Sure... I can understand that.
But if you're generating against a db that supports db-generated keys, and you have an entity that requests db-generated keys, then it seems like there's no reason to include the row for that entity in the auto_pk_support table, other than the fact that having it there doesn't do any harm (except confuse new users :), but keeps the codebase for the schema generation a little cleaner. It smells like an oversight, but I'm not sure that it is, so I was curious. :)

Robert

On Apr 20, 2010, at 4/204:09 PM , Michael Gentry wrote:

"I'm actually curious to know the rationale behind that one, myself."

In the beginning ... OK, I'm speculating here because I wasn't around
in the beginning ... I believe Cayenne ONLY supported the
AUTO_PK_SUPPORT, although maybe Oracle sequences were there early on.
Over time, DB-generated key support was added (sometime in 2.x, I
think) and also PostgreSQL sequences.  It is also the only method that
is going to work on all DBs.

mrg


On Tue, Apr 20, 2010 at 5:01 PM, Robert Zeigler
<[email protected]> wrote:
I can understand Joe's confusion: not only does cayenne generate the
AUTO_PK_SUPPORT table, but it also inserts a row for each table, regardless
of whether that table is using cayenne vs. db-generated ids.
I'm actually curious to know the rationale behind that one, myself. :) I mean, I know cayenne will fall back to using cayenne-generated ids if the db connected to (or corresponding driver) doesn't support auto-pk generation. But you should be able to detect that at schema generation time, and you have the mapping in hand to determine which entities will use db- generated pks... so... at the very least, shouldn't you only insert a row for those
entities which need it?

The flip side, though, is that having an unused row in the db will have virtually no performance impact, and it keeps the generation code much simpler. *shrug* Just thinking out loud, I guess... I'd love to hear the original rationale for including all entities in the table, regardless of
what their pk-generation strategy is. :)

Robert

On Apr 20, 2010, at 4/203:43 PM , Michael Gentry wrote:

Hi Joe,

On Tue, Apr 20, 2010 at 1:12 PM, Joe Baldwin <[email protected] >
wrote:

Michael,

However, I would suggest not doing both strategies on the same table as
it will probably bite you in the long run somehow.

That is not my intention (but I agree with you). I am verifying all of my entities right now. However, the Cayenne Modeler configuration was not clear. You said that if I set the "PK Generation Strategy" to "Database Generated" but then I unintentionally had the "Create Primary Key Support" checked in the "Generate DB Schema" Options dialog, then it would create the
AUTO_PK_SUPPORT table.

It is not clear to me why you have this in two separate config
parameters. Base on your explanation (in the previous email), that if you select the "PK Generation Strategy" type for the individual entities, then the "Create Primary Key Support" option should be automatically configured
at that time.

Said a different way: why would the Cayenne Modeler create
Cayenne-Managed Primary Key Support for tables with the "PK Generation
Strategy" to "Database Generated"?


I think you are confusing Cayenne Modeler's schema generation feature
with Cayenne's runtime primary key support feature.  More below.


I may be wrong, but base on what you had described, it seems like Cayenne
Modeler is creating a conflicting configuration in this scenario.


There is no conflict.  Perhaps if you don't use "Database Generated"
on any DbEntities then it would be safe in Cayenne Modeler to not have
the checkbox when generating the SQL to create the AUTO_PK_SUPPORT
table, but I'm not even sure I agree with that idea.  Keep in mind
that each table can have different PK generation options (even though
it would potentially be confusing).  Cayenne doesn't stop you from
using the AUTO_PK_SUPPORT on some entities even when you are using
MySQL's auto-generated PK on other entities (for example, you may need higher performance on some tables for bulk inserts). Cayenne will use
whichever strategy you specify for the entity, but allows you to
create the AUTO_PK_SUPPORT if it is needed (your call) when you
generate the SQL.


If you have Cayenne generating the keys, it'll push them to MySQL.

I agree, but I have clearly set "PK Generation Strategy" to "Database Generated". So my question remains: given that the CM allows conflicting parameters, which one takes precedence here? I have set "PK Generation Strategy" to "Database Generated", are you saying that Cayenne then ignores
this configuration?


However, I would suggest not doing both strategies on the same table as
it will probably bite you in the long run somehow.


I agree. That is *definitely* not my intention, (But as I described above, it appears that this is very easy to do with CayenneModeler.)

Michael, what you have described concerning CM is not intuitive. I could
easily see a designer configuring one table with Cayenne-Managed
auto-generation, and another with database-auto-generation (because Cayenne Modeler allows it). If what you are saying is true, then selecting the
"Create Primary Key Support" checkbox, will override they
"database-auto-generation" parameter.


That's actually not at all what I am saying.  Selecting the "Create
Primary Key Support" checkbox in Cayenne Modeler's schema generation
tool just creates it in the schema. It doesn't override what you set
for each individual entity.  Whomever is doing the design needs to
decide how the PKs are generated on each table.  In a lot of
applications it is the same method for all entities, but it doesn't
have to be that way.


If this is as bad as you suggest, then Cayenne Modeler should either
prevent this from happening or display an explicit warning.


I don't think it is bad at all and never suggested it was.  It is a
very important and useful feature.

mrg



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