Is it possible to join tables without defining the table join relation ship in .hbm.xml?

TABLE a
( c1 number, c2 number ) primary_key c1

TABLE b
(b1 number, a_c1 number )

in SQL it would be

SELECT a.c1, a,c2, b.b1, b.a_c1
FROM a INNER JOIN b on a.c1 = b.a_c1

IS there a way to do the above in HQL?

select a, b FROm a INNER join b
WHERE a.c1 = b.a_c1

does not seeem to work?

does anyone know the exact syntax?

Yes, it is possible. You have to name the tables in your query (as far as I know you can't select the fields with the tablenames):

SELECT table_a.c1, table_a.c2, table_b.b1, table_b.a_c1
FROM a as table_a INNER JOIN b as table_b on table_a.c1 = table_b.a_c1

I think this should work too if the names of the attributes aren't equal:
SELECT c1, c2, b1, a_c1
FROM a INNER JOIN b on c1 = a_c1

Hoeft