## java.sql.Blob and Clob support

The EJB 3.0 specification has support for Blob and Clob types. The specification allows you to map the following types to an entity property:

- `java.sql.Blob`
- `java.sql.Clob`
- any Serializable Object

-     byte[], Byte[]

-     char[], String, Character[]

To use this feature just need to use the `@javax.persistence.Lob` annotation. The `Lob` annotation is an encapsulation of what type of lob you want. Below is an example of defining fields in an entity that are blobs or clobs.

    @Entity
    public class BlobEntity implements Serializable
    {
       private long id;
       private Blob blobby;
       private Clob clobby;

       @Id @GeneratedValue(strategy=GenerationType.IDENTITY)
       public long getId()
       {
          return id;
       }

       public void setId(long id)
       {
          this.id = id;
       }

       @Lob @Basic(fetch = FetchType.EAGER)
       public Blob getBlobby()
       {
          return blobby;
       }

       public void setBlobby(Blob blobby)
       {
          this.blobby = blobby;
       }

       @Lob @Basic(fetch = FetchType.EAGER)
       public Clob getClobby()
       {
          return clobby;
       }

       public void setClobby(Clob clobby)
       {
          this.clobby = clobby;
       }

    }

#### Working with Blobs and Clobs

Open up LobTesterBean and look for the `create()` method. JBoss EJB3 is built on top of the Hibernate persistence engine. Hibernate has some helper methods for creating blobs and clobs that `LobTesterBean` uses.

Blob Creation

    org.hibernate.Hibernate.createBlob(byte[] bytes)

    org.hibernate.Hibernate.createBlob(InputStream stream, int length)

    org.hibernate.Hibernate.createBlob(InputStream stream)

Clob Creation

    org.hibernate.Hibernate.createClob(String string)

    org.hibernate.Hibernate.createClob(Reader reader, int length)

Blobs and clobs must only be accessed within a transaction. Blobs and clobs are also not serializable or detachable.

#### Mapping Strings/

    byte[]

to Clob/Blob

This is pretty easy, just look at BlobEntity2.java

    @Entity
    public class BlobEntity2 implements Serializable
    {
       private long id;
       private byte[] blobby;
       private String clobby;

       @Id @GeneratedValue(strategy=GenerationType.AUTO)
       public long getId()
       {
          return id;
       }

       public void setId(long id)
       {
          this.id = id;
       }

       @Lob @Basic(fetch = FetchType.EAGER)
       public byte[] getBlobby()
       {
          return blobby;
       }

       public void setBlobby(byte[] blobby)
       {
          this.blobby = blobby;
       }

       @Lob @Basic(fetch = FetchType.EAGER)
       public String getClobby()
       {
          return clobby;
       }

       public void setClobby(String clobby)
       {
          this.clobby = clobby;
       }

    }

#### Building and Running

To build and run the example, make sure you have `ejb3.deployer` installed in JBoss 4.0.x and have JBoss running. See the reference manual on how to install EJB 3.0.

    Unix:    $ export JBOSS_HOME=<where your jboss 4.0 distribution is>
    Windows: $ set JBOSS_HOME=<where your jboss 4.0 distribution is>
    $ ant
    $ ant run

#### View the tables and rows

You can view the tables created by JBoss by going to the Hypersonic SQL service, scrolling down to the `startDatabaseManager` button and clicking it. A Hypersonic SQL window will be minimized, but you can open it up to look at the tables and do queries.