Chapter 6.  Persistence

Table of Contents

1. persistence.xml
2. Non-EE Use

Note

OpenJPA also includes the OpenJPAPersistence helper class to provide additional utility methods.

Within a container, you will typically use injection to access an EntityManagerFactory. Applications operating outside of a container, however, can use the Persistence class to obtain EntityManagerFactory objects in a vendor-neutral fashion.

public static EntityManagerFactory createEntityManagerFactory(String name);
public static EntityManagerFactory createEntityManagerFactory(String name, Map props);
public static PersistenceUtil getPersistenceUtil();

Each createEntityManagerFactory method searches the system for an EntityManagerFactory definition with the given name. Use null for an unnamed factory. The optional map contains vendor-specific property settings used to further configure the factory.

persistence.xml files define EntityManagerFactories. The createEntityManagerFactory methods search for persistence.xml files within the META-INF directory of any CLASSPATH element. For example, if your CLASSPATH contains the conf directory, you could place an EntityManagerFactory definition in conf/META-INF/persistence.xml.

The getPersistenceUtil method returns a PersistenceUtil interface that can be used to determine whether an entity or attribute of an entity is loaded.

PersistenceUtil pUtil = Persistence.getPersistenceUtil();

if (!pUtil.isLoaded(myEntity)) {
    loadEntity(myEntity);
}

1.  persistence.xml

With the introduction of JPA 2.0, there are two versions of the persistence.xml. The most current revision of the 2.0 persistence schema is presented below. Version 1.0 of the persistence schema can be found at http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/persistence/persistence_1_0.xsd.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
    <!-- persistence.xml schema -->
<xsd:schema targetNamespace="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/persistence"
    xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" 
    xmlns:persistence="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/persistence"
    elementFormDefault="qualified" attributeFormDefault="unqualified"
    version="2.0">
    <xsd:annotation>
        <xsd:documentation>
            @(#)persistence_2_0.xsd 1.0 August 31 2009
        </xsd:documentation>
    </xsd:annotation>
    <xsd:annotation>
        <xsd:documentation>
        <![CDATA[
            This is the XML Schema for the persistence configuration file.
            The file must be named "META-INF/persistence.xml" in the
            persistence archive.
            Persistence configuration files must indicate
            the persistence schema by using the persistence namespace:
            http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/persistence
            and indicate the version of the schema by
            using the version element as shown below:
            <persistence xmlns="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/persistence"
            xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
            xsi:schemaLocation="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/persistence
            http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/persistence/persistence_2_0.xsd"
            version="2.0">
            ...
            </persistence>
        ]]>
        </xsd:documentation>
    </xsd:annotation>
    <xsd:simpleType name="versionType">
        <xsd:restriction base="xsd:token">
            <xsd:pattern value="[0-9]+(\.[0-9]+)*" />
        </xsd:restriction>
    </xsd:simpleType>
    <!-- **************************************************** -->
    <xsd:element name="persistence">
        <xsd:complexType>
            <xsd:sequence>
                <!-- **************************************************** -->
                <xsd:element name="persistence-unit"
                    minOccurs="1" maxOccurs="unbounded">
                    <xsd:complexType>
                        <xsd:annotation>
                            <xsd:documentation>
                                Configuration of a persistence unit.
                            </xsd:documentation>
                        </xsd:annotation>
                        <xsd:sequence>
                            <!-- **************************************************** -->
                            <xsd:element name="description"
                                type="xsd:string" minOccurs="0">
                                <xsd:annotation>
                                    <xsd:documentation>
                                        Description of this persistence unit.
                                    </xsd:documentation>
                                </xsd:annotation>
                            </xsd:element>
                            <!-- **************************************************** -->
                            <xsd:element name="provider"
                                type="xsd:string" minOccurs="0">
                                <xsd:annotation>
                                    <xsd:documentation>
                                        Provider class that supplies EntityManagers for this
                                        persistence unit.
                                    </xsd:documentation>
                                </xsd:annotation>
                            </xsd:element>
                            <!-- **************************************************** -->
                            <xsd:element name="jta-data-source"
                                type="xsd:string" minOccurs="0">
                                <xsd:annotation>
                                    <xsd:documentation>
                                        The container-specific name of the JTA datasource to use.
                                    </xsd:documentation>
                                </xsd:annotation>
                            </xsd:element>
                            <!-- **************************************************** -->
                            <xsd:element name="non-jta-data-source"
                                type="xsd:string" minOccurs="0">
                                <xsd:annotation>
                                    <xsd:documentation>
                                        The container-specific name of a non-JTA datasource to use.
                                    </xsd:documentation>
                                </xsd:annotation>
                            </xsd:element>
                            <!-- **************************************************** -->
                            <xsd:element name="mapping-file"
                                type="xsd:string" minOccurs="0"
                                maxOccurs="unbounded">
                                <xsd:annotation>
                                    <xsd:documentation>
                                        File containing mapping information. Loaded as a resource
                                        by the persistence provider.
                                    </xsd:documentation>
                                </xsd:annotation>
                            </xsd:element>
                            <!-- **************************************************** -->
                            <xsd:element name="jar-file"
                                type="xsd:string" minOccurs="0"
                                maxOccurs="unbounded">
                                <xsd:annotation>
                                    <xsd:documentation>
                                        Jar file that is to be scanned for managed classes.
                                    </xsd:documentation>
                                </xsd:annotation>
                            </xsd:element>
                            <!-- **************************************************** -->
                            <xsd:element name="class" type="xsd:string"
                                minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded">
                                <xsd:annotation>
                                    <xsd:documentation>
                                        Managed class to be included in the persistence unit and
