This is now possible using Spring framework ver 2 with Hibernate ver 3.2.0.cr2
As an example in a "fw-application-context-hibernate.xml"
the following beans could be defined.
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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xmlns:util="http://www.springframework.org/schema/util"
xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans.xsd
http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util.xsd">
<util:list id="frameWorkMappingResources">
<value>com/company/components/component/persistence/dao/hibernate/Address.hbm.xml</value>
<value>com/company/components/component/persistence/dao/hibernate/Party.hbm.xml</value>
</util:list>
<bean id="mappingResources" class="org.springframework.beans.factory.config.ListFacto ryBean" parent="frameWorkMappingResources">
<property name="sourceList">
<list merge="true">
</list>
</property>
</bean>
<bean id="sessionFactory" class="org.springframework.orm.hibernate3.LocalSessionFac toryBean">
<property name="mappingResources">
<ref bean="mappingResources" />
</property>
<property name="hibernateProperties">
<props>
<prop key="hibernate.dialect">
org.hibernate.dialect.Oracle9Dialect
</prop>
...etc ...
</props>
</property>
</bean>
</beans>
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Now in a core project that uses the framework project...
As an example in a "proj001-application-context-hibernate.xml" the following beans could be defined.
<bean id="proj001MappingResources" class="org.springframework.beans.factory.config.ListFacto ryBean" parent="frameWorkMappingResources">
<property name="sourceList">
<list merge="true">
<value>com/company/project/components/component/persistence/dao/hibernate/Demo.hbm.xml</value>
<value>com/company/project/components/component/persistence/dao/hibernate/Comment.hbm.xml</value>
</list>
</property>
</bean>
<bean id="mappingResources" class="org.springframework.beans.factory.config.ListFacto ryBean" parent="proj001MappingResources">
<property name="sourceList">
<list merge="true">
</list>
</property>
</bean>
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Furthermore, we recently came across the issue where we needed to redefine a object mapped in the framework to be more complex to use in the core.
Let say - Party had simple fields in the framework it now requires relationships to other objects found in the core...for example Comment.
You could define the exact same package structure in your core project as the framework and Overload the object found in the framework.
You also need to overload the framework defined hbm.xml file with the changes to define the relationship in the core project.
As an example:
You want to have a relationship between Party and Comment
You have two Party Objects defined - 1 under each project.. found in the same package structure.
The one in the Framework is the simple definition and the one under core is more complex.
You also have two Party.hbm.xml files - 1 under each project.. found in the same package structure.
The one in the Framework is the simple definition and the one under Core is more complex defining the Comment relationship.
Our framework can be a stand alone project and can also be used in other projects.
We didn't want to change the framework just to appease 1 subprojects requirements.
This was our simple solution to the problem .. if you have another possible solution .. I'd love to hear it.