Hello,

Which tool is best for creating hibernate mappings ? Can this tool test the mappings too ? or do I have to get another that does this for me ..

nitin

You can mark up your sourcecode with Javadoc tags and use XDoclet to generate the mappings. I prefer a good IDE (IntelliJ) with validation and autocompletion for XML (Hibernate mappings have a DTD).

I'm more and more using the same good old way than Christian do. I find mapping files very readable (more than xdoclet actually).

It come down to personal preference - best is always subjective. Why don't you try out the tools demo and try the various approaches. As far as validating the XML as a result of a tool generating it, you could use the xmlvalidate ANT task.

personnaly i think that if you have to think your domain model on an existing db, it's usefull to have the db info into the classes so using xdoclet is great, but in version 1.2 i found a least 3 limitation:
1- joined subclasses with composite id
2- formula is not available
3- 2 times the same component in a class

maybe i did it bad, maybe there are more limitations.
Just try 2 or 3 methods, definitly:

David, Christian :
Since your post in 2004 on this subject, have your thoughts on using XDoclets changed or do you still prefer writing the mapping files yourself.

Thanks,
Sanjiv

I am still using XDoclet actively. I had also joined the effort to bring Xdoclet 1.2.x -> 1.3.x series up a high level of support for H3. I am comfortable using many different approaches but as a project tends to get larger I generally move from mapping files to XDoclet (and will use Annotations if JDK requirements will allow it).

Go with what you mostly feel comfortable. All approaches have good IDE support if you select the right plugins etc.