OptimisticLocking and @OneToMany(mappedBy=...) handling?

Question

I have an AbstractEntity class as superclass for all my entites that defines an optimistic lock column like this:

@Version
private long lockVersion;

Now I often get OptimisticLockingExceptions on entities, that are only changed in one the mappedBy relations similar to the following:

@OneToMany(mappedBy = Property.PROPERTY_DESCRIPTOR, cascade = { CascadeType.REMOVE })
private Set<Property> properties = new HashSet<Property>();

Is it possible to exclude those collections from Hibernate optimistic locking? The entity is not changed in the database at all... only others referencing it.

Answer 1

i think the accepted answer in this question should help you:link

I havn't tried it myself though, but it could be possible to detect changes not requiring version update and not increment the version.

Answer 2

You can exclude a particular property (and / or collection) from increasing the version number if it's dirty by explicitly excluding it via @OptimisticLock annotation:

@OptimisticLock(excluded=true)
@OneToMany(mappedBy = Property.PROPERTY_DESCRIPTOR, cascade = { CascadeType.REMOVE })
private Set<Property> properties = new HashSet<Property>();

Be aware that it's a Hibernate extension to JPA standard.