JPA CascadeType.ALL does not delete orphans
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.
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
╔═════════════╦═════════════════════╦═════════════════════╗
║ Action ║ orphanRemoval=true ║ CascadeType.ALL ║
╠═════════════╬═════════════════════╬═════════════════════╣
║ delete ║ deletes parent ║ deletes parent ║
║ parent ║ and orphans ║ and orphans ║
╠═════════════╬═════════════════════╬═════════════════════╣
║ change ║ ║ ║
║ children ║ deletes orphans ║ nothing ║
║ list ║ ║ ║
╚═════════════╩═════════════════════╩═════════════════════╝
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
- fetch main row to be deleted
- fetch child elements
- delete all child elements
- delete main row
- close session
With JPA 2.0, you can now use the option orphanRemoval = true
@OneToMany(mappedBy="foo", orphanRemoval=true)