java - SINGLE_TABLE inheritance strategy using enums as discriminator value

Question

Is it possible to use an enum as a discriminator value when using SINGLE_TABLE inheritance strategy?

Answer 1

If what you are trying to achieve is to not to duplicate the discriminator values, there is a simple workaround.

@Entity
@Inheritance(strategy=InheritanceType.SINGLE_TABLE)
@DiscriminatorColumn(name="FREQUENCY",
    discriminatorType=DiscriminatorType.STRING
)    
public abstract class Event  {
}

@Entity
@DiscriminatorValue(value=Frequency.Values.WEEKLY)
public class WeeklyEvent extends Event {
    …
}

public enum Frequency {
    DAILY(Values.DAILY),
    WEEKLY(Values.WEEKLY),
    MONTHLY(Values.MONTHLY);
    
    private String value;

    …

    public static class Values {
        public static final String DAILY = "D";
        public static final String WEEKLY = "W";
        public static final String MONTHLY = "M";
    }   
}

Nothing to do with Hibernate/JPA really, but better than having to maintain the values in multiple places.