Key API {{{apis}}}

@TypeConverter Annotation and <type-converter> XML

The @TypeConverter is an EclipseLink-specific annotation. You can use it to specify an org.eclipse.persistence.mappings.converters.TypeConversionConverter for modification of the data value(s) during the reading and writing of a mapped attribute.

 
 @Target({TYPE, METHOD, FIELD})
 @Retention(RUNTIME)
 public @interface TypeConverter {
    String name();
    Class dataType() default void.class;
    Class objectType() default void.class;
 }


Attribute	Description	Default	Required?
`name`	Set this attribute to the `String` name for your converter. Ensure that this name is unique across the persistence unit.		Yes
`dataType`	Set this attribute to the type stored in the database.	`void.class`¹	No
`objectType`	Set the value of this attribute to the type stored on the entity.	`void.class`¹	No

¹ The default is inferred from the type of the persistence field or property.

This example shows how to use the @TypeConverter annotation to convert the Double value stored in the database to a Float value stored in the entity.

Usage of the @TypeConverter Annotation

 @Entity
 public class Employee implements Serializable{
     ...
     @TypeConverter (
         name="doubleToFloat",
         dataType=Double.class,
         objectType=Float.class,
     )
     @Convert("doubleToFloat")
     public Number getGradePointAverage() {
         return gradePointAverage;
     }
     ...
 }

Version: 2.1.0
Other versions...

Converter	Default Conversions and Converters	ObjectType Conveter
EclipseLink Home JPA User Guide: Table of Contents, Search
How to contribute to this guide...

Breadcrumbs

EclipseLink/UserGuide/JPA/Basic JPA Development/Mapping/Basic Mappings/Default Conversions and Converters/TypeConverter

@TypeConverter Annotation and <type-converter> XML