java - JPA thinks I'm deleting a detached object

Question

I've got a DAO that I used to load and save my domain objects using JPA. I finally managed to get the transaction stuff working, now I've got another issue.

In my test case, I call my DAO to load a domain object with a given id, check that it got loaded and then call the same DAO to delete the object I just loaded. When I do that I get the following:

java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Removing a detached instance mil.navy.ndms.conops.common.model.impl.jpa.Group#10
 at org.hibernate.ejb.event.EJB3DeleteEventListener.performDetachedEntityDeletionCheck(EJB3DeleteEventListener.java:45)
 at org.hibernate.event.def.DefaultDeleteEventListener.onDelete(DefaultDeleteEventListener.java:108)
 at org.hibernate.event.def.DefaultDeleteEventListener.onDelete(DefaultDeleteEventListener.java:74)
 at org.hibernate.impl.SessionImpl.fireDelete(SessionImpl.java:794)
 at org.hibernate.impl.SessionImpl.delete(SessionImpl.java:772)
 at org.hibernate.ejb.AbstractEntityManagerImpl.remove(AbstractEntityManagerImpl.java:253)
 at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
 at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:48)
 at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:37)
 at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:600)
 at org.springframework.orm.jpa.SharedEntityManagerCreator$SharedEntityManagerInvocationHandler.invoke(SharedEntityManagerCreator.java:180)
 at $Proxy27.remove(Unknown Source)
 at mil.navy.ndms.conops.common.dao.impl.jpa.GroupDao.delete(GroupDao.java:499)
 at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
 at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:48)
 at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:37)
 at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:600)
 at org.springframework.aop.support.AopUtils.invokeJoinpointUsingReflection(AopUtils.java:304)
 at org.springframework.aop.framework.ReflectiveMethodInvocation.invokeJoinpoint(ReflectiveMethodInvocation.java:182)
 at org.springframework.aop.framework.ReflectiveMethodInvocation.proceed(ReflectiveMethodInvocation.java:149)
 at org.springframework.transaction.interceptor.TransactionInterceptor.invoke(TransactionInterceptor.java:106)
 at org.springframework.aop.framework.ReflectiveMethodInvocation.proceed(ReflectiveMethodInvocation.java:171)
 at org.springframework.aop.framework.JdkDynamicAopProxy.invoke(JdkDynamicAopProxy.java:204)
 at $Proxy28.delete(Unknown Source)
 at mil.navy.ndms.conops.common.dao.impl.jpa.GroupDaoTest.testGroupDaoSave(GroupDaoTest.java:89)
 at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
 at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:48)
 at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:37)
 at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:600)
 at junit.framework.TestCase.runTest(TestCase.java:164)
 at junit.framework.TestCase.runBare(TestCase.java:130)
 at junit.framework.TestResult$1.protect(TestResult.java:106)
 at junit.framework.TestResult.runProtected(TestResult.java:124)
 at junit.framework.TestResult.run(TestResult.java:109)
 at junit.framework.TestCase.run(TestCase.java:120)
 at junit.framework.TestSuite.runTest(TestSuite.java:230)
 at junit.framework.TestSuite.run(TestSuite.java:225)
 at org.eclipse.jdt.internal.junit.runner.junit3.JUnit3TestReference.run(JUnit3TestReference.java:130)
 at org.eclipse.jdt.internal.junit.runner.TestExecution.run(TestExecution.java:38)
 at org.eclipse.jdt.internal.junit.runner.RemoteTestRunner.runTests(RemoteTestRunner.java:460)
 at org.eclipse.jdt.internal.junit.runner.RemoteTestRunner.runTests(RemoteTestRunner.java:673)
 at org.eclipse.jdt.internal.junit.runner.RemoteTestRunner.run(RemoteTestRunner.java:386)
 at org.eclipse.jdt.internal.junit.runner.RemoteTestRunner.main(RemoteTestRunner.java:196)

Now given that I'm using the same DAO instance, and I've not changed EntityManagers (unless Spring does so without letting me know), how can this be a detached object?

My DAO code looks like this:

public class GenericJPADao<INTFC extends IAddressable, VO extends BaseAddressable> implements IWebDao, IDao<INTFC>, IDaoUtil<INTFC>
{
    private static Logger logger = Logger.getLogger (GenericJPADao.class);

    protected Class<?> voClass;

    @PersistenceContext(unitName = "CONOPS_PU")
    protected EntityManagerFactory emf;

    @PersistenceContext(unitName = "CONOPS_PU")
    protected EntityManager em;

    public GenericJPADao()
    {
        super ( );

        ParameterizedType genericSuperclass = 
                        (ParameterizedType) getClass ( ).getGenericSuperclass ( );
        this.voClass = (Class<?>) genericSuperclass.getActualTypeArguments ( )[1];
    }


    ...


    public void delete (INTFC modelObj, EntityManager em)
    {
        em.remove (modelObj);
    }

    @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
    public INTFC findById (Long id)
    {
        return ((INTFC) em.find (voClass, id));
    }
}

The test case code looks like:

IGroup loadedGroup = dao.findById (group.getId ( ));
assertNotNull (loadedGroup);
assertEquals (group.getId ( ), loadedGroup.getId ( ));

dao.delete (loadedGroup); // - This generates the above exception

loadedGroup = dao.findById (group.getId ( ));
assertNull(loadedGroup);

Can anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong here?

Answer 1

I suspect that you are running your code outside a transaction so your find and delete operations occur in a separate persistence context and the find actually returns a detached instance (so JPA is right and you ARE deleting a detached object).

Wrap your find / delete sequence inside a transaction.

Update: Below an excerpt of the chapter 7.3.1. Transaction Persistence Context:

If you use an EntityManager with a transaction persistence context model outside of an active transaction, each method invocation creates a new persistence context, performs the method action, and ends the persistence context. For example, consider using the EntityManager.find method outside of a transaction. The EntityManager will create a temporary persistence context, perform the find operation, end the persistence context, and return the detached result object to you. A second call with the same id will return a second detached object.