                                        to scan for annotations. It should be annotated
                                        with either @Entity, @Embeddable or @MappedSuperclass.
                                    </xsd:documentation>
                                </xsd:annotation>
                            </xsd:element>
                            <!-- **************************************************** -->
                            <xsd:element name="exclude-unlisted-classes"
                                type="xsd:boolean" default="true"
                                minOccurs="0">
                                <xsd:annotation>
                                    <xsd:documentation>
                                        When set to true then only listed classes and jars will
                                        be scanned for persistent classes, otherwise the enclosing
                                        jar or directory will also be scanned. Not applicable to
                                        Java SE persistence units.
                                    </xsd:documentation>
                                </xsd:annotation>
                            </xsd:element>
                            <!-- **************************************************** -->
                            <xsd:element name="shared-cache-mode"
                                type="persistence:persistence-unit-caching-type"
                                minOccurs="0">
                                <xsd:annotation>
                                    <xsd:documentation>
                                        Defines whether caching is enabled for the
                                        persistence unit if caching is supported by the
                                        persistence provider. When set to ALL, all entities
                                        will be cached. When set to NONE, no entities will
                                        be cached. When set to ENABLE_SELECTIVE, only entities
                                        specified as cacheable will be cached. When set to
                                        DISABLE_SELECTIVE, entities specified as not cacheable
                                        will not be cached. When not specified or when set to
                                        UNSPECIFIED, provider defaults may apply.
                                    </xsd:documentation>
                                </xsd:annotation>
                            </xsd:element>
                            <!-- **************************************************** -->
                            <xsd:element name="validation-mode"
                                type="persistence:persistence-unit-validation-mode-type"
                                minOccurs="0">
                                <xsd:annotation>
                                    <xsd:documentation>
                                        The validation mode to be used for the persistence unit.
                                    </xsd:documentation>
                                </xsd:annotation>
                            </xsd:element>
                            <!-- **************************************************** -->
                            <xsd:element name="properties"
                                minOccurs="0">
                                <xsd:annotation>
                                    <xsd:documentation>
                                        A list of standard and vendor-specific properties
                                        and hints.
                                    </xsd:documentation>
                                </xsd:annotation>
                                <xsd:complexType>
                                    <xsd:sequence>
                                        <xsd:element name="property"
                                            minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded">
                                            <xsd:annotation>
                                                <xsd:documentation>
                                                    A name-value pair.
                                                </xsd:documentation>
                                            </xsd:annotation>
                                            <xsd:complexType>
                                                <xsd:attribute
                                                    name="name" type="xsd:string"
                                                    use="required" />
                                                <xsd:attribute
                                                    name="value" type="xsd:string"
                                                    use="required" />
                                            </xsd:complexType>
                                        </xsd:element>
                                    </xsd:sequence>
                                </xsd:complexType>
                            </xsd:element>
                        </xsd:sequence>
                        <!-- **************************************************** -->
                        <xsd:attribute name="name" type="xsd:string"
                            use="required">
                            <xsd:annotation>
                                <xsd:documentation>
                                    Name used in code to reference this persistence unit.
                                </xsd:documentation>
                            </xsd:annotation>
                        </xsd:attribute>
                        <!-- **************************************************** -->
                        <xsd:attribute name="transaction-type"
                            type="persistence:persistence-unit-transaction-type">
                            <xsd:annotation>
                                <xsd:documentation>
                                    Type of transactions used by EntityManagers from this
                                    persistence unit.
                                </xsd:documentation>
                            </xsd:annotation>
                        </xsd:attribute>
                    </xsd:complexType>
                </xsd:element>
            </xsd:sequence>
            <xsd:attribute name="version" type="persistence:versionType"
                fixed="2.0" use="required" />
        </xsd:complexType>
    </xsd:element>
    <!-- **************************************************** -->
    <xsd:simpleType name="persistence-unit-transaction-type">
        <xsd:annotation>
            <xsd:documentation>
                public enum PersistenceUnitTransactionType {JTA, RESOURCE_LOCAL};
            </xsd:documentation>
        </xsd:annotation>
        <xsd:restriction base="xsd:token">
            <xsd:enumeration value="JTA" />
            <xsd:enumeration value="RESOURCE_LOCAL" />
        </xsd:restriction>
    </xsd:simpleType>
    <!-- **************************************************** -->
    <xsd:simpleType name="persistence-unit-caching-type">
        <xsd:annotation>
            <xsd:documentation>
                public enum SharedCacheMode { ALL, NONE, ENABLE_SELECTIVE,
                DISABLE_SELECTIVE, UNSPECIFIED};
            </xsd:documentation>
        </xsd:annotation>
        <xsd:restriction base="xsd:token">
            <xsd:enumeration value="ALL" />
            <xsd:enumeration value="NONE" />
            <xsd:enumeration value="ENABLE_SELECTIVE" />
            <xsd:enumeration value="DISABLE_SELECTIVE" />
            <xsd:enumeration value="UNSPECIFIED" />
        </xsd:restriction>
    </xsd:simpleType>
    <!-- **************************************************** -->
    <xsd:simpleType name="persistence-unit-validation-mode-type">
        <xsd:annotation>
            <xsd:documentation>
                public enum ValidationMode { AUTO, CALLBACK, NONE};
            </xsd:documentation>
        </xsd:annotation>
        <xsd:restriction base="xsd:token">
            <xsd:enumeration value="AUTO" />
            <xsd:enumeration value="CALLBACK" />
            <xsd:enumeration value="NONE" />
        </xsd:restriction>
    </xsd:simpleType>
</xsd:schema>

