Using oneToMany relation, but saving data in individual tables at different point of time - spring

Question

I am working on a Spring-MVC application which has 2 tables in database and 2 domain classes. Class Person has oneTOMany relation with class Notes. I would like to add Person and notes both in database. So I googled, to find out many MVC based examples for the same problem. However they seem to assume a few things :
Data is being added in a static manner by the developer, mostly through Static void main() or another class.
Data regarding all the classes which are related is added altogether, eg : Table A has oneToMany relation, so the code will add data for both the tables in one class or one jsp file.
Other frameworks like Spring-Security at play(This point is understood).
So basically, similar examples with different names and developers is what I found. My problem is :
I don't have static void main, don't intend to use it.
I am adding data through HTML page wrapped inside JSP page.
I or the user will first register through the register form, just login later and then add notes, so I am not adding data for both tables at same time. (I have to believe this is possible by Hibernate)
Error :
org.hibernate.TransientObjectException: object references an unsaved transient instance - save the transient instance before flushing: com.journaldev.spring.model.Person
org.hibernate.engine.internal.ForeignKeys.getEntityIdentifierIfNotUnsaved(ForeignKeys.java:294)
org.hibernate.type.EntityType.getIdentifier(EntityType.java:537)
org.hibernate.type.ManyToOneType.isDirty(ManyToOneType.java:311)
org.hibernate.type.ManyToOneType.isDirty(ManyToOneType.java:321)
org.hibernate.type.TypeHelper.findDirty(TypeHelper.java:294)
Person Model :
#Entity
#Table(name="person")
public class Person implements UserDetails{
private static final GrantedAuthority USER_AUTH = new SimpleGrantedAuthority("ROLE_USER");
#Id
#Column(name="id")
#GeneratedValue(strategy = GenerationType.SEQUENCE,generator = "person_seq_gen")
#SequenceGenerator(name = "person_seq_gen",sequenceName = "person_seq")
private int id;
#OneToMany(cascade = CascadeType.ALL,mappedBy = "person1")
private Set<Notes> notes1;
public Set<Notes> getNotes1() {
return notes1;
}
public void setNotes1(Set<Notes> notes1) {
this.notes1 = notes1;
}
Notes model :
#Entity
#Table(name="note")
public class Notes {
#Id
#Column(name="noteid")
#GeneratedValue(strategy = GenerationType.SEQUENCE,generator = "note_gen")
#SequenceGenerator(name = "note_gen",sequenceName = "note_seq")
private int noteId;
#ManyToOne
#JoinColumn(name = "id")
private Person person1;
public Person getPerson1() {
return person1;
}
public void setPerson1(Person person1) {
this.person1 = person1;
}
NotesDAOImpl :
#Transactional
#Repository
public class NotesDAOImpl implements NotesDAO{
private SessionFactory sessionFactory;
public void setSessionFactory(SessionFactory sf){
this.sessionFactory = sf;
}
#Override
public void addNote(Notes notes, int id) {
Session session = this.sessionFactory.getCurrentSession();
session.save(notes);
}
SQL schema :
CREATE TABLE public.person (
id INTEGER NOT NULL,
firstname VARCHAR,
username VARCHAR,
password VARCHAR,
CONSTRAINT personid PRIMARY KEY (id)
);
CREATE TABLE public.note (
noteid INTEGER NOT NULL,
sectionid INTEGER,
canvasid INTEGER,
text VARCHAR,
notecolor VARCHAR,
noteheadline VARCHAR,
id INTEGER NOT NULL,
CONSTRAINT noteid PRIMARY KEY (noteid)
);
ALTER TABLE public.note ADD CONSTRAINT user_note_fk
FOREIGN KEY (id)
REFERENCES public.person (id)
ON DELETE NO ACTION
ON UPDATE NO ACTION
NOT DEFERRABLE;
Btw, the id in addNote method is just me checking if SpringSecurity is actually sending userid, and has properly loggedin, debug purpose.
So, I am unable to add notes once user is logged in, what am I doing wrong? Or this is not possible with Hibernate. In that case, let me find a gun to shoot myself.. :P

Answer 1

Your code will try to save notes. But these notes will not be linked to any Person. You have to do below sequence of operation.
Find the logged in person or the person for which you want to save the notes.
Create notes object which will be in transient state.
Attach notes to the person.
If it is bidirectional relationaship, then person to notes.
Below is the code template.
#Transactional
#Repository
public class NotesDAOImpl implements NotesDAO{
private SessionFactory sessionFactory;
public void setSessionFactory(SessionFactory sf){
this.sessionFactory = sf;
}
#Override
public void addNote(Notes notes, int id) {
Session session = this.sessionFactory.getCurrentSession();
Person person = getPerson(); // this method should get logged in person or the person for whom you want to save the notes.
if (person.getNotes() == null) {
Set<Note> notes = new HashSet<Note>();
person.setNotes(notes);
}
person.getNotes().add(note);
note.setPerson(person); // If bidirectional relationship.
session.update(person); // if update does not work, try merge();
}
Also make sure you have cascade type set to MERGE in person entity on notes field.
Note: Above code is just example from your code and may have some compilation error. please correct according to your requirement.