I'm wondering how multiple Java instances of the same db object affect Hibernate caching.

For example, suppose I retrieve an object A with the PK, but then make a copy B of it, update B (but don't touch the PK) and save B. Then I make another copy C of it, do some other update and save C. Will this affect the session-level caching, so that it behave differently from when the same object instance is used? i.e., is the session-level caching based on the PK or the object reference?

Thanks!

Hi,

Hibernate won't allow attaching an object to a session if the session-context already contains another object with the same identifier. So in your example you will get an exception thrown when trying to save B. This way hibernate gets around the question you're asking.