Object-Relational Mappings: Editing JPA Entities

This document describes the following:

Using an Entity Diagram Editor
Related Information

OEPE provides graphical interfaces for viewing entity relationship within a JPA project.

Using the Entity Diagram Editor, you can view and modify relationships between entities, get easy access to the entity source code, and create additional object-relational mappings. Note that the editor lets you edit properties of both entities and their fields. You can also edit the persistence.xml file that describes the persistence context.

To open the editor, right-click your project in the Project Explorer and select JPA > Show in Entity Editor from the drop-down menu, as Figure 1 shows. This will open the graphical entity editor shown in Figure 2.

Figure 1. Show in Entity Editor Menu

Figure 2. Entity Diagram Editor

Alternatively, you can open the editor from your project's JPA Content > persistence.xml folder by expanding the persistence unit and selecting a specific entity. In this case, the entity from which you launched the editor, will appear selected in the diagram.

The entity editor allows you to do the following:

View entity properties

Edit entity properties and field properties

Filter the view of relationships

Create new entities

Perform other actions

1.1 Viewing Entity Properties

To view entity properties in JPA Details view, select an entity in the editor by clicking on the entity name, as Figure 3 shows.

Figure 3. Entity Properties in JPA Details View

By right-clicking the entity name in the editor and making an appropriate selection from the drop-down menu shown in Figure 3, you can view the following:

the entity source code;

your project's persistence.xml file;

the entity selected in the Project Explorer.

1.2 Editing Entity Properties and Field Properties

Using the JPA Details view, you can change the following entity properties:

the entity name (see Section 8.1 "Entity" of the JPA Specification);

the database table with which the entity interacts (see Section 9.1.1 "Table Annotation" of the JPA Specification);

the primary key class (see @IdClass);

overriding of attributes (see @AttributeOverride and @AttributeOverrides);

secondary tables with which the entity interacts (see Section 9.1.2 "SecondaryTable Annotation" of the JPA Specification);

the inheritance properties (see @Inheritance), including the discriminator column (see @DiscriminatorColumn), and the primary key join columns (see Section 9.1.32 "PrimaryKeyJoinColumn Annotation" of the JPA Specification);

named and native queries (see Section 8.3.1 "NamedQuery Annotation" and 8.3.2 "NamedNativeQuery Annotation" of the JPA Specification), as well as query hints (javax.persistence.QueryHint);

the primary key generation (see @TableGenerator and @SequenceGenerator);

The changes that you make in the JPA Details view are reflected in the entity's source code. The example in Figure 4 shows the source code of an unchanged Employee entity.

Figure 4. Unmodified Employee Class

Figure 5 and Figure 6 show the modified Employee entity properties in the JPA Details view and source code view respectively.

Figure 5. Modified Employee Entity in JPA Details View

Figure 6. Modified Employee Class

The JPA Details view allows you to modify entity field properties. To do so, select a field in the editor, and then make changes in the JPA Details view, as Figure 7 shows.

Figure 7. Modifying Entity Field Properties

Once again, the changes are reflected in the source code of this particular entity (Countries), as Figure 8 shows.

Figure 8. Modified Countries Class

For more information on various types of properties that you can modify for each entity, field, and mapping, see the following:

EclipseLink JPA Reference

JPA Specification

1.3 Filtering the View of Relationships

OEPE Entity Diagram Editor lets you hide relationships in order to reduce the number of relationship lines displayed in the editor. This can be useful when you have a complex set of relationships between many entities. To hide specific relationships, use one of the following options:

Click one of the following icons on the editor menu:
- Hide one-to-one relations
- Hide one-to-many relations
- Hide many-to-one relations
- Hide many-to-many relations
Right-click on the editor display area and select one of the following from the drop-down menu:
- Hide Relationship > One to One
- Hide Relationship > One to Many
- Hide Relationship > Many to One
- Hide Relationship > Many to Many

If you compare the entity editor diagrams shown in Figure 3 and Figure 9, you will notice that Figure 9 displays the entity editor with one-to-many relationships hidden from view.

Figure 9. Hiding One-to-Many Relationships on the Entity Editor

For more information on mapping relationships, see the following:

One-to-One Mapping

One-to-Many Mapping

Many-to-One Mapping

Many-to-Many Mapping

1.4 Creating New Entities

You can create new entity mappings by either clicking the icons on the editor menu (shown in Figure 10), or right-clicking on the editor display area and selecting either Add Entity from Database Table or Add Entity from Java Class from the drop-down menu.

Figure 10. Adding Entities

Clicking the icons or selecting the options from the menu will launch OEPE wizards that generate entity mappings. For more information on using the wizards, see the following:

Generating JPA Entities

Annotating Java Classes

Once new entities are added, the entity editor will be refreshed and you will be able to see the new entities in the diagram.

1.5 Performing Other Actions in the Entity Diagram Editor

In addition to viewing and editing entities, OEPE Entity Diagram Editor allows you to do the following:

Delete an entity by right-clicking the entity name and selecting Delete from the drop-down menu.

Select entites, fields, and relationships by clicking on their representations.

Highlight fields and relationships by mousing over entites, fields, or relationships.

Open Java source code for an entity by right-clicking the entity and selecting Open Java Source from the drop-down menu.

Open the project's persistence.xml file by right-clicking the entity and selecting Open persistence.xml from the drop-down menu.

Highlight an entity in the Project Explorer by right-clicking the entity and selecting Show in Project Explorer from the drop-down menu.

Display the tool-tip text by mousing over the table header or column.

Zoom in and out of the display by using either a combo box located on the editor menu, or a menu that pops up upon the right click.

Export the entity diagram to the image by clicking on the corresponding icon located on the editor menu, or a menu that pops up upon the right click.

Print the entity diagram by clicking on the corresponding icon located on the editor menu, or a menu that pops up upon the right click.

2. Related Information

EclipseLink JPA Reference

JPA Specification

Getting Started With the Oracle Database Plugin for Eclipse

Configuring a Persistence Provider for JPA Projects

Introduction to EclipseLink JPA