How to manually start a transaction on a shared EntityManager in Spring?

Question

I have a LocalContainerEntityManagerFactoryBean as EntityManager instance.

To quickly drop a full tables' content, I want to run the following code:

@Service
public class DatabaseService {
    @Autowired
    private EntityManager em;

    @Transactional
    public void clear() {
        em.createNativeQuery("TRUNCATE TABLE MyTable").executeUpdate();
    }
}

Result:

ERROR org.springframework.integration.handler.LoggingHandler: javax.persistence.TransactionRequiredException: Executing an update/delete query
    at org.hibernate.jpa.spi.AbstractQueryImpl.executeUpdate(AbstractQueryImpl.java:71)
    at org.springframework.cglib.proxy.MethodProxy.invoke(MethodProxy.java:204)
    at org.springframework.aop.framework.CglibAopProxy$CglibMethodInvocation.invokeJoinpoint(CglibAopProxy.java:708)
    at org.springframework.aop.framework.ReflectiveMethodInvocation.proceed(ReflectiveMethodInvocation.java:157)
    at org.springframework.transaction.interceptor.TransactionInterceptor$1.proceedWithInvocation(TransactionInterceptor.java:98)
    at org.springframework.transaction.interceptor.TransactionAspectSupport.invokeWithinTransaction(TransactionAspectSupport.java:262)
    at org.springframework.transaction.interceptor.TransactionInterceptor.invoke(TransactionInterceptor.java:95)
    at org.springframework.aop.framework.ReflectiveMethodInvocation.proceed(ReflectiveMethodInvocation.java:179)
    at org.springframework.aop.framework.CglibAopProxy$DynamicAdvisedInterceptor.intercept(CglibAopProxy.java:644)
    at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
    at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:57)
    at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:606)
    at org.springframework.scheduling.support.ScheduledMethodRunnable.run(ScheduledMethodRunnable.java:65)
    at org.springframework.scheduling.support.DelegatingErrorHandlingRunnable.run(DelegatingErrorHandlingRunnable.java:54)
    at java.util.concurrent.Executors$RunnableAdapter.call(Executors.java:471)
    at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.runAndReset(FutureTask.java:304)
    at java.util.concurrent.ScheduledThreadPoolExecutor$ScheduledFutureTask.access$301(ScheduledThreadPoolExecutor.java:178)
    at java.util.concurrent.ScheduledThreadPoolExecutor$ScheduledFutureTask.run(ScheduledThreadPoolExecutor.java:293)
    at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1145)
    at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:615)
    at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:744)

If I make this change:

public void clear() {
    em.getTransaction().begin();
    em.createNativeQuery("TRUNCATE TABLE MyTable").executeUpdate();
}

Result:

ERROR org.springframework.integration.handler.LoggingHandler: java.lang.IllegalStateException: Not allowed to create transaction on shared EntityManager - use Spring transactions or EJB CMT instead
    at org.springframework.orm.jpa.SharedEntityManagerCreator$SharedEntityManagerInvocationHandler.invoke(SharedEntityManagerCreator.java:245)
    at com.sun.proxy.$Proxy84.getTransaction(Unknown Source)
    at org.springframework.cglib.proxy.MethodProxy.invoke(MethodProxy.java:204)
    at org.springframework.aop.framework.CglibAopProxy$CglibMethodInvocation.invokeJoinpoint(CglibAopProxy.java:708)
    at org.springframework.aop.framework.ReflectiveMethodInvocation.proceed(ReflectiveMethodInvocation.java:157)
    at org.springframework.transaction.interceptor.TransactionInterceptor$1.proceedWithInvocation(TransactionInterceptor.java:98)
    at org.springframework.transaction.interceptor.TransactionAspectSupport.invokeWithinTransaction(TransactionAspectSupport.java:262)
    at org.springframework.transaction.interceptor.TransactionInterceptor.invoke(TransactionInterceptor.java:95)
    at org.springframework.aop.framework.ReflectiveMethodInvocation.proceed(ReflectiveMethodInvocation.java:179)
    at org.springframework.aop.framework.CglibAopProxy$DynamicAdvisedInterceptor.intercept(CglibAopProxy.java:644)
    at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
    at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:57)
    at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:606)
    at org.springframework.scheduling.support.ScheduledMethodRunnable.run(ScheduledMethodRunnable.java:65)
    at org.springframework.scheduling.support.DelegatingErrorHandlingRunnable.run(DelegatingErrorHandlingRunnable.java:54)
    at java.util.concurrent.Executors$RunnableAdapter.call(Executors.java:471)
    at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.runAndReset(FutureTask.java:304)
    at java.util.concurrent.ScheduledThreadPoolExecutor$ScheduledFutureTask.access$301(ScheduledThreadPoolExecutor.java:178)
    at java.util.concurrent.ScheduledThreadPoolExecutor$ScheduledFutureTask.run(ScheduledThreadPoolExecutor.java:293)
    at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1145)
    at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:615)
    at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:744)

I also tried spring-data-jpa, but also fails:

public interface MyRepository extends CrudRepository<MyEntity, Integer> {
    @Query(value = "TRUNCATE TABLE MyTable", nativeQuery = true)
    @Modifying
    public void clear();
}

So, how can I create a transaction and run the truncate in a shared spring context?

