PostgreSQL array of enums does not work with @JdbcType(PostgreSQLEnumJdbcType.class) but works with @Enumerated + @ColumnTransformer

Hibernate ORM
1

Hi,

I’m trying to map a PostgreSQL array of enum values to a Java Enum[] (or List<Enum>) using Hibernate.

I have a PostgreSQL enum type:

CREATE TYPE "SOME"."ITEMS_TYPE" AS ENUM ('A', 'B', 'C');

And a column defined as:

items ITEMS_TYPE[]

What does NOT work

Using PostgreSQLEnumJdbcType together with SqlTypes.ARRAY does not work:

@JdbcTypeCode(SqlTypes.ARRAY)
@JdbcType(PostgreSQLEnumJdbcType.class)
private ItemsType[] items;

This fails at runtime (binding / type resolution issues).

What DOES work

The following mapping works correctly:

@JdbcTypeCode(SqlTypes.ARRAY)
@Enumerated(EnumType.STRING)
@ColumnTransformer(write = "?::\"SOME\".\"ITEMS_TYPE\"[]")
private ItemsType[] items;

Question

Is this a known limitation of PostgreSQLEnumJdbcType when used with SQL arrays?

  • Is PostgreSQLEnumJdbcType intended to be used only for single enum values, not arrays?

  • Is there a recommended or “official” way in Hibernate to map PostgreSQL enum arrays without relying on @ColumnTransformer?

  • Should a custom JdbcType or UserType be used instead?

Any guidance or clarification would be appreciated.

Sandbox to play around:
GitHub - pavlobalandin/hibernateissue
see: SomeRepositoryITest and AnotherRepositoryITest

Thanks a lot!

2 Likes
2

Hi. Did you look for reported issues? I don’t know if it’s valid, but this one looks very similar: Jira

3

Also you might want to clarify what you mean by “does not work”, i.e. what are the symptoms exactly.

4

Technically there’s an exception and application is not being able to start at all:

Caused by: java.lang.ClassCastException: class org.hibernate.type.internal.ParameterizedTypeImpl cannot be cast to class java.lang.Class (org.hibernate.type.internal.ParameterizedTypeImpl is in unnamed module of loader 'app'; java.lang.Class is in module java.base of loader 'bootstrap')
	at org.hibernate.dialect.type.PostgreSQLEnumJdbcType.getJdbcLiteralFormatter(PostgreSQLEnumJdbcType.java:68) ~[hibernate-core-7.2.1.Final.jar:7.2.1.Final]
	at org.hibernate.type.AbstractStandardBasicType.<init>(AbstractStandardBasicType.java:62) ~[hibernate-core-7.2.1.Final.jar:7.2.1.Final]
	at org.hibernate.type.AbstractSingleColumnStandardBasicType.<init>(AbstractSingleColumnStandardBasicType.java:25) ~[hibernate-core-7.2.1.Final.jar:7.2.1.Final]
	at org.hibernate.type.internal.BasicTypeImpl.<init>(BasicTypeImpl.java:27) ~[hibernate-core-7.2.1.Final.jar:7.2.1.Final]
	at org.hibernate.type.BasicTypeRegistry.resolvedType(BasicTypeRegistry.java:167) ~[hibernate-core-7.2.1.Final.jar:7.2.1.Final]
	at org.hibernate.type.BasicTypeRegistry.lambda$resolve$0(BasicTypeRegistry.java:157) ~[hibernate-core-7.2.1.Final.jar:7.2.1.Final]
	at org.hibernate.type.BasicTypeRegistry.createIfUnregistered(BasicTypeRegistry.java:278) ~[hibernate-core-7.2.1.Final.jar:7.2.1.Final]
	at org.hibernate.type.BasicTypeRegistry.resolve(BasicTypeRegistry.java:249) ~[hibernate-core-7.2.1.Final.jar:7.2.1.Final]
	at org.hibernate.type.BasicTypeRegistry.resolve(BasicTypeRegistry.java:157) ~[hibernate-core-7.2.1.Final.jar:7.2.1.Final]
	at org.hibernate.boot.model.process.internal.InferredBasicValueResolver.from(InferredBasicValueResolver.java:135) ~[hibernate-core-7.2.1.Final.jar:7.2.1.Final]
	at org.hibernate.mapping.BasicValue.resolution(BasicValue.java:643) ~[hibernate-core-7.2.1.Final.jar:7.2.1.Final]
	at org.hibernate.mapping.BasicValue.buildResolution(BasicValue.java:447) ~[hibernate-core-7.2.1.Final.jar:7.2.1.Final]
	at org.hibernate.mapping.BasicValue.buildResolution(BasicValue.java:421) ~[hibernate-core-7.2.1.Final.jar:7.2.1.Final]
	at org.hibernate.mapping.BasicValue.resolve(BasicValue.java:338) ~[hibernate-core-7.2.1.Final.jar:7.2.1.Final]
	at org.hibernate.mapping.BasicValue.resolve(BasicValue.java:328) ~[hibernate-core-7.2.1.Final.jar:7.2.1.Final]
	at org.hibernate.boot.internal.InFlightMetadataCollectorImpl.lambda$processValueResolvers$0(InFlightMetadataCollectorImpl.java:1760) ~[hibernate-core-7.2.1.Final.jar:7.2.1.Final]
	at java.base/java.util.ArrayList.removeIf(ArrayList.java:1773) ~[na:na]
	at java.base/java.util.ArrayList.removeIf(ArrayList.java:1751) ~[na:na]
	at org.hibernate.boot.internal.InFlightMetadataCollectorImpl.processValueResolvers(InFlightMetadataCollectorImpl.java:1760) ~[hibernate-core-7.2.1.Final.jar:7.2.1.Final]
	at org.hibernate.boot.internal.InFlightMetadataCollectorImpl.processSecondPasses(InFlightMetadataCollectorImpl.java:1749) ~[hibernate-core-7.2.1.Final.jar:7.2.1.Final]
	at org.hibernate.boot.model.process.spi.MetadataBuildingProcess.coordinateProcessors(MetadataBuildingProcess.java:330) ~[hibernate-core-7.2.1.Final.jar:7.2.1.Final]
	at org.hibernate.boot.model.process.spi.MetadataBuildingProcess.complete(MetadataBuildingProcess.java:199) ~[hibernate-core-7.2.1.Final.jar:7.2.1.Final]
	at org.hibernate.jpa.boot.internal.EntityManagerFactoryBuilderImpl.metadata(EntityManagerFactoryBuilderImpl.java:1392) ~[hibernate-core-7.2.1.Final.jar:7.2.1.Final]
	at org.hibernate.jpa.boot.internal.EntityManagerFactoryBuilderImpl.populateSessionFactoryBuilder(EntityManagerFactoryBuilderImpl.java:1472) ~[hibernate-core-7.2.1.Final.jar:7.2.1.Final]
	at org.hibernate.jpa.boot.internal.EntityManagerFactoryBuilderImpl.build(EntityManagerFactoryBuilderImpl.java:1454) ~[hibernate-core-7.2.1.Final.jar:7.2.1.Final]
	at org.springframework.orm.jpa.vendor.SpringHibernateJpaPersistenceProvider.createContainerEntityManagerFactory(SpringHibernateJpaPersistenceProvider.java:66) ~[spring-orm-7.0.3.jar:7.0.3]
	at org.springframework.orm.jpa.LocalContainerEntityManagerFactoryBean.createNativeEntityManagerFactory(LocalContainerEntityManagerFactoryBean.java:433) ~[spring-orm-7.0.3.jar:7.0.3]
	at org.springframework.orm.jpa.AbstractEntityManagerFactoryBean.buildNativeEntityManagerFactory(AbstractEntityManagerFactoryBean.java:416) ~[spring-orm-7.0.3.jar:7.0.3]
5

I use version 7.2 but looks pretty similar to the one you mentioned above.