List all tables in Hibernate - sql

I want to list all table names from database. My application has to be independent from DBMS. Different DBMS has different command to list tables, e.g:
PstgreSQL:
SELECT * FROM pg_catalog.pg_tables
MySQL:
show tables
Oracle:
SELECT DISTINCT OBJECT_NAME
FROM DBA_OBJECTS
WHERE OBJECT_TYPE = 'TABLE'
I think that I should use hibernate because writing different SQL query for all DBMS is uncomfortable.
There are examples in network how to list tables in hibernate, but all examples which I found list only mapped entitites. I want to list all table names regardless of hibernate entities.

This post explains how to do it using JDBC driver, which is IMHO a better approach then using hibernate for this. I'll post the code here also, for reference
Connection conn = DriverManager.getConnection("", "", "");
DatabaseMetaData md = conn.getMetaData();
ResultSet rs = md.getTables(null, null, "%", null);
while (rs.next()) {
System.out.println(rs.getString(3)); // 3rd column is table name
}

The way Hibernate makes HQL/JPQL queries and expressions cross-platform is by using dialects. There's a dialect for each of the supported database.
To the best of my knowledge, listing tables is not a part of these dialects therefore what you want is most probably not possible OOTB.
But you can write your own dialects for your target databases. So you'd have a cross-database *QL in your application and database specifics would be cleanly abstracted into dialects.

Related

How can I control the SQL table aliases that Hibernate uses in its generated queries?

tl;dr: Hibernate automatically generates SQL table aliases in its queries like jurisdicti4_ or this_. Here's an example query:
SELECT
this_.id AS id2_6_3_,
this_.a_table_column AS a_table_column3_6_3_,
jurisdicti4_.b_table_column AS b_table_column4_6_3_,
FROM
app_table_a this_
LEFT OUTER JOIN jurisdiction jurisdicti4_ ON this_.jurisdiction = jurisdicti4_.name
WHERE
this_.a_table_column = ?
I'm using the Hibernate Criteria API to add some hints that need reference the SQL aliases in the query, so I need to know how to either:
specify the SQL table aliases Hibernate will use in its queries (e.g. tell it to use juris instead of jurisdicti4_ for jurisdiction, or
get hibernate to tell me the exact SQL table alias it will use for a particular table or entity (e.g. be told the alias in the query for jurisdiction will be jurisdicti4_.
Full story:
I've inherited a Java app with an Oracle DB that uses Hibernate 4.3.8 and the Hibernate Criteria API to generate some complicated search queries. It recently ran into a severe SQL performance problem that will require us to start to include hints these queries. However, we use Oracle, and its index hints are in the form of:
/*+ index (TABLE_ALIAS INDEX_NAME) */
I've successfully added the needed hints using Criteria.addHint(...), however I've had to hardcode the Hibernate-generated TABLE_ALIAS in the hint string. I'm concerned that over time, the aliases may change, so I want to either control how they're generated or be able to retrieve their values to use when adding the SQL hint.
Edit: This website describes the Hibernate SQL alias generation process: https://prismoskills.appspot.com/lessons/Hibernate/Chapter_23_-_Hibernate_alias_names.jsp
I've found that I have partial control of the SQL aliases when I programmatically set up the join like this: criteria.createAlias(associationPath, alias). The alias value I pass seems to be used as the first part of the SQL alias for the table. However, Hibernate appends some kind of generated table ID integer to that, so I'd get something like myalias4_ in the generated SQL. Also, this only seems to work in joins I setup myself in the criteria. Hibernate will often add its own based on the mappings, and I'm not sure how get this same level of partial control over those.

Is SELECT INTO T-SQL?

I'm working in a project where I have been explicitly required to not use T-SQL syntax. The application we are using supports T-SQL but we are not allowed to use it to avoid potential migration issues.
My question is: is the SELECT ... INTO statement T-SQL or SQL? If it is T-SQL, is there a specific SQL query to copy an existing table into a new one? (I have tried with CREATE TABLE AS .. FROM but it doesn't work).
Sounds like a very basic question but I haven't been able to find the answer anywhere. Thus, in addition to the question above, it would be very helpful to know if there is a guide/dictionary/website that collects only the standard SQL syntax.
Thanks!
I think they recommend you to use ANSI SQL, instead of T-SQL (SQL Server) or PL-SQL (ORACLE). Considering it as common requirement, every database vendor provide their own way of implementing this requirement. When you use ANSI SQL, you will not have migration issues, when you move from one database vendor to another database vendor.
SQL SERVER
SELECT * INTO new_table
FROM existing_table
ORACLE & ANSI-SQL
CREATE TABLE new_table
AS SELECT * FROM existing_table
is SELECT INTO TSQL or SQL?
Neither. The MySQL documentation claims that SELECT INTO is a Sybase extension to standard sql. As such I don't think you can accurately say it's either of these, but you can say that it's neither. It is indeed used in T-SQL, as well as some other database vendor products, to create a table from a query. The SQL standard says that queries with that goal should be formed as CREATE TABLE blah AS SELECT .... Oracle/MySQL, for example, use the standard form though you can see them use SELECT INTO in a different context, to assign data to variables in stored procedures
If you want to avoid use of this non standard syntax when creating and populating a table then you'll have to:
CREATE TABLE blah (column spec to match query output)
INSERT blah (select query here)
But then you run into nuances like "sqlserver calls it datetime/datetime2 but oracle calls it date/timestamp"
And ultimately you'll probably get into a situation where you just can't use one form of sql to do all you want..
I'd imagine most libraries that do data access on multiple underlying databases have mechanisms to use vendor specific terminology where required
From the answers, it appears you might need to specify which SELECT INTO you're talking about. The other answers seem to suggest there exists some kind of SELECT ... INTO <table-name> when there is also a kind of SELECT ... INTO <local-variable-name list>. The latter is used in embedded SQL for making SQL interact with variables of the host language program. I'm not certain but that variant may also be used in the part of the SQL language that deals with procedures written in SQL (the SQL/PSM part of the standard).
A "reference" that covers "only the standard SQL syntax" is, in principle, the ISO standard document itself, only available by purchase from ISO (and yes, it's ISO not ANSI - ANSI does nothing more than rubberstamping the ISO document after removing all the names of non-US contributors). And not the easiest kind of literature. There are "draft" versions floating around on the internet that might deviate from the published final standards. E.g. http://www.wiscorp.com/sql200n.zip. Note that this is a SQL:2008 draft. Current standard version is SQL:2011. And it's several thousands of pages, so I guess that covers your question "Is all the syntax covered in w3schools standard SQL". (Hint : no)

