Details
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Improvement
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Status: Closed
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Major
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Resolution: Fixed
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None
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None
Description
We’ve experimented with automated db-first approach to Cayenne modeling for more than a year on a set of client projects. Roughly this approach means that DB evolution is managed via external tools (e.g. liquibase) and Cayenne artifacts are managed using the following POM configuration:
<plugin>
<groupId>org.apache.cayenne.plugins</groupId>
<artifactId>maven-cayenne-plugin</artifactId>
<configuration>
...
</configuration>
<executions>
<execution>
<id>default-cli</id>
<goals>
<goal>cdbimport</goal>
<goal>cgen</goal>
</goals>
</execution>
</executions>
</plugin>
“cdbimport” ensures that Cayenne model is always in sync with DB, “cgen” - that Java classes are in sync with the model. There are zero problems with “cgen", not so with “cdbimport". If you control the schema, you get a decently named Java classes/properties in 95% of the cases. Here we are trying to address the remaining 5% that make things ugly:
- Inability to generate meaningful relationship names in many cases.
- Inability to customize attribute/relationship names and data types.
To solve this here we are proposing a merge algorithm that would preserve customizations to the Obj* layer made by the user. And in addition to that a special descriptor that can be used for more advanced filtering and customization of cdbimport process. Both of these improvements will hopefully result in “cdbimport” becoming a tool of choice for Cayenne work for many users.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DF5-_mMDCuH7iUFhEFDm2q-ebVeSPgvOaymho88ywJ0/edit?pli=1