Hi,

I have this small problem. I have a class like..

public class TimePeriod implements Serializable {
private Integer id;
private final long startTimestamp;
private long endTimestamp;

protected TimePeriod() {
startTimestamp = 0;
}

public TimePeriod(long startTimestamp, long endTimestamp) {
this.startTimestamp = startTimestamp;
this.endTimestamp = endTimestamp;
}

public void setEndTimestamp(long endTimestamp) {
this.endTimestamp = endTimestamp;
}

public void setStartTimestamp(){}////what do I put here???

public long getStartTimestamp() {
return startTimestamp;
}

public long getEndTimestamp() {
return endTimestamp;
}

public Integer getId() {
return this.id;
}

public void setId(Integer value) {
this.id = value;
}
}

I have the following problems:
1) The start Timestamp field is final. I cannot assign it any value in the setter method. If I dont have the setter method or make the method empty it complains when I run the program. The field is assigned a value in the constructor any way. Also in the dafault hibernate constructor I have to initialize it.

Is there any way to avoid having these getters and setters.
Pleae let me know what I can do with this final field.

Thanx a lot,
Shefali

Ok, you make it final so that it can't be change, right. Well you can remove the final and make the setter private. Hibernate wil be able to set it and all is well.

or

You could remove the setter and set the access to field in the hbm file.

Hi,

well, they do not want me to change the design and want it in the constructor only. Also hibernate does not allow private setters, does it??..I have tried to make them private many times before and it complains...Am I missing something????

Can you please explain with some example:
"You could remove the setter and set the access to field in the hbm file"

Thank You

Who is they and if you leave it final private or not hibernate can't do anything with it.

Im sorry but I would like to try the second option that u mentioned in ur reply.Can you please elaborate on it... I wud really appreciate it...

Thanks a lot

Whatever you do you have to remove the final from that field. Hibernate can access the field directly, but can't change it if is final.
It instantiates the Object with the no arg constructor. So, if it is final there is no way for hibernate to set it.
Why does the field have to be final? If you just don't want it to be changed then removing the setter does that.
And removing final and setting
<property name="startTimestamp" access="field"/>
in the hbm file will do it for you.

Setter methods should always be accessible, and are usually public, or protected or default. I have never seen a private setter.

Final methods are final because whoever wrote the code didn't want you to override the method. Either your requirements have changed, meaning you need to change the scope i.e. remove final modifier, or you are not fully aware of the requirements.

In an ideal world ;)

I am not a Hibernate 3 expert but I read you don't need getters and setters in 3.0, where you do in 2.1.

I hope this helps.

It is not a final METHOD it is an instance variable that is final. If he needed
to put some kind of logic around setting the startTimestamp and didn't want
anyone to change the value making the setter private is perfectly reasonable
and hibernate can access it.

Reflexively putting mutators on all instance variables leads you away from OO
and toward procedural design. Additionally, he doesn't want anyone to change the
value after instantiation. Hence, don't make the setter public or don't have a
setter and have hibernate access it directly.