JPA Query - sql injection in positional parameters jpa native query

As I read in a lot of articles, when I use JPA/Hibernate query it is good to set parameters in my queries so SQL injection is avoided. Like:
select user from User user where user.name = :name and user.surname = :surname
My problem is that in some cases I need to use native query when I create my query.
I will use my entity manager and createNativeQuery. But in this case the parameters will be positional. Like:
select * from users where user_name = ? and user_surname = ?
Then in my query I will use the method setParameter(1, "name") etc. So is this case "sql injection proof" like when in the parameterized query?
if you do not use string operations for building your query like
"SELECT foo FROM bar Where id="+myParameter+" more sql ..."
, then you will not have any vulnerabilities.
Currently (community correct me if I am wrong) no vulnerabilities exist within the latest PDO database abstraction layer.
However testing your queries for known and unknowns while sanitizing and filtering input will help eliminate the possibility of an injection in the event of a zero day exploit.
I currently use a combination of filtering input, charset expectations, stored procedures and strict requirements on their arguments prior to any and all dynamically created queries

How do I construct a cross database query in MySQL?

I've got two databases on the same server. The Google gave me some hints but there wasn't anything "official" that I could find. Could someone point me to the documentation that explains how to do this? An explanation using PHP would be useful as well. Thanks!
I've got two databases on the same server. ...How do I construct a cross database query in MySQL?
You access other databases on the same MySQL instance by prefixing the table with the appropriate database name. IE:
SELECT *
FROM this_database.table_1 t1
JOIN that_database.table_2 t2 ON t2.column = t1.column
Keep in mind
A query executes with the credentials of the authentication used to set up the
connection. If you want to query two tables simultaneously across two (or more)
databases, the user used to run the query will need SELECT access to all
databases involved.
Reference:
Identity Qualifiers
SELECT * FROM DB1.myTable1 AS db1, DB2.myTable2 AS db2
http://www.dottedidesign.com/node/14 provides the following example:
SELECT
arbogast.node.nid as anid,
mcguffin.node.nid as mnid,
arbogast.node.title as atitle,
mcguffin.node.title as mtitle
FROM arbogast.node, mcguffin.node
WHERE arbogast.node.nid = 1
AND mcguffin.node.nid = arbogast.node.nid;
Where arbogast and mcguffin are different databases.

Should the schema always be explicitly defined in the SQL statement?

Earlier I had asked the question:
Where (or how) should I define the schema in a select statement when using PostgreSQL?
The answer I accepted was to modify the search_path for the connecting user so that the schema need not be specified in the SQL. However, now I wonder if I should always specify the schema in SQL rather than allow the schema to be automatically inferred by the search path. This seems like it would be a safer approach and would be more portable to other databases.
This question is different than the previous one in that I want to know what the best practices are for defining the schema in SQL, rather than how it can be done.
Should the schema always be explicitly defined in the SQL statement?
** Note: I would not hard code the schema name but would allow it to be configurable through the Web.config file so that the schema could change from one installation to another. **
It's a bad practice to hardcode schema into SQL statements.
You should keep it in the application settings and issue SET search_path after connecting to the database.
If your application is used by multiple users with their own schemas, your life will be much easier if you don't hardcode schema name into SQL.
In other words,
string query = "SELECT * FROM " + ConfigurationManager.AppSettings.Get("schema") + ".table";
is a bad way;
SQLCommand("SET search_path = " + ConfigurationManager.AppSettings.Get("schema"), connection).ExecuteNonQuery();
string query = "SELECT * FROM table";
is a good way.
Let's see - in the DB of the app I maintain there are around a dozen schemas. What would be the order if I put them in "search_path"? And would I put in the schema names (not the tables name and not the fully-qualified table names) in the configuration?
As you have guessed by now I do not use "search_path". But maybe you could store the fully-qualified table names in the configuration in case you ever change you mind about the names of the schemas or the tables themselves.