I have a member which is an interface reference. I am mapping as @Embedded and would like to specify the concrete class that will be used for the embedded mapping much like the targetEntity on entity relationships. Is there such a thing?

@Embedded(targetType=StreetAddressImpl.class)
private IStreetAddress streetAddress;

I seem to have to make streetAddress a concrete type which isn't ideal as it requires making some changes to the internal API

@Embedded
private StreetAddressImpl streetAddress;

In this case it doesn't really matter but it seems like there should be a parallel to targetEntity in the @Embedded annotation.

Maybe there is a different approach?

(Hibernate annotations 3.1 beta 7)

This will not be part of EJB3 but post a JIRa issue, I might add it.
@Type can solve you immediate problem though.

As a followup... I have a similar issue with @CollectionOfElements and was hoping you could explain how to use @Type in these situations.

I am using the following:
Hibernate 3.1
Hibernate Annotations 3.1beta7
Hibernate Entity Manager 3.1beta5

@Embedded
public class StreetAddress implements IStreetAddress {
...
}

@Entity
public class SomeEntity {

@CollectionOfElements
@JoinTable( ... )
// Here I have to do something with @Type to indicate that this
// collection should be of StreetAddresses
private List<IStreetAddress> addresses = new ArrayList<IStreetAddress>();

}

My understanding of @Type is that I need to implement an UserType for StreetAddress? Is there a way to leverage the annotations in StreetAddress by just specifying StreetAddress.class? Is there a built-in UserType that will take an @Embedded class and do the right thing?

I appreciate the help. I just need to be pointed in the right direction.

Thanks,
A.J.

no the user type has to persist your StreetAddress in a specific manner