[hibernate-dev] Another @Access quandry

Steve Ebersole steve at hibernate.org
Wed Mar 26 16:07:50 EDT 2014


I also renamed @AccessType (out custom one) to be @AttributeAccessor to
better avoid confusion with the JPA names.


On Wed, Mar 26, 2014 at 2:32 PM, Emmanuel Bernard <emmanuel at hibernate.org>wrote:

> I was under the assumption that the test was as I wrote it but Hardy
> proved my assumption wrong here and I mixed @Access and @AccessType.
>
> On 26 Mar 2014, at 20:14, Steve Ebersole <steve at hibernate.org> wrote:
>
> So the spec does specifically say "It is not permitted to specify a field
> as Access(PROPERTY) or a property as Access(FIELD)".  I understanding
> making usability choices when the spec is unclear.  Do you think there is
> non-clarity in that quote though?
>
> Even if you say making usability choices when the spec is very clear, but
> "wrong"... again I can live with that.  But we need to be clear about that.
>
>
>
> On Wed, Mar 26, 2014 at 11:21 AM, Emmanuel Bernard <emmanuel at hibernate.org
> > wrote:
>
>> My take on the spec as always been that I'd rather follow the intent,
>> the common sense above the letter. Likewise, I favored user experience
>> over spec strict adherence.
>> I did clash numerous time with the TCK in these targets but I still
>> prefer that over just doing something stupid but spec to the letter.
>> (this is general and not specific to that case).
>>
>> Anyway so my take is pretty much as it was when I first implemented
>> @AccessType even if it steps over the spec at the margin.
>> BTW I'm also happy if we all decide I made a usability mistake that
>> should be fixed.
>>
>> Emmanuel
>>
>> On Wed 2014-03-26 11:14, Steve Ebersole wrote:
>> > On Wed, Mar 26, 2014 at 10:12 AM, Steve Ebersole <steve at hibernate.org
>> >wrote:
>> >
>> > > It does violate the spec though, that's the problem:
>> > >
>> >
>> > Well it *could* be read to violate the spec.  That's inherently the
>> problem
>> > with specs that use unclear wording; they can be read and argued
>> multiple
>> > ways.
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > >
>> > > "... It is not permitted to specify a field as Access(PROPERTY) or a
>> > > property as Access(FIELD)..."
>> > >
>> > > which imo is exactly what this is doing (specifying a property as
>> FIELD):
>> > >
>> > >     @Id
>> > >     @GeneratedValue
>> > >     @Access(AccessType.FIELD)
>> > >     public long getId() {
>> > >         return id;
>> > >     }
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > On Wed, Mar 26, 2014 at 9:56 AM, Sanne Grinovero <sanne at hibernate.org
>> >wrote:
>> > >
>> > >> I do of course agree that people should use a single strategy and
>> > >> stick to it, so I agree with your reading about what the "general
>> > >> expectation" is.
>> > >>
>> > >> But the original test represents a quite naturally looking example
>> and
>> > >> it's hard to justify why that should be considered illegal; I'd
>> > >> probably be more inclined in making user's life easier than try to
>> > >> lecture them about how a proper mapping should look like.
>> > >>
>> > >> Ignoring any annotation leads to waste of time and debugging
>> > >> frustration, so rather than silently discarding a mis-positioned
>> > >> annotation I'd prefer a fail-fast approach; that said I think just
>> > >> applying them all - as long as there are no obvious conflicting
>> > >> annotations - would be even more user friendly and doesn't seem to
>> > >> violate any specific wording of the spec.
>> > >>
>> > >> Sanne
>> > >>
>> > >>
>> > >> On 26 March 2014 13:57, Steve Ebersole <steve at hibernate.org> wrote:
>> > >> > Again from the spec (still discussing class-level
>> Access(PROPERTY)) :
>> > >> "The
>> > >> > behavior is undefined if mapping annotations are placed on any
>> instance
>> > >> > variables defined by the class for which Access(FIELD) is not
>> > >> specified".
>> > >> >
>> > >> > Which to me implies that the expectation for switching access for a
>> > >> > particular field within such a class is to annotate the *field*
>> with
>> > >> > Access(FIELD).
>> > >> >
>> > >> > Also the footnote to this sections seems very relevant:
>> > >> >
>> > >> > "[8] ... It is not permitted to specify a field as
>> Access(PROPERTY) or a
>> > >> > property as Access(FIELD)..."