The Spring application is started using: SpringApplication.run(AppConfig.class, args); having:

@Bean
public JpaTransactionManager transactionManager() {
    return new JpaTransactionManager(emf);
}

`@PersistenceContext` did not change anything. Stacktrace updated above. — membersound, Oct 28 '14 at 11:06
You shouldn't start a transaction yourself... The `@Transactional` should start it... Have you actually tried that after the change? — M. Deinum, Oct 28 '14 at 11:12
I tried both the `@Transactional` and the `em.getTransaction().begin();` explicit, both lead each to the same errors as above. — membersound, Oct 28 '14 at 11:29
Can you see the transaction managager bean in the list of beans created (debug log of Spring application context initialization) ? — Serge Ballesta, Oct 28 '14 at 12:37
You are using Spring boot then why have you configured things yourself instead of using Spring Boot (currently looks like you are trying to work around it instead of using it). — M. Deinum, Oct 29 '14 at 09:41

score 49 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 28 '14 at 12:29

You should use TransactionTemplate object to manage transaction imperatively:

transactionTemplate.execute(new TransactionCallbackWithoutResult() {
        @Override
        protected void doInTransactionWithoutResult(TransactionStatus status) {
            em.createNativeQuery("TRUNCATE TABLE MyTable).executeUpdate();
        }
    });

To create TransactionTemplate just use injected PlatformTransactionManager:

transactionTemplate = new TransactionTemplate(platformTransactionManager);

And if you want to use new transaction just invoke

transactionTemplate.setPropagationBehavior(TransactionDefinition.PROPAGATION_REQUIRES_NEW);

score 17 · Answer 2 · edited Apr 01 '20 at 20:30

17

As a workaround I now created a new EntityManager explicit using the EMF, and starting the transaction manually.

@Autowired
private EntityManagerFactory emf;

public void clearTable() {
    EntityManager em = emf.createEntityManager();
    EntityTransaction tx = em.getTransaction();
    tx.begin();
    em.createNativeQuery("TRUNCATE TABLE MyTable").executeUpdate();
    tx.commit();
    em.close();
}

That's probably not ideal, but works for the moment.

edited Apr 01 '20 at 20:30

phihag

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answered Oct 28 '14 at 11:34

membersound

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3

There is no reason why `@Transactional` shouldn't work, there must be something wrong with your setup. Also both solutions are workarounds instead of actually solving the problem. One thing I wonder is have you used the correct `@Transactional` the one from spring and not the newer from JEE7? – M. Deinum Oct 29 '14 at 09:40
And is the API in your classpath or only as a provided dependency? Also you aren't using interfaces so make sure that you enable classbased proxies... Finally could you add the full stacktrace to your post? – M. Deinum Oct 29 '14 at 11:47
Instead of the `javax.transaction.Transactional` try using the Spring `@Transactional`. Depending on the available classes the the `javax.transaction.Transactional` is enabled or disabled. – M. Deinum Oct 29 '14 at 11:53
8

"works for the moment" might the most used sentence in software engineering – Rajesh Mar 30 '18 at 13:28
In my case, I needed to start a transaction inside an integration test. This saved me a couple hours. Thanks! – finx Jun 04 '20 at 22:15

score 9 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 31 '14 at 10:00

Spring Data JPA automatically runs CRUD method in transactions for you (without needing to set up anything except a transaction manager). If you want to use transactions for your query methods, you can simply add @Transactional to these:

interface MyRepository extends CrudRepository<MyEntity, Integer> {

  @Transactional
  @Modifying
  @Query(value = "TRUNCATE TABLE MyTable", nativeQuery = true)
  void clear();
}

On a more general note, what you have declared here is logically equivalent to CrudRepository.deleteAll(), except that it (your declaration) doesn't honor JPA-level cascades. So I wondered that's really what you intended to do. If you're using Spring Boot, the activation and transaction manager setup should be taken care of for you.

If you want to use @Transactional on the service level, you need to setup both a JpaTransactionManager and activate annotation based transaction management through either <tx:annotation-driven /> or @EnableTransactionManagement (looks like the activation was the missing piece on your attempt to create transactions on the service layer).

I think using @transactional means spring will automatically handle your commits and flushes though. — obesechicken13, Nov 23 '15 at 20:52
I suspect that the key was not being set up in Spring. Basically, Spring is managing the entity manager for you (so won't let you manage your own transactions), but you didn't tell it how to manage transactions. — Tom Dibble, Apr 05 '16 at 20:54

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Jan 02 '19 at 11:48

@Transactional annotation should not be applied on Dao method but on a service method. Although your code says DatabaseService is a service, but by inserting EntityManger inside a service does not make any sense.

Correct way to implement is to create a Dao like below.

@Repository
public class DatabaseDao {
    @PersistenceContext
    private EntityManager em;

    public void clear() {
        em.createNativeQuery("TRUNCATE TABLE MyTable").executeUpdate();
    }
}

Then call the dao method from a service method with @Transactional annotation.

@Service
public class DatabaseService {
    @Autowired
    private DatabaseDao dao;

    @Transactional
    public void clear() {
        dao.clear();
    }
}

Also, add @EnableTransactionManagement in your Configuration class

How to manually start a transaction on a shared EntityManager in Spring?

4 Answers4

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