NHibernate mapping - nhibernate-mapping

Question

I use HBM mapping.
I have tables :
I) person with columns :
1. ID
2. TYPE
3.CREATE_DATE
4.UPDATE_DATE
II) Attribute with columns:
1.ID
2.TYPE(in this example person may be all type)
3.NAME
4.CREATE_DATE
5.UPDATE_DATE
III) Attribute_VALUE with columns:
1.ID
2.VALUE
4.OBJECT_ID
5.ATTRIBUTE_ID
6.CREATE_DATE
7.UPDATE_DATE
There is relationship one-to-many between person(ID) and Attribute_VALUE(OBJECT_ID).
There is relationship one-to-many between Attribute(ID) and Attribute_VALUE(ATTRIBUTE_ID)
I need build object PERSON that contain all columns of person and dictionary with name attribute.
The dictionary contain key - name of attribute value- collection of values .
Can I build appropriate HBM ??

Answer 1

the short answer no.
the long answer:
consider how should nhibernate match attributes when you Attributes.Add("foo", "value")? it has to search the db for an attribute foo (which is not a simple mapping, its logic) or it would create a new Attribute, everytime you add one.
So given the above schema you either a) have some kind of custom onsave code (which i think is a lot of effort) or b) you change the Person to
class Person
{
public virtual int Id { get; set; }
public virtual ICollection<AttributeValue> Attributes { get; set; }
public virtual IEnumerable<string> GetValues(string attributeName)
{
return Attributes
.Where(attr => attr.Attribute.Name == attributeName)
.Select(attr => attr.Value);
}
public virtual void AddValue(Attribute attribute, string value)
{
Attributes.Add(new AttributeValue
{
Attribute = attribute,
Value = value
});
}
public virtual IEnumerable<string> GetAttributeNames()
{
return Attributes
.Select(attr => attr.Attribute.Name);
}
}
class Attribute
{
public virtual int Id { get; set; }
public virtual string Name { get; set; }
// and more Properties like created and updated
}
class AttributeValue
{
public virtual int Id { get; set; }
public virtual Attribute Attribute { get; set; }
public virtual string Value { get; set; }
// and more Properties like created and updated
}
and then use
<class name="Person" table="Persons" xmlns="urn:nhibernate-mapping-2.2">
<id name="Id" column="ID"/>
<bag name="Attributes">
<key column="OBJECT_ID"/>
<one-to-many class="AttributeValue"/>
</bag>
</class>
<class name="Attribute" table="Attributes" xmlns="urn:nhibernate-mapping-2.2">
<id name="Id" column="ID"/>
<property name="Name" column="Name"/>
<!--additional properties-->
</class>
<class name="AttributeValue" table="AttributeValues" xmlns="urn:nhibernate-mapping-2.2">
<id name="Id" column="ID"/>
<many-to-one class="Attribute" column="ATTRIBUTE_ID"/>
<property name="Value" column="Value"/>
<!--additional properties-->
</class>