Immutable entity mapping query

stacky · **Posted:** Wed Aug 13, 2008 8:47 am

Hi all,

The following is an example of a typical immutable entity type that we have in our business domain:

Code:

public class Entity
{
     public readonly int Id;
     public readonly string Name;

     public Entity(int id, string name)
     {
          this.Id = id;
          this.Name = name;
     }
}

Is there anyone out there that can confirm if we can map this type of entity directly in NHibernate without having to make any code changes to our domain entities? (e.g. like adding a default constructor)

wolli · **Posted:** Wed Aug 13, 2008 10:44 am

You definitely need a default constructor (which can be private). Hibernate can also access the fields if you use the appropriate access strategy (access="field"), but I'm not sure if it's possible to set read only fields through reflection.

So the answer to your question is no. You have to change your domain code. But you can change the code in a way that the visible part of the entities stays the same.