hibernate does not handle correctly covariant return types of java 1.5. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Key: HHH-442 URL: http://opensource.atlassian.com/projects/hibernate/browse/HHH-442 Project: Hibernate3 Issue Type: Bug Affects Versions: 3.0.2 Environment: INFO: Hibernate 3.0.2 Windows XP Pro java version "1.5.0_03" Java(TM) 2 Runtime Environment, Standard Edition (build 1.5.0_03-b07) Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build 1.5.0_03-b07, mixed mode, sharing) Reporter: Stefan Bühlmann Priority: Minor Attachments: covariant_problem.zip Hi Gavin, It seems as if hibernate does not handle correctly covariant return types of java 1.5. In the example included LocalWorkspace implements LocalWorkspaceI. The attribute visibleCommittedTrx and it's setters and getters use the type Transaction; But the interface LocalWorkspaceI uses TransactionI as a return type for getVisibleCommittedTrx(). To put it the other way around, LocalWorkspace.getVisibleCommittedTrx() returns a class and not an interface, but this still implements the interface, since it is a covariant return type. It compiles nicely with java 1.5, but when run it get the following: org.hibernate.MappingException: An association from the table LOCALWORKSPACE refers to an unmapped class: x2.elements.interfaces.TransactionI This clearly shows, that hibernate tries to use TransactionI. But I never made a mapping for an interface! To use the stripped down example, just edit go.bat and set JAVA_HOME to your liking. Then run go.bat. But how can I upload a zip? Bye Stefan