Thanks for the reply. I've been searching the forums and web - and XMBeans does seem the way to go, but all the posts I have seen refer to setting the persistence within the descriptor (which of course I don't have). Doing the same thing 'in code' is a completely different kettle of fish, and examples are hard to come by. Have you come across any? View the original post : http://www.jboss.com/index.html?module=bb&op=viewtopic&p=3980820#... Reply to the post : http://www.jboss.com/index.html?module=bb&op=posting&mode=reply&a...