Module jakarta.persistence
Package jakarta.persistence

Annotation Interface OrderColumn

@Target({METHOD,FIELD}) @Retention(RUNTIME) public @interface OrderColumn
Specifies a column that is used to maintain the persistent order of a list. The persistence provider is responsible for maintaining the order upon retrieval and in the database. The persistence provider is responsible for updating the ordering upon flushing to the database to reflect any insertion, deletion, or reordering affecting the list.

The OrderColumn annotation is specified on a OneToMany or ManyToMany relationship or on an element collection. The OrderColumn annotation is specified on the side of the relationship that references the collection that is to be ordered. The order column is not visible as part of the state of the entity or embeddable class.

The OrderBy annotation should be used for ordering that is visible as persistent state and maintained by the application. The OrderBy annotation is not used when OrderColumn is specified.

The order column must be of integral type. The persistence provider maintains a contiguous (non-sparse) ordering of the values of the order column when updating the association or element collection. The order column value for the first element is 0.

Example: 

@Entity
public class CreditCard {

    @Id
    long ccNumber;

    @OneToMany  // unidirectional
    @OrderColumn
    List<CardTransaction> transactionHistory;
    ...
}
Since:
2.0
See Also:

  • Optional Element Summary

    Optional Elements
    Modifier and Type
    Optional Element
    Description
    String
    columnDefinition
    (Optional) The SQL fragment that is used when generating the DDL for the column.
    boolean
    insertable
    (Optional) Whether the column is included in SQL INSERT statements generated by the persistence provider.
    String
    name
    (Optional) The name of the ordering column.
    boolean
    nullable
    (Optional) Whether the database column is nullable.
    String
    options
    (Optional) A SQL fragment appended to the generated DDL which declares this column.
    boolean
    updatable
    (Optional) Whether the column is included in SQL UPDATE statements generated by the persistence provider.

  • Element Details

    • name

      String name
      (Optional) The name of the ordering column. Defaults to the concatenation of the name of the referencing property or field; "_"; "ORDER".
      Default:
      ""

    • nullable

      boolean nullable
      (Optional) Whether the database column is nullable.
      Default:
      true

    • insertable

      boolean insertable
      (Optional) Whether the column is included in SQL INSERT statements generated by the persistence provider.
      Default:
      true

    • updatable

      boolean updatable
      (Optional) Whether the column is included in SQL UPDATE statements generated by the persistence provider.
      Default:
      true

    • columnDefinition

      String columnDefinition
      (Optional) The SQL fragment that is used when generating the DDL for the column. Defaults to generated SQL to create a column of the inferred type.
      Default:
      ""

    • options

      String options
      (Optional) A SQL fragment appended to the generated DDL which declares this column. May not be used in conjunction with columnDefinition().
      Since:
      3.2
      Default:
      ""