Hibernate.orgCommunity Documentation
Hibernate features an intuitive, extensible criteria query API.
The interface org.hibernate.Criteria represents a query against
a particular persistent class. The Session is a factory for
Criteria instances.
Criteria crit = sess.createCriteria(Cat.class);
crit.setMaxResults(50);
List cats = crit.list();
An individual query criterion is an instance of the interface
org.hibernate.criterion.Criterion. The class
org.hibernate.criterion.Restrictions defines
factory methods for obtaining certain built-in
Criterion types.
List cats = sess.createCriteria(Cat.class)
.add( Restrictions.like("name", "Fritz%") )
.add( Restrictions.between("weight", minWeight, maxWeight) )
.list();
Restrictions can be grouped logically.
List cats = sess.createCriteria(Cat.class)
.add( Restrictions.like("name", "Fritz%") )
.add( Restrictions.or(
Restrictions.eq( "age", new Integer(0) ),
Restrictions.isNull("age")
) )
.list();
List cats = sess.createCriteria(Cat.class)
.add( Restrictions.in( "name", new String[] { "Fritz", "Izi", "Pk" } ) )
.add( Restrictions.disjunction()
.add( Restrictions.isNull("age") )
.add( Restrictions.eq("age", new Integer(0) ) )
.add( Restrictions.eq("age", new Integer(1) ) )
.add( Restrictions.eq("age", new Integer(2) ) )
) )
.list();
There are a range of built-in criterion types (Restrictions
subclasses). One of the most useful allows you to specify SQL directly.
List cats = sess.createCriteria(Cat.class)
.add( Restrictions.sqlRestriction("lower({alias}.name) like lower(?)", "Fritz%", Hibernate.STRING) )
.list();
The {alias} placeholder with be replaced by the row alias
of the queried entity.
You can also obtain a criterion from a
Property instance. You can create a Property
by calling Property.forName():
Property age = Property.forName("age");
List cats = sess.createCriteria(Cat.class)
.add( Restrictions.disjunction()
.add( age.isNull() )
.add( age.eq( new Integer(0) ) )
.add( age.eq( new Integer(1) ) )
.add( age.eq( new Integer(2) ) )
) )
.add( Property.forName("name").in( new String[] { "Fritz", "Izi", "Pk" } ) )
.list();
You can order the results using org.hibernate.criterion.Order.
List cats = sess.createCriteria(Cat.class)
.add( Restrictions.like("name", "F%")
.addOrder( Order.asc("name") )
.addOrder( Order.desc("age") )
.setMaxResults(50)
.list();
List cats = sess.createCriteria(Cat.class)
.add( Property.forName("name").like("F%") )
.addOrder( Property.forName("name").asc() )
.addOrder( Property.forName("age").desc() )
.setMaxResults(50)
.list();
By navigating
associations using createCriteria() you can specify constraints upon related entities:
List cats = sess.createCriteria(Cat.class)
.add( Restrictions.like("name", "F%") )
.createCriteria("kittens")
.add( Restrictions.like("name", "F%") )
.list();
The second createCriteria() returns a new
instance of Criteria that refers to the elements of
the kittens collection.
There is also an alternate form that is useful in certain circumstances:
List cats = sess.createCriteria(Cat.class)
.createAlias("kittens", "kt")
.createAlias("mate", "mt")
.add( Restrictions.eqProperty("kt.name", "mt.name") )
.list();
(createAlias() does not create a new instance of
Criteria.)
The kittens collections held by the Cat instances
returned by the previous two queries are not pre-filtered
by the criteria. If you want to retrieve just the kittens that match the
criteria, you must use a ResultTransformer.
List cats = sess.createCriteria(Cat.class)
.createCriteria("kittens", "kt")
.add( Restrictions.eq("name", "F%") )
.setResultTransformer(Criteria.ALIAS_TO_ENTITY_MAP)
.list();
Iterator iter = cats.iterator();
while ( iter.hasNext() ) {
Map map = (Map) iter.next();
Cat cat = (Cat) map.get(Criteria.ROOT_ALIAS);
Cat kitten = (Cat) map.get("kt");
}
Additionally you may manipulate the result set using a left outer join:
List cats = session.createCriteria( Cat.class )
.createAlias("mate", "mt", Criteria.LEFT_JOIN, Restrictions.like("mt.name", "good%") )
.addOrder(Order.asc("mt.age"))
.list();
This will return all of the Cats with a mate whose name starts with "good"
ordered by their mate's age, and all cats who do not have a mate.
This is useful when there is a need to order or limit in the database
prior to returning complex/large result sets, and removes many instances where
multiple queries would have to be performed and the results unioned
by java in memory.
Without this feature, first all of the cats without a mate would need to be loaded in one query.
A second query would need to retreive the cats with mates who's name started with "good" sorted by the mates age.
Thirdly, in memory; the lists would need to be joined manually.
You can specify association fetching semantics at runtime using
setFetchMode().
List cats = sess.createCriteria(Cat.class)
.add( Restrictions.like("name", "Fritz%") )
.setFetchMode("mate", FetchMode.EAGER)
.setFetchMode("kittens", FetchMode.EAGER)
.list();
This query will fetch both mate and kittens
by outer join. See Section 21.1, “Fetching strategies” for more information.
The class org.hibernate.criterion.Example allows
you to construct a query criterion from a given instance.
Cat cat = new Cat();
cat.setSex('F');
cat.setColor(Color.BLACK);
List results = session.createCriteria(Cat.class)
.add( Example.create(cat) )
.list();
Version properties, identifiers and associations are ignored. By default, null valued properties are excluded.
