Many-to-One Unidirectional Mapping in Spring Boot and JPA

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Last updated on March 7th, 2024

This topic teaches us how to implement many-to-one unidirectional mapping between two JPA entities using Spring Boot, Spring Data JPA, H2 database and Lombok. We will use this mapping to make relationships between entity classes with the help of the table’s foreign key. To establish this kind of relationship we need to use @ManyToOne annotation in this child table with a foreign key column. In this many-to-one mapping, multiple rows of one table are associated with one row of the other table. For example, multiple comments are having one post. The diagram representation of the mapping is shown below.

many-to-one_unidirectional_mapping

We will create a restful web service example to implement many-to-one unidirectional mapping using the Spring Boot application step-by-step. In this example, we will create four API endpoints two for saving(Post and Comment) the data into the database and another for getting(Posts and Comments) data from the database. In this example, we will navigate only one direction(Comment to Post). Let’s begin to implement

Table of Contents
      1. Create a Spring Boot Starter Project(Many-to-One Unidirectional Mapping)
      2. Maven Dependency
      3. Define the H2 database configuration
      4. Create Entity
      5. Create Repository
      6. Create Service
      7. Create Controller
      8. Run Spring Boot Application
      9. Conclusion

1. Create a Spring Boot Starter Project(Many-to-One Unidirectional Mapping)

Add the following dependencies: 
   • Spring Web 
   • Lombok
   • H2 Database
   • Spring Data JPA

Project Structure of Many-to-One Mapping Unidirectional

many-to-one_unidirectional_mapping

2. Maven Dependency

 pom.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0"
    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
    xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 https://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
    <parent>
        <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
        <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-parent</artifactId>
        <version>2.6.3</version>
        <relativePath /> <!-- lookup parent from repository -->
    </parent>
    <groupId>com.springjava</groupId>
    <artifactId>demo</artifactId>
    <version>0.0.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
    <name>demo</name>
    <description>Demo project for Spring Boot</description>
    <properties>
        <java.version>8</java.version>
    </properties>
    <dependencies>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-data-jpa</artifactId>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-web</artifactId>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.projectlombok</groupId>
            <artifactId>lombok</artifactId>
            <optional>true</optional>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>com.h2database</groupId>
            <artifactId>h2</artifactId>
            <scope>runtime</scope>
        </dependency>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
            <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-test</artifactId>
            <scope>test</scope>
        </dependency>    
    </dependencies>
    <build>
        <plugins>
            <plugin>
                <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
                <artifactId>spring-boot-maven-plugin</artifactId>
            </plugin>
        </plugins>
    </build>
</project>

3. Define the H2 database configuration

We are configuring the H2 database for this Spring Boot application in the application.properties file.

spring.datasource.url=jdbc:h2:mem:test
spring.datasource.username=sa
spring.datasource.password=
spring.jpa.show-sql=true
spring.jpa.properties.hibernate.dialect=org.hibernate.dialect.H2Dialect
spring.jpa.hibernate.ddl-auto=update
spring.h2.console.enabled=true

4. Create Entity

Post.java

package com.springjava.entity;
import javax.persistence.Entity;
import javax.persistence.GeneratedValue;
import javax.persistence.GenerationType;
import javax.persistence.Id;
import lombok.Data;
@Data
@Entity
public class Post {
@Id
@GeneratedValue(strategy = GenerationType.IDENTITY)
private Integer id;
private String title;
private String desc;
}

Comment.java

package com.springjava.entity;
import javax.persistence.Entity;
import javax.persistence.GeneratedValue;
import javax.persistence.GenerationType;
import javax.persistence.Id;
import javax.persistence.JoinColumn;
import javax.persistence.ManyToOne;
import lombok.Data;
@Data
@Entity
public class Comment {
@Id
@GeneratedValue(strategy = GenerationType.IDENTITY)
private Integer id;
private String msg;
@ManyToOne
@JoinColumn(name = "post_id")
Post post;
}

→ We used @ManyToOne annotation to make the relationship with the Post entity class.
→ We used @JoinColumn annotation to define a foreign key column with the mentioned name in this entity class.

5. Create Repository

PostRepository.java

package com.springjava.repository;
import org.springframework.data.jpa.repository.JpaRepository;
import com.springjava.entity.Post;
public interface PostRepository extends JpaRepository<Post, Integer> {
}

CommentRepository.java

package com.springjava.repository;
import org.springframework.data.jpa.repository.JpaRepository;
import com.springjava.entity.Comment;
public interface CommentRepository extends JpaRepository<Comment, Integer> {
}

6. Create Service

PostService.java

package com.springjava.service;
import java.util.List;
import com.springjava.entity.Post;
public interface PostService {
void save(Post post);
List<Post> findAll();
Post findById(Integer id);
}

PostServiceImpl.java

package com.springjava.service;
import java.util.List;
import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
import org.springframework.stereotype.Service;
import com.springjava.entity.Post;
import com.springjava.repository.PostRepository;
@Service
public class PostServiceImpl implements PostService {
@Autowired
PostRepository postRepo;
@Override
public void save(Post post){
postRepo.save(post);
}
@Override
public List < Post > findAll() {
return postRepo.findAll();
}
@Override
public Post findById(Integer id) {
return postRepo.findById(id).get();
  }
}