The root element of a persistence.xml file is persistence, which then contains one or more persistence-unit definitions. The root element should include the version attribute with the appropriate version, 1.0 for a version 1.0 file and 2.0 for a version 2.0 file. Each persistence unit describes the configuration for the entity managers created by the persistence unit's entity manager factory. The persistence unit can specify these elements and attributes.

  • name: This is the name you pass to the Persistence.createEntityManagerFactory methods described above. The name attribute is required.

  • transaction-type: Whether to use managed (JTA) or local (RESOURCE_LOCAL) transaction management.

  • provider: If you are using a third-party JPA vendor, this element names its implementation of the PersistenceProvider bootstrapping interface.

    Note

    Set the provider to org.apache.openjpa.persistence.PersistenceProviderImpl to use OpenJPA.

  • jta-data-source: The JNDI name of a JDBC DataSource that is automatically enlisted in JTA transactions. This may be an XA DataSource.

  • non-jta-data-source: The JNDI name of a JDBC DataSource that is not enlisted in JTA transactions.

  • mapping-file*: The resource names of XML mapping files for entities and embeddable classes. You can also specify mapping information in an orm.xml file in your META-INF directory. If present, the orm.xml mapping file will be read automatically.

  • jar-file*: The names of jar files containing entities and embeddable classes. The implementation will scan the jar for annotated classes.

  • class*: The class names of entities and embeddable classes.

  • properties: This element contains nested property elements used to specify vendor-specific settings. Each property has a name attribute and a value attribute.

    Note

    The Reference Guide's Chapter 2, Configuration describes OpenJPA's configuration properties.

Here is a typical persistence.xml file for a non-EE environment:

Example 6.1.  persistence.xml

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<persistence version="1.0">
  <persistence-unit name="openjpa">
    <provider>org.apache.openjpa.persistence.PersistenceProviderImpl</provider>
    <class>tutorial.Animal</class>
    <class>tutorial.Dog</class>
    <class>tutorial.Rabbit</class>
    <class>tutorial.Snake</class>
    <properties>
      <property name="openjpa.ConnectionURL" value="jdbc:hsqldb:tutorial_database"/>
      <property name="openjpa.ConnectionDriverName" value="org.hsqldb.jdbcDriver"/>
      <property name="openjpa.ConnectionUserName" value="sa"/>
      <property name="openjpa.ConnectionPassword" value=""/>
      <property name="openjpa.Log" value="DefaultLevel=WARN, Tool=INFO"/>
    </properties>
  </persistence-unit>
</persistence>