Take 2 : mapping Java enum whitout annotation

renam00 · **Joined:** Mon Jun 16, 2008 8:28 am **Posts:** 4

Hi,

Pretty simple question here. I've read lots of posts in the forum, but I did not find an explicit answer to this and I'm having a hard time believing there is none.

I have the simplest mapping you can imagine (public enum MyEnum { EnumA, EnumB; })
I'm using Hibernate 3.1.3.
I do not use annotations (cannot). I use mapping files.

What I want to do is very simple : I want to map an enum object property to a column (string value). And I do not want to write UserType or other extra code.

Is there a way to achieve this in the given context ? From what I've read, it seems that I would need to either :
a) Use annotations
OR
b) Write extra code (add UserType)

Can someone please tell me is Hibernate want to do want I want (and how!!).

Thanks and have a nice day.

renam

thatmikewilliams · **Posted:** Tue Jun 17, 2008 9:00 am

You could use name() and valueOf() on the enum. The type stored in the DB would be a string. There is extra code though - you need getters and setters for BOTH the string value and the Enum. However, the string versions can remain private as they're only needed by hibernate - doesn't pollute the class interface.

Code:

private MyEnum myEnum;

public MyEnum getMyEnum() {
    return myEnum;
}
public void setMyEnum(MyEnum myEnum) {
    this.myEnum = myEnum;
}

// hibernate accessor
private String getMyEnumName() {
    return myEnum.name();
}
// hibernate accessor
private void setMyEnumName(String myEnumName) {
    myEnum = MyEnum.valueOf(myEnumName);
}

renam00 · **Joined:** Mon Jun 16, 2008 8:28 am **Posts:** 4

Hi,

Thanks for your response.

I already have implemented the proposed solution, but I didn't realized that the Hibernate-specific getter and setter could be private. I will correct this.

So this is the only solution ? There is nothing I can write in the mapping file that would prevent me to have duplicated getters and setters because all the typedef tricks uses UserType right ?

thatmikewilliams · **Posted:** Tue Jun 17, 2008 10:48 am

I presume because hibernate core is Java 1.4 compatible it can't do anything clever with enums.

renam00 · **Joined:** Mon Jun 16, 2008 8:28 am **Posts:** 4

I think this is a fairly good reason.

But I'm sure it would be possible to have enum-specific tricks in the mapping file that would only make sense in a jdk 1.5+ context. It could be useful for some people.

But I'm convinced that you already thought about it and have pretty good reasons no to implement something like that. So keep up the good work and thanks for you time.

-renam

Cameron McKenzie · **Posted:** Wed Jun 18, 2008 9:16 pm

Quote:

I presume because hibernate core is Java 1.4 compatible it can't do anything clever with enums.

Sad but true. :( Annotations was a great leap forward for Java.