Re: HashMap and dynamic JDBC update
 
Alessandro wrote:
Hello,
I have an HashMap<String, Object> used to save names and values of
fields to be updated via JDBC update in a table. The type of data is
variable according to field name , so I'm using Object ... the idea to
produce update query is as follows but I believe there is a better
method to do it.
     Although I don't know much about JDBC, I can see a few
possibilities for improvement in your code and the Javadoc
suggests a few others.  I've reformatted the code because
the    amount           of              indentation in
                            the                     original
              is
excessive                      and impairs
                           legibility.
//START
public void updateQuery(Session session, String table,
HashMap<String,Object> updateH, String condition) throws Throwable{
    try{
        String sQuery="UPDATE " + table + " SET ";
        String keys="";
        Iterator iterator = updateH.keySet().iterator();
        while(iterator.hasNext())
            keys= keys + "," + iterator.next() + "= ?";
     A "for each" loop would reduce the visual clutter a bit:
    for (String key : updateH.keySet())
        keys += "," + key + "= ?";
An efficiency fanatic might suggest appending the pieces to a
StringBuilder and only creating a String when all is finished,
but that's probably not worth while: The number of keys in a
query is most likely small, and compared to the amount of work
the database itself must do the time spent mangling strings is
unlikely to be important.
       PreparedStatement ps = session.connection()
           .prepareStatement(
               Query keys.substring(1) + " WHERE " + condition);
       while(iterator.hasNext()){
     The first loop has already exhausted this Iterator, so the
code inside this `while' will never execute.  You need to get
a fresh Iterator, or write a new "for each," or combine the two
loops into one.  Also, don't you need to maintain a counter to
use in the ps.setXXX() calls?
           Object myObj=updateH.get(iterator.next());
           if(myObj instanceof String){
               ps.setString(....
           }
           else if (myObj.instanceof Date){
               ps.setDate(.....
           }
           //etc also for Double, Integer, ..
 >       }
     The Javadoc describes a setObject() method; can you use
it instead of this long chain of `instanceof' tests?  There's
apparently a standard mapping from Java classes to SQL data
types, and since the examples you show here appear to be of
a fairly "obvious" kind, perhaps the standard mapping will do.
     If it won't, you might be able to use the three-argument
form of setObject(), along with a pre-initialized map of Java
classes to SQL type codes:
    // while initializing ...
    Map<Class,Integer> types = ...;
    types.put(java.util.Date.class, java.sql.Types.DATE);
    types.put(my.package.Thing.class, java.sql.Types.VARBINARY);
    ...
    // later, when preparing a query ...
    int index = 1;
    for (String key : updateH.keySet()) {
        Object value = updateH.get(key);
        Integer type = types.get(value.getClass());
        if (type == null) ...  // unrecognizable value?
        ps.setObject(index++, value, type);
    }
      ps.executeUpdate();
   }
   catch(Throwable ex){
       throw ex;
     What's the point of this?  Why bother to catch it at all,
if all you're going to do is re-throw it unaltered?
    }
}
//END
Any suggestions ?
     As I mentioned, I'm not experienced with JDBC -- so view
my suggestions with healthy skepticism.  "Trust, but verify."
-- 
Eric Sosman
esosman@ieee-dot-org.invalid