CommentService.java

package com.springjava.service;
import java.util.List;
import com.springjava.entity.Comment;
public interface CommentService {
void save(Comment comment);
List<Comment> findAll();
}

CommentServiceImpl.java

package com.springjava.service;
import java.util.List;
import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
import org.springframework.stereotype.Service;
import com.springjava.entity.Comment;
import com.springjava.repository.CommentRepository;
@Service
public class CommentServiceImpl implements CommentService {
@Autowired
CommentRepository commentRepo;
@Override
public void save(Comment comment) {
commentRepo.save(comment);
}
@Override
public List < Comment > findAll() {
return commentRepo.findAll();
  }
}

7. Create Controller

PostController.java

package com.springjava.controller;
import java.util.LinkedHashMap;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.Map;
import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
import org.springframework.http.HttpStatus;
import org.springframework.http.ResponseEntity;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.GetMapping;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.PostMapping;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestBody;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestMapping;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RestController;
import com.springjava.entity.Post;
import com.springjava.service.PostService;
@RestController
@RequestMapping("/api")
public class PostController {
  @Autowired
  PostService postService;
  @PostMapping("/post/save")
  public ResponseEntity < ? > save(@RequestBody Post post) {
    Map < String, Object > respPost = new LinkedHashMap < String, Object > ();
    //saving Post into db
    postService.save(post);
    respPost.put("status", 1);
    respPost.put("message", "Record is Saved Successfully!");
    return new ResponseEntity < > (respPost, HttpStatus.CREATED);
  }
  @GetMapping("/post/list")
  public ResponseEntity < ? > getPosts() {
    Map < String, Object > respPost = new LinkedHashMap < String, Object > ();
    List < Post > postList = postService.findAll();
    if (!postList.isEmpty()) {
      respPost.put("status", 1);
      respPost.put("data", postList);
      return new ResponseEntity < > (respPost, HttpStatus.OK);
    } else {
      respPost.clear();
      respPost.put("status", 0);
      respPost.put("message", "Data is not found");
      return new ResponseEntity < > (respPost, HttpStatus.NOT_FOUND);
    }
  }
}

CommentController.java

package com.springjava.controller;
import java.util.LinkedHashMap;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.Map;
import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
import org.springframework.http.HttpStatus;
import org.springframework.http.ResponseEntity;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.GetMapping;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.PathVariable;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.PostMapping;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestBody;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestMapping;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RestController;
import com.springjava.entity.Comment;
import com.springjava.entity.Post;
import com.springjava.service.CommentService;
import com.springjava.service.PostService;
@RestController
@RequestMapping("/api")
public class CommentController {
  @Autowired
  PostService postService;
  @Autowired
  CommentService commentService;
  @PostMapping("/comment/{postId}/save")
  public ResponseEntity < ? > save(@PathVariable("postId") Integer id, @RequestBody Comment comment) {
    Map < String, Object > respComment = new LinkedHashMap < String, Object > ();
    Post post= postService.findById(id);
	comment.setPost(post);
    commentService.save(comment);
    respComment.put("status", 1);
    respComment.put("message", "Record is Saved Successfully!");
    return new ResponseEntity < > (respComment, HttpStatus.CREATED);
  }
  @GetMapping("/comment/list")
  public ResponseEntity < ? > getComments() {
    Map < String, Object > respData = new LinkedHashMap < String, Object > ();
    List < Comment > commentList = commentService.findAll();
    if (!commentList.isEmpty()) {
      respComment.put("status", 1);
      respComment.put("data", commentList);
      return new ResponseEntity < > (respComment, HttpStatus.OK);
    } else {
      respComment.clear();
      respComment.put("status", 0);
      respComment.put("message", "Data is not found");
      return new ResponseEntity < > (respComment, HttpStatus.NOT_FOUND);
    }
  }
}

8. Run the  Spring Boot Application

To run this application of many-to-one unidirectional mapping Right-click on the DemoApplication.java then click on Run As after that select Java Application.
To test the API on the Postman
Url: http://localhost:8080/api/post/save

many-to-one_unidirectional_mapping

Url: http://localhost:8080/api/comment/1/save

many-to-one_unidirectional_mapping

Url: http://localhost:8080/api/post/list

many-to-one_unidirectional_mapping

Url: http://localhost:8080/api/comment/list

many-to-one_unidirectional_mapping

To check the H2 database we can browse this URL “http://localhost:8080/h2-console” on the browser to view the tables in the database which are created by this application(many-to-one unidirectional mapping).

Many-to-One Unidirectional Mapping
See both tables below here:

many-to-one_unidirectional_mapping
many-to-one_unidirectional_mapping

9. Conclusion

In this topic, we learnt about how to implement many-to-one unidirectional mapping in spring boot, spring data JPA, Lombok and H2 database with rest API example.

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