this would work in your case since you're using two different columns in your formula, but if so your code might look something like:
#Entity
#Table(name="CAR_TO_ELEMENT")
public class CarUserElement extends CarElement {
#Id
#Column(name="DEFINITION")
private char definition;
#Id
#Column(name="DEP_NR")
private Integer depNr;
#Id
#Column(name="USR_DEP_NR")
private Integer usrDepNr;
#Id
#Column(name="FORIGN_ELEMENT")
private String userName;
#Id
#Column(name="STATE")
private String state;
#ManyToOne(fetch = FetchType.LAZY)
#JoinColumnsOrFormulas(value = {
#JoinColumnOrFormula(formula=#JoinFormula(value="COALESCE(NULLIF(DEP_NR, 0), USR_DEP_NR)", referencedColumnName="DEP_NR")),
#JoinColumnOrFormula(column=#JoinColumn(name="FORIGN_ELEMENT", referencedColumnName="USER_NAME", insertable = false, updatable = false)),
#JoinColumnOrFormula(column=#JoinColumn(name="STATE", referencedColumnName="STATE", insertable = false, updatable = false))
})
private Car car;
}

Join formulas are very fragile in Hibernate for the time being; I always had a difficult time to get them work properly.
The workaround that helped me often was to create database views which exposed the proper columns (including foreign keys that don't exist in the original tables). Then I mapped the entities to the views using classing Hibernate/JPA mappings.
Sometimes there are redundant joins in the generated SQL when using such entities, but the database optimizes such queries in most cases so that the execution plan is optimal anyway.
Another approach could be using #Subselects, which are some kind of Hibernate views, but I expect them to be less performant than the classic database views.

I ran into the cast exception as well and I'm on Hibernate 5.x.
Until Hibernate dedicates time to fix the issue, I found that while this guy's approach may not be cleanest (he even eludes to that fact!), it works.
You just need to add the #Column mappings (and get/set methods) to your association table objects that are returning null and manually set the values when you populate the relation data. Simple but effective!

jpa: inheritance with self references and non abstract superclass

In my current project I have a inheritance structure that looks like this:
#Entity
#Table(name="groups")
#Inheritance(strategy=InheritanceType.JOINED)
#DiscriminatorValue("G")
#DiscriminatorColumn(name="group_type")
public class Group{ //some annotations removed
private Long id;
private String name;
private Set<Subject> subjects;
#ManyToOne(cascade=CascadeType.ALL)
#JoinColumn(name="parent_group_id")
private Group parent; ##### tree parent ####
#OneToMany(cascade=CascadeType.ALL, mappedBy="parent")
private Set<Group> subGroups; ##### tree children #####
...
}
My Group objects can have kind of a tree like structure by containing a list of other Group objects.
As some groups are a bit special, there is a second class that extends this class:
#Entity
#DiscriminatorValue("C")
#Table(name="fix_groups")
public class FixGroup extends Group{
private Layout lay;
private Set<Person> instr;
...
}
I tried to use a joined multi table approach (as described here: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Java_Persistence/Inheritance#Joined.2C_Multiple_Table_Inheritance) but it seems not to work with a non abstract superclass like Group!
I get the following exception:
Caused by: java.lang.ClassCastException: org.hibernate.mapping.JoinedSubclass
cannot be cast to org.hibernate.mapping.RootClass
Is there a solution apart from declaring Group as abstract and making a new class Group2 that only extends it?
And if I did so, would this self-reference Set<Group> subGroups still cause problems?

I was able to cause this error by setting the ID in the subclass when it is already mapped in the parent class (in this case Group). For example in the parent class:
#Entity
#Table(name="groups")
#Inheritance(strategy=InheritanceType.JOINED)
public class Group {
#Id
#GeneratedValue(strategy = GenerationType.IDENTITY)
#Column(name = "ID")
private Long id;
...
and then setting the id in the subclass like so:
#Entity
#Table(name="sub_groups")
public class SubGroup extends Group {
#Id
#GeneratedValue(strategy = GenerationType.IDENTITY)
#Column(name = "ID")
private Long id;
...
In this case, Group does not need to be abstract, but you can't define the id on the subclass.
Also, as a side note, if you are using Hibernate with an inheritance of type "join", then the discriminator column and value are not needed. Hibernate only utilizes those if using a single table. Please reference this post for further information:
Hibernate 4: persisting InheritanceType.JOINED discriminator column values

How do I avoid NullPointerException with OneToOne mapping against a parent entity class?

I have searched and found similar issues, but they don't quite seem to be the same problem as
Why am I getting this NullPointer exception?
OneToOne Mapping with hibernate/JBoss/Seam
ANN-613 - NPE when mappedBy property is wrong on a #OneToOne
ANN-558 - #OneToMany(mappedBy="") can not recognize properties in parent classes
Hibernate Users - NPE with #Id on #OneToOne
I have a few entities mapped like this:
Person
|
+--User
I want to add a new entity PersonPartDeux with a OneToOne mapping to Person. The resulting mapping should look something like this:
Person + PersonPartDeux
|
+--User
When I do so, a NullPointerException is thrown while trying to load the mapping:
java.lang.NullPointerException
at org.hibernate.cfg.OneToOneSecondPass.doSecondPass(OneToOneSecondPass.java:135)
How do I specify the mapping so I can avoid this exception?
Here's my code:
#Entity
#Inheritance(strategy = InheritanceType.JOINED)
public abstract class Person implements Serializable
{
#Id
#GeneratedValue
public Long id;
#Version
public int version = 0;
public String name;
#OneToOne(cascade = CascadeType.ALL)
#PrimaryKeyJoinColumn
public PersonPartDeux personPartDeux;
}
#Entity
public class PersonPartDeux implements Serializable
{
#Id
#GeneratedValue(generator = "person-primarykey")
#GenericGenerator(
name = "person-primarykey",
strategy = "foreign",
parameters = #Parameter(name = "property", value = "person")
)
public Long id = null;
#Version
public int version = 0;
#OneToOne(optional=false, mappedBy="person")
public Person person;
public String someText;
}
#Entity
#PrimaryKeyJoinColumn(name = "person_Id")
public class User extends Person
{
public String username;
public String password;
}
As for why I'm bothering, I need both the inheritance and the OneToOne mapping to solve different known issues in my application.

Attach the Hibernate source to your project, so you can click thru or 'Open Type' (Ctrl-Shift-T in Eclipse) to view the OneToOneSecondPass source.
Seeing the source, will give you a clear indication as to what needs to be specified.
In my source (Hibernate 4.1.7), line 135 is
propertyHolder.addProperty( prop, inferredData.getDeclaringClass() );
However you're probably using an earlier version.
Looking at the mappings, I'm suspicious of the #OneToOne definition -- mappedBy="person".
#OneToOne(optional=false, mappedBy="person")
public Person person;
What does it usefully mean, to map an association property by itself? Hibernate already knows the property is a OneToOne -- you just told it that.
Pointing the underpinning mapping/ FK of the property, at itself.. probably isn't actually telling Hibernate any correct or useful information.
Here's an example from the HB dosc, perhaps showing better how to do what you want:
#Entity
class MedicalHistory implements Serializable {
#Id Integer id;
#MapsId #OneToOne
#JoinColumn(name = "patient_id")
Person patient;
}
#Entity
class Person {
#Id #GeneratedValue Integer id;
}
Source: http://docs.jboss.org/hibernate/annotations/3.5/reference/en/html_single/
(3.5 docs off JBoss site.)
Cheers, hope this helps.