Annotation Type OrderBy


  • @Target({METHOD,FIELD})
    @Retention(RUNTIME)
    public @interface OrderBy
    Order a collection using an expression written in native SQL.

    The order is applied by the database when the collection is fetched, but is not maintained by operations that mutate the collection in memory.

    If the collection is a Set or Map, the order is maintained using a LinkedHashSet or LinkedHashMap. If the collection is a bag or List, the order is maintained by the underlying ArrayList.

    There are several other ways to order or sort a collection:

    • Use the JPA-defined OrderBy annotation to order using an expression written in HQL/JPQL. Since HQL is more portable between databases, this is the preferred alternative most of the time.
    • Use SortComparator to sort the collection in memory using a Comparator, or SortNatural to sort the collection in memory according to its natural order.
    • Use OrderColumn to maintain the order of a List with a dedicated index column.

    It's illegal to use OrderBy together with the JPA-defined OrderBy for the same collection.

    See Also:
    OrderBy, SortComparator, SortNatural, DialectOverride.OrderBy
    • Required Element Summary

      Required Elements 
      Modifier and Type Required Element Description
      String clause
      The native SQL expression used to sort the collection elements.
    • Element Detail

      • clause

        String clause
        The native SQL expression used to sort the collection elements.