JPA CascadeType.ALL does not delete orphans

Question

I am having trouble deleting orphan nodes using JPA with the following mapping

@OneToMany (cascade = CascadeType.ALL, fetch = FetchType.EAGER, mappedBy = "owner")
private List<Bikes> bikes;

I am having the issue of the orphaned roles hanging around the database.

I can use the annotation org.hibernate.annotations.Cascade Hibernate specific tag but obviously I don't want to tie my solution into a Hibernate implementation.

EDIT: It seems JPA 2.0 will include support for this.

Solution 1

If you are using it with Hibernate, you'll have to explicitly define the annotation CascadeType.DELETE_ORPHAN, which can be used in conjunction with JPA CascadeType.ALL.

If you don't plan to use Hibernate, you'll have to explicitly first delete the child elements and then delete the main record to avoid any orphan records.

execution sequence

1. fetch main row to be deleted
2. fetch child elements
3. delete all child elements
4. delete main row
5. close session

With JPA 2.0, you can now use the option orphanRemoval = true

@OneToMany(mappedBy="foo", orphanRemoval=true)

Solution 2

If you are using JPA 2.0, you can now use the orphanRemoval=true attribute of the @xxxToMany annotation to remove orphans.

Actually, CascadeType.DELETE_ORPHAN has been deprecated in 3.5.2-Final.

Solution 3

╔═════════════╦═════════════════════╦═════════════════════╗
║   Action    ║  orphanRemoval=true ║   CascadeType.ALL   ║
╠═════════════╬═════════════════════╬═════════════════════╣
║   delete    ║     deletes parent  ║    deletes parent   ║
║   parent    ║     and orphans     ║    and orphans      ║
╠═════════════╬═════════════════════╬═════════════════════╣
║   change    ║                     ║                     ║
║  children   ║   deletes orphans   ║      nothing        ║
║    list     ║                     ║                     ║
╚═════════════╩═════════════════════╩═════════════════════╝

Solution 4

If you are using JPA with EclipseLink, you'll have to set the @PrivateOwned annotation.

Documentation: Eclipse Wiki - Using EclipseLink JPA Extensions - Chapter 1.4 How to Use the @PrivateOwned Annotation

Solution 5

you can use @PrivateOwned to delete orphans e.g

@OneToMany(mappedBy = "masterData", cascade = {
        CascadeType.ALL })
@PrivateOwned
private List<Data> dataList;

View more solutions

Comments

[Paul Whelan]

thanks I ended up going this route, I think this is a bit of an oversite for the JPA spec.

[jeremyh]

The JPA 2.0 standard now has deleteOrphan as an attribute to @OneToMany If you are using the latest hibernate you can do @OneToMany(..., deleteOrphan=true)

[Archie]

Actually I think orphanRemoval=true means something else, i.e., delete an object when I remove it from it's parent's collection. See download.oracle.com/javaee/6/tutorial/doc/bnbqa.html#giqxy

[Paul Whelan]

Thanks @reshma it should be noted @PrivateOwned is a eclipselink JPA extension.

[maralbjo]

I needed to clean and build before the change came into effect.

[Jigar Shah]

Please g through Archie's link.

[Joe Almore]

orphanRemoval=true does not work either. It has to be done the old way.

[jAckOdE]

what is execution sequence when i just update child-elements? will orphan-records be deleted?

[Andrew Mairose]

Wow, I've been looking for an hour as to why adding CascadeType.ALL on my ManyToOne wasn't cascading deletes. Cleaned and built and it works. Thanks @maralbjo.

[vipin chauhan]

@OneToOne(cascade = CascadeType.ALL, orphanRemoval = true) @JoinColumn(name = "CHILD_OID") private Child child;

[izogfif]

What happens if I have cascade = CascadeType.ALL, orphanRemoval = false and delete the parent? Will it delete children, even though I've specifically told NOT to?