You can adjust how the Example is applied.
Example example = Example.create(cat)
.excludeZeroes() //exclude zero valued properties
.excludeProperty("color") //exclude the property named "color"
.ignoreCase() //perform case insensitive string comparisons
.enableLike(); //use like for string comparisons
List results = session.createCriteria(Cat.class)
.add(example)
.list();
You can even use examples to place criteria upon associated objects.
List results = session.createCriteria(Cat.class)
.add( Example.create(cat) )
.createCriteria("mate")
.add( Example.create( cat.getMate() ) )
.list();
The class org.hibernate.criterion.Projections is a
factory for Projection instances. You can apply a
projection to a query by calling setProjection().
List results = session.createCriteria(Cat.class)
.setProjection( Projections.rowCount() )
.add( Restrictions.eq("color", Color.BLACK) )
.list();
List results = session.createCriteria(Cat.class)
.setProjection( Projections.projectionList()
.add( Projections.rowCount() )
.add( Projections.avg("weight") )
.add( Projections.max("weight") )
.add( Projections.groupProperty("color") )
)
.list();
There is no explicit "group by" necessary in a criteria query. Certain
projection types are defined to be grouping projections,
which also appear in the SQL group by clause.
An alias can be assigned to a projection so that the projected value can be referred to in restrictions or orderings. Here are two different ways to do this:
List results = session.createCriteria(Cat.class)
.setProjection( Projections.alias( Projections.groupProperty("color"), "colr" ) )
.addOrder( Order.asc("colr") )
.list();
List results = session.createCriteria(Cat.class)
.setProjection( Projections.groupProperty("color").as("colr") )
.addOrder( Order.asc("colr") )
.list();
The alias() and as() methods simply wrap a
projection instance in another, aliased, instance of Projection.
As a shortcut, you can assign an alias when you add the projection to a
projection list:
List results = session.createCriteria(Cat.class)
.setProjection( Projections.projectionList()
.add( Projections.rowCount(), "catCountByColor" )
.add( Projections.avg("weight"), "avgWeight" )
.add( Projections.max("weight"), "maxWeight" )
.add( Projections.groupProperty("color"), "color" )
)
.addOrder( Order.desc("catCountByColor") )
.addOrder( Order.desc("avgWeight") )
.list();
List results = session.createCriteria(Domestic.class, "cat")
.createAlias("kittens", "kit")
.setProjection( Projections.projectionList()
.add( Projections.property("cat.name"), "catName" )
.add( Projections.property("kit.name"), "kitName" )
)
.addOrder( Order.asc("catName") )
.addOrder( Order.asc("kitName") )
.list();
You can also use Property.forName() to express projections:
List results = session.createCriteria(Cat.class)
.setProjection( Property.forName("name") )
.add( Property.forName("color").eq(Color.BLACK) )
.list();
List results = session.createCriteria(Cat.class)
.setProjection( Projections.projectionList()
.add( Projections.rowCount().as("catCountByColor") )
.add( Property.forName("weight").avg().as("avgWeight") )
.add( Property.forName("weight").max().as("maxWeight") )
.add( Property.forName("color").group().as("color" )
)
.addOrder( Order.desc("catCountByColor") )
.addOrder( Order.desc("avgWeight") )
.list();
The DetachedCriteria class allows you to create a query outside the scope
of a session and then execute it using an arbitrary Session.
DetachedCriteria query = DetachedCriteria.forClass(Cat.class)
.add( Property.forName("sex").eq('F') );
Session session = ....;
Transaction txn = session.beginTransaction();
List results = query.getExecutableCriteria(session).setMaxResults(100).list();
txn.commit();
session.close();
A DetachedCriteria can also be used to express a subquery. Criterion
instances involving subqueries can be obtained via Subqueries or
Property.
DetachedCriteria avgWeight = DetachedCriteria.forClass(Cat.class)
.setProjection( Property.forName("weight").avg() );
session.createCriteria(Cat.class)
.add( Property.forName("weight").gt(avgWeight) )
.list();
DetachedCriteria weights = DetachedCriteria.forClass(Cat.class)
.setProjection( Property.forName("weight") );
session.createCriteria(Cat.class)
.add( Subqueries.geAll("weight", weights) )
.list();
Correlated subqueries are also possible:
DetachedCriteria avgWeightForSex = DetachedCriteria.forClass(Cat.class, "cat2")
.setProjection( Property.forName("weight").avg() )
.add( Property.forName("cat2.sex").eqProperty("cat.sex") );
session.createCriteria(Cat.class, "cat")
.add( Property.forName("weight").gt(avgWeightForSex) )
.list();
For most queries, including criteria queries, the query cache is not efficient because query cache invalidation occurs too frequently. However, there is a special kind of query where you can optimize the cache invalidation algorithm: lookups by a constant natural key. In some applications, this kind of query occurs frequently. The criteria API provides special provision for this use case.
First, map the natural key of your entity using
<natural-id> and enable use of the second-level cache.
<class name="User">
<cache usage="read-write"/>
<id name="id">
<generator class="increment"/>
</id>
<natural-id>
<property name="name"/>
<property name="org"/>
</natural-id>
<property name="password"/>
</class>
This functionality is not intended for use with entities with mutable natural keys.
Once you have enabled the Hibernate query cache,
the Restrictions.naturalId() allows you to make use of
the more efficient cache algorithm.
session.createCriteria(User.class)
.add( Restrictions.naturalId()
.set("name", "gavin")
.set("org", "hb")
).setCacheable(true)
.uniqueResult();
Copyright © 2004 Red Hat, Inc.