Cannot invoke "org.hibernate.sql.ast.tree.expression.Expression.getColumnReference()" because "pathSqlExpression" is null

Hibernate ORM
1

I have this spring data jpa method:

    @Transactional
    @Modifying
    @Query("update Trainee t set t.trainers = :trainers where t.username = :username")
    void updateTrainersByUsername(@Param("username") String username, @Param("trainers") List<Trainer> trainers);

My entities, which related to this problem:

@Getter
@Setter
@Entity
@Table(name = "trainees")
@Builder
@AllArgsConstructor
@NoArgsConstructor
public class Trainee extends User {
    @Column(name = "date_of_birth")
    private LocalDate dateOfBirth;
    private String address;
    @ManyToMany
    @JoinTable(
            name = "trainees_trainers",
            joinColumns = @JoinColumn(name = "trainee_id"),
            inverseJoinColumns = @JoinColumn(name = "trainer_id")
    )
    private List<Trainer> trainers;
    @OneToMany(mappedBy = "trainee", cascade = {CascadeType.PERSIST, CascadeType.REMOVE})
    @OnDelete(action = OnDeleteAction.CASCADE)
    private List<Training> trainings;
}

@Getter
@Setter
@Entity
@Table(name = "trainers")
@NoArgsConstructor
public class Trainer extends User {
    @ManyToOne
    @JoinColumn(name = "specialization")
    @NotNull
    private TrainingType trainingType;
    @ManyToMany
    @JoinTable(
            name = "trainees_trainers",
            joinColumns = @JoinColumn(name = "trainer_id"),
            inverseJoinColumns = @JoinColumn(name = "trainee_id")
    )
    private List<Trainee> trainees;
}

@Getter
@Setter
@Entity
@Table(name = "trainees")
@Builder
@AllArgsConstructor
@NoArgsConstructor
public class Trainee extends User {
    @Column(name = "date_of_birth")
    private LocalDate dateOfBirth;
    private String address;
    @ManyToMany
    @JoinTable(
            name = "trainees_trainers",
            joinColumns = @JoinColumn(name = "trainee_id"),
            inverseJoinColumns = @JoinColumn(name = "trainer_id")
    )
    private List<Trainer> trainers;
    @OneToMany(mappedBy = "trainee", cascade = {CascadeType.PERSIST, CascadeType.REMOVE})
    @OnDelete(action = OnDeleteAction.CASCADE)
    private List<Training> trainings;
}

My stack trace, which I got when I call my method:

Caused by: java.lang.NullPointerException: Cannot invoke "org.hibernate.sql.ast.tree.expression.Expression.getColumnReference()" because "pathSqlExpression" is null
	at org.hibernate.query.sqm.sql.BaseSqmToSqlAstConverter.visitSetClause(BaseSqmToSqlAstConverter.java:994)
	at org.hibernate.query.sqm.sql.BaseSqmToSqlAstConverter.visitUpdateStatement(BaseSqmToSqlAstConverter.java:837)
	at org.hibernate.query.sqm.sql.BaseSqmToSqlAstConverter.visitUpdateStatement(BaseSqmToSqlAstConverter.java:440)
	at org.hibernate.query.sqm.tree.update.SqmUpdateStatement.accept(SqmUpdateStatement.java:175)
	at org.hibernate.query.sqm.sql.BaseSqmToSqlAstConverter.translate(BaseSqmToSqlAstConverter.java:776)
	at org.hibernate.query.sqm.internal.SimpleUpdateQueryPlan.createUpdateTranslator(SimpleUpdateQueryPlan.java:114)
	at org.hibernate.query.sqm.internal.SimpleUpdateQueryPlan.executeUpdate(SimpleUpdateQueryPlan.java:60)
	at org.hibernate.query.sqm.internal.QuerySqmImpl.doExecuteUpdate(QuerySqmImpl.java:705)
	at org.hibernate.query.sqm.internal.QuerySqmImpl.executeUpdate(QuerySqmImpl.java:675)
	at org.springframework.data.jpa.repository.query.JpaQueryExecution$ModifyingExecution.doExecute(JpaQueryExecution.java:266)
	at org.springframework.data.jpa.repository.query.JpaQueryExecution.execute(JpaQueryExecution.java:92)
	at org.springframework.data.jpa.repository.query.AbstractJpaQuery.doExecute(AbstractJpaQuery.java:149)
	at org.springframework.data.jpa.repository.query.AbstractJpaQuery.execute(AbstractJpaQuery.java:137)
	at org.springframework.data.repository.core.support.RepositoryMethodInvoker.doInvoke(RepositoryMethodInvoker.java:170)
	at org.springframework.data.repository.core.support.RepositoryMethodInvoker.invoke(RepositoryMethodInvoker.java:158)
	at org.springframework.data.repository.core.support.QueryExecutorMethodInterceptor.doInvoke(QueryExecutorMethodInterceptor.java:164)
	at org.springframework.data.repository.core.support.QueryExecutorMethodInterceptor.invoke(QueryExecutorMethodInterceptor.java:143)
	at org.springframework.aop.framework.ReflectiveMethodInvocation.proceed(ReflectiveMethodInvocation.java:184)
	at org.springframework.data.projection.DefaultMethodInvokingMethodInterceptor.invoke(DefaultMethodInvokingMethodInterceptor.java:70)
	at org.springframework.aop.framework.ReflectiveMethodInvocation.proceed(ReflectiveMethodInvocation.java:184)
	at org.springframework.transaction.interceptor.TransactionInterceptor$1.proceedWithInvocation(TransactionInterceptor.java:123)
	at org.springframework.transaction.interceptor.TransactionAspectSupport.invokeWithinTransaction(TransactionAspectSupport.java:385)
	at org.springframework.transaction.interceptor.TransactionInterceptor.invoke(TransactionInterceptor.java:119)
	at org.springframework.aop.framework.ReflectiveMethodInvocation.proceed(ReflectiveMethodInvocation.java:184)
	at org.springframework.dao.support.PersistenceExceptionTranslationInterceptor.invoke(PersistenceExceptionTranslationInterceptor.java:137)
	at org.springframework.aop.framework.ReflectiveMethodInvocation.proceed(ReflectiveMethodInvocation.java:184)
	at org.springframework.data.jpa.repository.support.CrudMethodMetadataPostProcessor$CrudMethodMetadataPopulatingMethodInterceptor.invoke(CrudMethodMetadataPostProcessor.java:135)
	at org.springframework.aop.framework.ReflectiveMethodInvocation.proceed(ReflectiveMethodInvocation.java:184)
	at org.springframework.aop.interceptor.ExposeInvocationInterceptor.invoke(ExposeInvocationInterceptor.java:97)
	at org.springframework.aop.framework.ReflectiveMethodInvocation.proceed(ReflectiveMethodInvocation.java:184)
	at org.springframework.aop.framework.JdkDynamicAopProxy.invoke(JdkDynamicAopProxy.java:249)
	at jdk.proxy4/jdk.proxy4.$Proxy110.updateTrainersByUsername(Unknown Source)

Do I anything wrong ? Or I can’t update my Many-To-Many collelctions using update query ?

2

Updating *-to-many collections is not possible, but please submit a bug report to our issue tracker(https://hibernate.atlassian.net) to improve the error message.