>> > >> >
>> > >> >
>> > >> >
>> > >> > On Wed, Mar 26, 2014 at 8:02 AM, Emmanuel Bernard <
>> > >> emmanuel at hibernate.org>
>> > >> > wrote:
>> > >> >>
>> > >> >> My reading at the time and what I did find more intuitive is what
>> the
>> > >> >> test represents.
>> > >> >>
>> > >> >> Entity level @AccessType expresses where the annotations should
>> > >> >> be. Otherwise the position of @Id is used to find the access type
>> to
>> > >> >> consider annotation wise.
>> > >> >>
>> > >> >> If for a few attributes I wish to use the alternative property
>> access,
>> > >> I
>> > >> >> can add @AccessType next to the other annotations but expressing
>> that
>> > >> >> the actual property value access is based on the alternative
>> access.
>> > >> >> That way, all annotations are in the same place.
>> > >> >>
>> > >> >> On Wed 2014-03-26 11:12, Sanne Grinovero wrote:
>> > >> >> > As a user I would not expect the @Access annotation to be
>> treated as
>> > >> a
>> > >> >> > special case by the framework in terms of when an annotation is
>> > >> >> > ignored, as for example that I can put this on either
>> properties or
>> > >> >> > fields, and it would not be ignored, while other annotations
>> could be
>> > >> >> > ignored depending on the position.
>> > >> >> >
>> > >> >> > Also I highly doubt that there is a practical use case to
>> "comment" a
>> > >> >> > mapping annotation by moving it to the wrong position (say I
>> move a
>> > >> >> > @GeneratedValue from a field to a property when using FIELD
>> access):
>> > >> >> > that would be extremely confusing to maintain.
>> > >> >> >
>> > >> >> > The spec's wording states "When Access(PROPERTY) is applied to
>> an
>> > >> >> > [...] mapping annotations **may** be placed on .."
>> > >> >> > I'd stress that it doesn' t say "must" but "may", and also
>> doesn't
>> > >> >> > seem to strictly ban the opposite.
>> > >> >> >
>> > >> >> > As a user if I put a mapping annotation anywhere I expect it to
>> be
>> > >> >> > respected, so I would expect the framework to work on the union
>> of
>> > >> the
>> > >> >> > possible positions, and probably even to throw an exception on
>> > >> >> > conflicting options. The @Access property would then only be
>> used to
>> > >> >> > state which access strategy should be used (and a nice effect
>> is tha
>> > >> >> > the name becomes particularly self-explanatory too).
>> > >> >> >
>> > >> >> > Also there are many types of possible contradictions in the
>> mapping
>> > >> >> > options:
>> > >> >> >
>> > >> >> > public class Course {
>> > >> >> >     @Id @GeneratedValue(strategy=TABLE)
>> > >> >> >     private long id;
>> > >> >> >     ...
>> > >> >> >
>> > >> >> >     @Id @GeneratedValue(strategy=SEQUENCE)
>> > >> >> >     public long getId() {
>> > >> >> >         return id;
>> > >> >> >     }
>> > >> >> >
>> > >> >> > Or you could have a stronger conflict which isn't solvable via
>> > >> >> > AccesType "rules" either:
>> > >> >> >
>> > >> >> > public class Course {
>> > >> >> >     @Id @GeneratedValue(strategy=TABLE)
>> > >> >> >     @Access(AccessType.FIELD)
>> > >> >> >     private long id;
>> > >> >> >     ...
>> > >> >> >
>> > >> >> >     @Id @GeneratedValue(strategy=SEQUENCE)
>> > >> >> >     @Access(AccessType.PROPERTY)
>> > >> >> >     public long getId() {
>> > >> >> >         return id;
>> > >> >> >     }
>> > >> >> >
>> > >> >> > This last example is the reason why I think you should always
>> > >> >> > consistently look at both to collect mapping options, and
>> possibly
>> > >> >> > throw runtime exceptions.
>> > >> >> >
>> > >> >> > Sanne
>> > >> >> >
>> > >> >> >
>> > >> >> >
>> > >> >> >
>> > >> >> > On 26 March 2014 04:13, Steve Ebersole <steve at hibernate.org>
>> wrote:
>> > >> >> > > >From the test
>> > >> >> > >
>> > >> >> > >
>> > >>
>> org.hibernate.test.annotations.access.jpa.AccessMappingTest#testExplicitPropertyAccessAnnotationsWithHibernateStyleOverride
>> > >> >> > > we have the following:
>> > >> >> > >
>> > >> >> > >
>> > >> >> > > @Entity
>> > >> >> > > @Access(AccessType.PROPERTY)
>> > >> >> > > public class Course3 {
>> > >> >> > >     private long id;
>> > >> >> > >     ...
>> > >> >> > >
>> > >> >> > >     @Id
>> > >> >> > >     @GeneratedValue
>> > >> >> > >     @Access(AccessType.FIELD)
>> > >> >> > >     public long getId() {
