Interface ParameterizedType

All Known Subinterfaces:

DynamicParameterizedType

All Known Implementing Classes:

UserTypeLegacyBridge

public interface ParameterizedType

Support for parameterizable types. A UserType or UserCollectionType may be made parameterizable by implementing this interface. Arguments to parameters may be specified via Type.parameters(). In XML, parameters for a type may be set by using a nested type element for the property element in the mapping file, or by defining a typedef.

See Also:

• Type.parameters()

API Note:

This interface provides little type safety, and results in verbosity at the use site. A much better approach is now provided by the possibility of declaring a UserType via an intermediate type annotation. Then the interface AnnotationBasedUserType provides a modernized alternative approach to defining configurable custom types.

For example, we could define a type annotation for the type TimePeriod:

@Type(PeriodType.class) // the type itself
@Target({METHOD, FIELD})
@Retention(RUNTIME)
// the type annotation:
public @interface TimePeriod {
    // member specifying custom configuration
    // affecting the behavior of the UserType:
    boolean days() default false;
}

Then the UserType implementation receives an instance of the type annotation in its constructor, or via AnnotationBasedUserType.initialize(A, UserTypeCreationContext):

static class PeriodType
        implements AnnotationBasedUserType<TimePeriod,Period> {
    private final boolean days;

    // constructor configures the UserType from
    // information in the annotation instance:
    @Override
    void initialize(TimePeriod timePeriod,
                    UserTypeCreationContext context) {
        days = timePeriod.days();
    }
    // implementation of UserType operations:
    ...
}

This interface will eventually be deprecated.

Method Summary

Modifier and Type	Method	Description
void	setParameterValues(Properties parameters)	Called by Hibernate to pass the parameters specified in the XML mapping file or by Type.parameters().

Method Details

setParameterValues

void setParameterValues(Properties parameters)

Called by Hibernate to pass the parameters specified in the XML mapping file or by Type.parameters().