Unidirectional OneToMany insert NULL for foreign key and issue extra update SQL (Doc ID 2512131.1)

Last updated on MARCH 16, 2021

Applies to:

Symptoms

EclipseLink inserts entities with unidirectional one-to-many relationship using INSERT statement
followed by UPDATE statement which updates foreign keys in target table, if required. This may cause issues if foreign key has NOT NULL constraint, typically configurable using @JoinColumn(nullable=false)

Exaample:
[EL Fine]: 2018-03-28 16:48:56.328--Connection(2061337484)--INSERT INTO JPA_CUSTOMER (ID, CUSTOMER_NAME) VALUES (?, ?)
bind => [1000, Joey]
[EL Fine]: 2018-03-28 16:48:56.338--Connection(2061337484)--INSERT INTO JPA_ORDER (ORDER_ID, ORDER_ITEM) VALUES (?, ?)
[EL Fine]: 2018-03-28 16:48:56.339--Connection(2061337484)-- bind => [1001,spaghetti]
[EL Fine]: 2018-03-28 16:48:56.339--Connection(2061337484)-- bind => [1000,Pizza]
[EL Fine]: 2018-03-28 16:48:56.343--Connection(2061337484)--UPDATE JPA_ORDER
SET CUS_ID = ? WHERE (ORDER_ID = ?)
[EL Fine]: 2018-03-28 16:48:56.343--Connection(2061337484)-- bind => [1000,1000]
[EL Fine]: 2018-03-28 16:48:56.343--Connection(2061337484)-- bind => [1000,1001]

Changes

Cause

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