Object-Relational Mapping (ORM) with Cosmos DB Data Entities in Java



Object-relational mapping (ORM) techniques make it easier to work with relational data sources and can bridge your logical business model with your physical storage model. Follow this tutorial to integrate connectivity to Cosmos DB data into a Java-based ORM framework, Hibernate.

You can use Hibernate to map object-oriented domain models to a traditional relational database. The tutorial below shows how to use the CData JDBC Driver for Cosmos DB to generate an ORM of your Cosmos DB repository with Hibernate.

Though Eclipse is the IDE of choice for this article, the CData JDBC Driver for Cosmos DB works in any product that supports the Java Runtime Environment. In the Knowledge Base you will find tutorials to connect to Cosmos DB data from IntelliJ IDEA and NetBeans.

Install Hibernate

Follow the steps below to install the Hibernate plug-in in Eclipse.

  1. In Eclipse, navigate to Help -> Install New Software.
  2. Enter "http://download.jboss.org/jbosstools/neon/stable/updates/" in the Work With box.
  3. Enter "Hibernate" into the filter box.
  4. Select Hibernate Tools.

Start A New Project

Follow the steps below to add the driver JARs in a new project.

  1. Create a new project. Select Java Project as your project type and click Next. Enter a project name and click Finish.
  2. Right-click the project and click Properties. Click Java Build Path and then open the Libraries tab.
  3. Click Add External JARs to add the cdata.jdbc.cosmosdb.jar library, located in the lib subfolder of the installation directory.

Add a Hibernate Configuration File

Follow the steps below to configure connection properties to Cosmos DB data.

  1. Right-click on the new project and select New -> Hibernate -> Hibernate Configuration File (cfg.xml).
  2. Select src as the parent folder and click Next.
  3. Input the following values:

    • Hibernate version:: 5.2
    • Database dialect: Derby
    • Driver class: cdata.jdbc.cosmosdb.CosmosDBDriver
    • Connection URL: A JDBC URL, starting with jdbc:cosmosdb: and followed by a semicolon-separated list of connection properties.

      To obtain the connection string needed to connect to a Cosmos DB account using the SQL API, log in to the Azure Portal, select Azure Cosmos DB, and select your account. In the Settings section, click Connection String and set the following values:

      • AccountEndpoint: The Cosmos DB account URL from the Keys blade of the Cosmos DB account
      • AccountKey: In the Azure portal, navigate to the Cosmos DB service and select your Azure Cosmos DB account. From the resource menu, go to the Keys page. Find the PRIMARY KEY value and set AccountKey to this value.

      Built-in Connection String Designer

      For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the Cosmos DB JDBC Driver. Either double-click the JAR file or execute the jar file from the command-line.

      java -jar cdata.jdbc.cosmosdb.jar

      Fill in the connection properties and copy the connection string to the clipboard.

      A typical JDBC URL is below:

      jdbc:cosmosdb:AccountEndpoint=myAccountEndpoint;AccountKey=myAccountKey;

Connect Hibernate to Cosmos DB Data

Follow the steps below to select the configuration you created in the previous step.

  1. Switch to the Hibernate Configurations perspective: Window -> Open Perspective -> Hibernate.
  2. Right-click on the Hibernate Configurations panel and click Add Configuration.
  3. Set the Hibernate version to 5.2.
  4. Click the Browse button and select the project.
  5. For the Configuration file field, click Setup -> Use Existing and select the location of the hibernate.cfg.xml file (inside src folder in this demo).
  6. In the Classpath tab, if there is nothing under User Entries, click Add External JARS and add the driver jar once more. Click OK once the configuration is done.
  7. Expand the Database node of the newly created Hibernate configurations file.

Reverse Engineer Cosmos DB Data

Follow the steps below to generate the reveng.xml configuration file. You will specify the tables you want to access as objects.

  1. Switch back to the Package Explorer.
  2. Right-click your project, select New -> Hibernate -> Hibernate Reverse Engineering File (reveng.xml). Click Next.
  3. Select src as the parent folder and click Next.
  4. In the Console configuration drop-down menu, select the Hibernate configuration file you created above and click Refresh.
  5. Expand the node and choose the tables you want to reverse engineer. Click Finish when you are done.

Configure Hibernate to Run

Follow the steps below to generate plain old Java objects (POJO) for the Cosmos DB tables.

  1. From the menu bar, click Run -> Hibernate Code Generation -> Hibernate Code Generation Configurations.
  2. In the Console configuration drop-down menu, select the Hibernate configuration file you created in the previous section. Click Browse by Output directory and select src.
  3. Enable the Reverse Engineer from JDBC Connection checkbox. Click the Setup button, click Use Existing, and select the location of the hibernate.reveng.xml file (inside src folder in this demo).
  4. In the Exporters tab, check Domain code (.java) and Hibernate XML Mappings (hbm.xml).
  5. Click Run.

One or more POJOs are created based on the reverse-engineering setting in the previous step.

Insert Mapping Tags

For each mapping you have generated, you will need to create a mapping tag in hibernate.cfg.xml to point Hibernate to your mapping resource. Open hibernate.cfg.xml and insert the mapping tags as so:

cdata.cosmosdb.CosmosDBDriver jdbc:cosmosdb:AccountEndpoint=myAccountEndpoint;AccountKey=myAccountKey; org.hibernate.dialect.SQLServerDialect

Execute SQL

Using the entity you created from the last step, you can now search and modify Cosmos DB data: import java.util.*; import org.hibernate.Session; import org.hibernate.cfg.Configuration; import org.hibernate.query.Query; public class App { public static void main(final String[] args) { Session session = new Configuration().configure().buildSessionFactory().openSession(); String SELECT = "FROM Customers C WHERE Name = :Name"; Query q = session.createQuery(SELECT, Customers.class); q.setParameter("Name","Morris Park Bake Shop"); List<Customers> resultList = (List<Customers>) q.list(); for(Customers s: resultList){ System.out.println(s.getCity()); System.out.println(s.getCompanyName()); } } }

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