[SOLVED] Cannot delete orphan children in Hibernate

Cannot delete orphan children in Hibernate

I've found lots of these issues, but for some reason they don't work for me. So, I'm obviously doing something wrong.

Form Object:

@Entity
@Table(name = "WEBFORMS_WEBFORM")
public class Form {

    @Id
    @GeneratedValue
    @Column(name = "FORM_ID")
    Long id;

    @Column(name = "NAME")
    String name;

    @OrderBy("priority")
    @OneToMany(mappedBy = "form", cascade={javax.persistence.CascadeType.ALL}, orphanRemoval = true)
    Set<FormField> formFields;

    @OrderBy("creationDate DESC")
    @OneToMany(mappedBy = "form", cascade={javax.persistence.CascadeType.ALL}, orphanRemoval = true)
    Set<FormResult> formResults;

    @Column(name = "ALLOW_GUESTS")
    Boolean allowGuest;

    @Column(name = "SEND_MAIL")
    Boolean sendMail;

Form Field Object:

@Entity
@Table(name = "WEBFORMS_FORM_FIELD")
public class FormField {

    @Id
    @GeneratedValue
    @Column(name = "FORM_FIELD_ID")
    Long id;

    @Column(name = "TYPE")
    String type;

    @Column(name = "CONTENT")
    String content;

    @Column(name = "PRIORITY")
    Long priority;

    @ManyToOne()
    @JoinColumn(name = "FORM_ID")
    public Form form;

I'm using hibernate annotation:

<dependency>
   <groupId>org.hibernate</groupId>
   <artifactId>hibernate-annotations</artifactId>
   <version>3.5.6-Final</version>
</dependency>

If I create a form Field object within the form then no problems. Both objects are created. When I delete the form object the form field object stays in the database.

Solution

Many to one relationship established on the entity FormField. As a result a foreign key constraint on the field. It not allows to delete the entity. The constraint has attribute cascade that you must declare in hibernate.

@ManyToOne (cascade = {javax.persistence.CascadeType.ALL})