>> > >> >> > >         return id;
>> > >> >> > >     }
>> > >> >> > >     ...
>> > >> >> > > }
>> > >> >> > >
>> > >> >> > > The test asserts that this is a valid mapping.  Granted that
>> the
>> > >> spec
>> > >> >> > > is
>> > >> >> > > very unclear here, so I might be missing something.  The
>> pertinent
>> > >> >> > > spec
>> > >> >> > > section here states:
>> > >> >> > >
>> > >> >> > >
>> > >> >> > >
>> > >> >> > >
>> > >> >> > >
>> > >> >> > >
>> > >> >> > >
>> > >> >> > >
>> > >> >> > >
>> > >> >> > >
>> > >> >> > > *<quote>When Access(PROPERTY) is applied to an entity class,
>> mapped
>> > >> >> > > superclass, or embeddableclass, mapping annotations may be
>> placed
>> > >> on
>> > >> >> > > the
>> > >> >> > > properties of that class, and the persistenceprovider runtime
>> > >> accesses
>> > >> >> > > persistent state via the properties defined by that class. All
>> > >> >> > > proper-ties
>> > >> >> > > that are not annotated with the Transient annotation are
>> > >> persistent.
>> > >> >> > > WhenAccess(PROPERTY) is applied to such a class, it is
>> possible to
>> > >> >> > > selectively designate indi-vidual attributes within the class
>> for
>> > >> >> > > instance
>> > >> >> > > variable access. To specify a persistent instancevariable for
>> > >> access
>> > >> >> > > by the
>> > >> >> > > persistence provider runtime, that instance variable must be
>> > >> >> > > desig-nated
>> > >> >> > > Access(FIELD).</quote>*
>> > >> >> > >
>> > >> >> > >
>> > >> >> > > I can see a few different ways to read that:
>> > >> >> > >
>> > >> >> > > 1) @Access can be placed on the attribute to define both
>> where to
>> > >> look
>> > >> >> > > for
>> > >> >> > > mapping annotations and the runtime access strategy for a
>> given
>> > >> >> > > attribute.
>> > >> >> > >  Here, we'd do:
>> > >> >> > >
>> > >> >> > > @Entity
>> > >> >> > > @Access(AccessType.PROPERTY)
>> > >> >> > > public class Course3 {
>> > >> >> > >     @Id
>> > >> >> > >     @GeneratedValue
>> > >> >> > >     @Access(AccessType.FIELD)
>> > >> >> > >     private long id;
>> > >> >> > >     ...
>> > >> >> > >
>> > >> >> > >     public long getId() {
>> > >> >> > >         return id;
>> > >> >> > >     }
>> > >> >> > >     ...
>> > >> >> > > }
>> > >> >> > >
>> > >> >> > > 2) @Access can be placed on the attribute to define the
>> runtime
>> > >> access
>> > >> >> > > strategy for a given attribute, but the class/hierarchy
>> AccessType
>> > >> >> > > controls
>> > >> >> > > where to look for mapping annotations.  This would lead to:
>> > >> >> > >
>> > >> >> > > @Entity
>> > >> >> > > @Access(AccessType.PROPERTY)
>> > >> >> > > public class Course3 {
>> > >> >> > >     @Access(AccessType.FIELD)
>> > >> >> > >     private long id;
>> > >> >> > >     ...
>> > >> >> > >
>> > >> >> > >     @Id
>> > >> >> > >     @GeneratedValue
>> > >> >> > >     public long getId() {
>> > >> >> > >         return id;
>> > >> >> > >     }
>> > >> >> > >     ...
>> > >> >> > > }
>> > >> >> > >
>> > >> >> > > The test seems to illustrate that our legacy code made yet a
>> 3rd
>> > >> >> > > reading of
>> > >> >> > > this passage such that @Access is still considered a "mapping
>> > >> >> > > annotation"
>> > >> >> > > even though that seems to directly contradict "To specify a
>> > >> persistent
>> > >> >> > > instance
>> > >> >> > > variable for access by the persistence provider runtime, that
>> > >> instance
>> > >> >> > > variable must be desig-
>> > >> >> > > nated Access(FIELD)."
>> > >> >> > >
>> > >> >> > >
>> > >> >> > > Is there some other passage I am missing that bears on what
>> to do
>> > >> >> > > here?
>> > >> >> > >  How do y'all feel about that passage and its implications on
>> this
>> > >> >> > > test
>> > >> >> > > mapping?
>> > >> >> > > _______________________________________________
>> > >> >> > > hibernate-dev mailing list
>> > >> >> > > hibernate-dev at lists.jboss.org
>> > >> >> > > https://lists.jboss.org/mailman/listinfo/hibernate-dev
>> > >> >> > _______________________________________________
>> > >> >> > hibernate-dev mailing list
>> > >> >> > hibernate-dev at lists.jboss.org
>> > >> >> > https://lists.jboss.org/mailman/listinfo/hibernate-dev
>> > >> >
>> > >> >
>> > >>
>> > >
>> > >
>>
>
>
>


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