Package org.hibernate.annotations

Annotation Interface SQLOrder

@Target({METHOD,FIELD}) @Retention(RUNTIME) public @interface SQLOrder
Order a collection using an expression or list of expression written in native SQL. For example, @SQLOrder("first_name, last_name"), @SQLOrder("char_length(name) desc"), or even @SQLOrder("name asc nulls last").

The order is applied by the database when the collection is fetched, but is not maintained by operations that mutate the collection in memory.

If the collection is a Set or Map, the order is maintained using a LinkedHashSet or LinkedHashMap. If the collection is a bag or List, the order is maintained by the underlying ArrayList.

There are several other ways to order or sort a collection:

  • Use the JPA-defined OrderBy annotation to order using an expression written in HQL/JPQL. Since HQL is more portable between databases, this is the preferred alternative most of the time.
  • Use SortComparator to sort the collection in memory using a Comparator, or SortNatural to sort the collection in memory according to its natural order.
  • Use OrderColumn to maintain the order of a List with a dedicated index column.

It's illegal to use SQLOrder together with the JPA-defined OrderBy for the same collection.

Since:
6.3
See Also:

  • Required Element Summary

    Required Elements
    Modifier and Type
    Required Element
    Description
    String
    value
    A comma-separated list native SQL expressions used to sort the collection elements.

  • Element Details

    • value

      String value
      A comma-separated list native SQL expressions used to sort the collection elements. Each element of the list may optionally specify:
      • asc-ending or desc-ending order, or even
      • nulls first or nulls last.
      Hibernate does not interpret these keywords, and simply passes them through to the generated SQL.