In Hibernate 2.1.6 if you try to delete an entity with
mutable="false" set you get an exception. However, if you
try to update the same entity, you don't get an exception.
Instead, the entity is placed in the session cache so future
session.get()s return the "updated" value. The updated
values are *not* persisted.

This isn't a critical issue for my app, I just came across it while
writing a test case. Can someone explain this behavior?

thanks,

-r

I think you misunderstand the intended semantics of update(). update() is a not an explicit instruction to perform a SQL update. It is an instruction to perform reassociation, with state that *might* be changed. For an immutable object, we can assume it is *not* changed.

I may be confusing the intended semantics, but it's based on
what the docs say. The API doc for Session.update(Object, Serializable)
states: "Update the persistent state associated with the given
identifier...." It's different for Session.update(Object) which
states: "Update the persistent instance with the identifier of the
given transient instance....." Also, the reference doc states:
"Immutable classes, mutable="false", may not be updated or
deleted by the application."

I'm more or less ambivalent about the behavior. I can preclude
access to the update in my app. I'm just pointing out what seems to
be an inconsistency.

thanks,

-r

p.s. I would just fix the doc and submit a patch, if I was sure about
what to write.