[Hibernate-devel] Query API

[Gavin_King/Cirrus%<CI...@ci...>]

Hi everyone,

I just committed to CVS an experimental version of the new pageable
queries API. Its not quite finished yet, since it doesn't support
named query parameters + setFirstResult() is not yet implemented.

Also, I had always intended to refactor a bunch of code from
RelationalDatabaseSession (now renamed SessionImpl) to QueryImpl
but I havn't done that yet, since it wasn't the path of least
resistence. I still need to do it at some stage - SessionImpl
is an abominably huge class.

However, it would be cool if people could check it out and give
criticism.

A question I have is about the naming of this method on the Query
interface

   public void setEntity(int position, Object val);

(Used to bind an entity object to a JDBC parameter.)

The word "entity" is used liberally in the documentation, but not in
the actual code and never in the API. The method on class Hibernate that
gets an entity type is called "association". However "setAssociation"
sounds wrong.

I suppose a way to dodge this issue would be to have a single method

   public void setObject(int position, Object val);

which checks if val is an entity, a persistent enum or Serializable and
uses whichever Type is appropriate but I would only go this way if
people think that would be a better API for other reasons..... (I think
its slightly inferior)

I was never particularly happy with the using the word "entity" for what
I call "persistent object" in my head (and in the implementation code,
generally). However there *does* need to be a way to distinguish between
entity and value objects since both really fit the description "persistent
object".

The JDO spec calls these things "first class objects" and "second class
objects" which is okay, but not really that evocative.

Can anyone think of a better name?

TIA

Gavin

oh, PS, is "bindParameter, bindInteger" better than "setParameter,
setInteger"? I chose the latter to be consistent with JDBC....