How to set up a MappedSuperClass with a generic Id in JPA/Hibernate

Question

I want to set up a generic superclass that uses the generic type as the Id type in a MappedSuperClass.

Example code:

@MappedSuperClass
public class SuperClass<T> {
    @Id
    private T id;

    // add getter and setter
}

@Entity
@Table(name = "xxx")
@AttributeOverride(name = "id", column = @Column(name = "xxxColumn"))
public class entityClassA extends SuperClass<String> {
    // some more mappings + getters and setters
}

@Entity
@Table(name = "yyy")
@AttributeOverride(name = "id", column = @Column(name = "yyyColumn"))
public class entityClassB extend SuperClass<Integer> {
    // some more mappings, getters and setters
}

However, if I run this I get an exception:

T has an unbound type and no explicit target entity. Resolve this Generic usage issue or set an explicit target attribute (eg @OneToMany(target=) or use an explicit @Type

As far as I can find, this should work. I found this question that uses the exact same thing (except for the AttributeOverride): How to create a generic entity model class that supports generic id including auto generated ids?

In this question there seems to be no problem with a generic mapped Id field.

Am I doing something wrong with the AttributeOverride annotation or am I missing some other thing?

EDIT (full stack trace):

org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'entityManagerFactory' defined in class path resource [org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/orm/jpa/HibernateJpaAutoConfiguration.class]: Invocation of init method failed; nested exception is org.hibernate.AnnotationException: Property SuperClass.id has an unbound type and no explicit target entity. Resolve this Generic usage issue or set an explicit target attribute (eg @OneToMany(target=) or use an explicit @Type
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.initializeBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:1628) ~[spring-beans-4.3.7.RELEASE.jar:4.3.7.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.doCreateBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:555) ~[spring-beans-4.3.7.RELEASE.jar:4.3.7.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.createBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:483) ~[spring-beans-4.3.7.RELEASE.jar:4.3.7.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory$1.getObject(AbstractBeanFactory.java:306) ~[spring-beans-4.3.7.RELEASE.jar:4.3.7.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.getSingleton(DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.java:230) ~[spring-beans-4.3.7.RELEASE.jar:4.3.7.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.doGetBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:302) ~[spring-beans-4.3.7.RELEASE.jar:4.3.7.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.getBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:197) ~[spring-beans-4.3.7.RELEASE.jar:4.3.7.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractApplicationContext.getBean(AbstractApplicationContext.java:1081) ~[spring-context-4.3.7.RELEASE.jar:4.3.7.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractApplicationContext.finishBeanFactoryInitialization(AbstractApplicationContext.java:856) ~[spring-context-4.3.7.RELEASE.jar:4.3.7.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractApplicationContext.refresh(AbstractApplicationContext.java:542) ~[spring-context-4.3.7.RELEASE.jar:4.3.7.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.boot.context.embedded.EmbeddedWebApplicationContext.refresh(EmbeddedWebApplicationContext.java:122) ~[spring-boot-1.5.2.RELEASE.jar:1.5.2.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication.refresh(SpringApplication.java:737) [spring-boot-1.5.2.RELEASE.jar:1.5.2.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication.refreshContext(SpringApplication.java:370) [spring-boot-1.5.2.RELEASE.jar:1.5.2.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication.run(SpringApplication.java:314) [spring-boot-1.5.2.RELEASE.jar:1.5.2.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication.run(SpringApplication.java:1162) [spring-boot-1.5.2.RELEASE.jar:1.5.2.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication.run(SpringApplication.java:1151) [spring-boot-1.5.2.RELEASE.jar:1.5.2.RELEASE]
    at com.ac.tms.Application.main(Application.java:25) [classes/:na]
Caused by: org.hibernate.AnnotationException: Property SuperClass.id has an unbound type and no explicit target entity. Resolve this Generic usage issue or set an explicit target attribute (eg @OneToMany(target=) or use an explicit @Type
    at org.hibernate.cfg.PropertyContainer.assertTypesAreResolvable(PropertyContainer.java:243) ~[hibernate-core-5.0.12.Final.jar:5.0.12.Final]
    at org.hibernate.cfg.PropertyContainer.getProperties(PropertyContainer.java:233) ~[hibernate-core-5.0.12.Final.jar:5.0.12.Final]
    at org.hibernate.cfg.AnnotationBinder.addElementsOfClass(AnnotationBinder.java:1489) ~[hibernate-core-5.0.12.Final.jar:5.0.12.Final]
    at org.hibernate.cfg.InheritanceState.getElementsToProcess(InheritanceState.java:222) ~[hibernate-core-5.0.12.Final.jar:5.0.12.Final]
    at org.hibernate.cfg.AnnotationBinder.bindClass(AnnotationBinder.java:717) ~[hibernate-core-5.0.12.Final.jar:5.0.12.Final]
    at org.hibernate.boot.model.source.internal.annotations.AnnotationMetadataSourceProcessorImpl.processEntityHierarchies(AnnotationMetadataSourceProcessorImpl.java:245) ~[hibernate-core-5.0.12.Final.jar:5.0.12.Final]
    at org.hibernate.boot.model.process.spi.MetadataBuildingProcess$1.processEntityHierarchies(MetadataBuildingProcess.java:222) ~[hibernate-core-5.0.12.Final.jar:5.0.12.Final]
    at org.hibernate.boot.model.process.spi.MetadataBuildingProcess.complete(MetadataBuildingProcess.java:265) ~[hibernate-core-5.0.12.Final.jar:5.0.12.Final]
    at org.hibernate.jpa.boot.internal.EntityManagerFactoryBuilderImpl.metadata(EntityManagerFactoryBuilderImpl.java:847) ~[hibernate-entitymanager-5.0.12.Final.jar:5.0.12.Final]
    at org.hibernate.jpa.boot.internal.EntityManagerFactoryBuilderImpl.build(EntityManagerFactoryBuilderImpl.java:874) ~[hibernate-entitymanager-5.0.12.Final.jar:5.0.12.Final]
    at org.springframework.orm.jpa.vendor.SpringHibernateJpaPersistenceProvider.createContainerEntityManagerFactory(SpringHibernateJpaPersistenceProvider.java:60) ~[spring-orm-4.3.7.RELEASE.jar:4.3.7.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.orm.jpa.LocalContainerEntityManagerFactoryBean.createNativeEntityManagerFactory(LocalContainerEntityManagerFactoryBean.java:353) ~[spring-orm-4.3.7.RELEASE.jar:4.3.7.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.orm.jpa.AbstractEntityManagerFactoryBean.buildNativeEntityManagerFactory(AbstractEntityManagerFactoryBean.java:370) ~[spring-orm-4.3.7.RELEASE.jar:4.3.7.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.orm.jpa.AbstractEntityManagerFactoryBean.afterPropertiesSet(AbstractEntityManagerFactoryBean.java:359) ~[spring-orm-4.3.7.RELEASE.jar:4.3.7.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.invokeInitMethods(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:1687) ~[spring-beans-4.3.7.RELEASE.jar:4.3.7.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.initializeBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:1624) ~[spring-beans-4.3.7.RELEASE.jar:4.3.7.RELEASE]
    ... 16 common frames omitted

Answer 1

i'm not able to reproduce your issue with the setup you've described :

i got the sessionFactory to build (which is where it failed for you) and i was even able to get this query (with session.get(class, id)) :

select testentity0_.xxxColumn as xxxColum1_2_0_, testentity0_.TEST_COLUMN as TEST_COL2_2_0_
from TEST_TABLE testentity0_
where testentity0_.xxxColumn=?

showing that the @AttributeOverride is working. Could you have an entity in your project that do not define the generic type ?