JPA Repository query example in Spring Boot | Derived Query

In previous posts, you’ve known how to use JPQL and native Query to retrieve data from the database using @Query annotation. Today, I will show you way to implement Spring Data JPA Repository query in Spring Boot with Derived Query methods:

• Structure of Derived Query methods
• Configure Spring Boot application to work with different database
• JPA find by field, column name, multiple columns
• JPA query methods for pagination and sorting

Related Posts:
– Spring JPA Native Query example
– Spring JPA @Query example with JPQL
– JPA EntityManager example in Spring Boot
– Spring Boot, Spring Data JPA – Rest CRUD API example
– Spring Boot Pagination and Sorting example
– Spring Boot File upload example with Multipart File
– Spring Boot Authentication with Spring Security & JWT
– Spring JPA + H2 example
– Spring JPA + MySQL example
– Spring JPA + PostgreSQL example
– Spring JPA + Oracle example
– Spring JPA + SQL Server example
– Documentation: Spring Boot + Swagger 3 example (with OpenAPI 3)

Associations:
– JPA One To One example with Hibernate in Spring Boot
– JPA One To Many example with Hibernate and Spring Boot
– JPA Many to Many example with Hibernate in Spring Boot

Structure of Derived Query methods

Typically, a Derived Query method has 2 elements: subject (the action), and predicate (the conditions).

• Subject: is the introducing clause (find…By, exists…By, count…By for example), it may contain further expressions (between find/exists/count and By) for result-limiting keywords such as Distinct or Top/First.
• Predicate: is placed after the subject. It can be entity properties (concatenating with And/Or) followed by one or more keywords (StartingWith, EndingWith, Containing, IgnoreCase…).

For example:

List<Tutorial> findByTitleContainingIgnoreCase(String title);

List<Tutorial> findTop3ByTitleContainingAndPublished(String title, boolean isPublished);

You can find the full list at query method subject keywords and query method predicate keywords.

JPA Repository Query example with Spring Boot

– Technology:

• Java 8
• Spring Boot 2.6.3 (with Spring Data JPA)
• MySQL/PostgreSQL/H2 (embedded database)
• Maven 3.8.1

– Project Structure:

Let me explain it briefly.

• Tutorial data model class correspond to entity and table tutorials.
• TutorialRepository is an interface that extends JpaRepository for derived query methods. It will be autowired in SpringBootQueryExampleApplication.
• SpringBootQueryExampleApplication is SpringBootApplication which implements CommandLineRunner. We will use TutorialRepository to run Query methods here.
• Configuration for Spring Datasource, JPA & Hibernate in application.properties.
• pom.xml contains dependencies for Spring Boot and MySQL/PostgreSQL/H2 database.

Create & Setup Spring Boot project

Use Spring web tool or your development tool (Spring Tool Suite, Eclipse, Intellij) to create a Spring Boot project.

Then open pom.xml and add these dependencies:

<!-- web for access H2 database UI -->
<dependency>
	<groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
	<artifactId>spring-boot-starter-web</artifactId>
</dependency>

<dependency>
	<groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
	<artifactId>spring-boot-starter-data-jpa</artifactId>
</dependency>

We also need to add one more dependency.
– If you want to use MySQL:

<dependency>
	<groupId>mysql</groupId>
	<artifactId>mysql-connector-java</artifactId>
	<scope>runtime</scope>
</dependency>

– or PostgreSQL:

<dependency>
	<groupId>org.postgresql</groupId>
	<artifactId>postgresql</artifactId>
	<scope>runtime</scope>
</dependency>

– or H2 (embedded database):

<dependency>
	<groupId>com.h2database</groupId>
	<artifactId>h2</artifactId>
	<scope>runtime</scope>
</dependency>

Configure Spring Datasource, JPA, Hibernate

Under src/main/resources folder, open application.properties and write these lines.

– For MySQL:

spring.datasource.url= jdbc:mysql://localhost:3306/testdb?useSSL=false
spring.datasource.username= root
spring.datasource.password= 123456

spring.jpa.properties.hibernate.dialect= org.hibernate.dialect.MySQL5InnoDBDialect

# Hibernate ddl auto (create, create-drop, validate, update)
spring.jpa.hibernate.ddl-auto= update

– For PostgreSQL:

spring.datasource.url= jdbc:postgresql://localhost:5432/testdb
spring.datasource.username= postgres
spring.datasource.password= 123

spring.jpa.properties.hibernate.jdbc.lob.non_contextual_creation= true
spring.jpa.properties.hibernate.dialect= org.hibernate.dialect.PostgreSQLDialect

# Hibernate ddl auto (create, create-drop, validate, update)
spring.jpa.hibernate.ddl-auto= update

• spring.datasource.username & spring.datasource.password properties are the same as your database installation.
• Spring Boot uses Hibernate for JPA implementation, we configure MySQL5InnoDBDialect for MySQL or PostgreSQLDialect for PostgreSQL
• spring.jpa.hibernate.ddl-auto is used for database initialization. We set the value to update value so that a table will be created in the database automatically corresponding to defined data model. Any change to the model will also trigger an update to the table. For production, this property should be validate.

– For H2 database:

spring.datasource.url=jdbc:h2:mem:testdb
spring.datasource.driverClassName=org.h2.Driver
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
# default path: h2-console
spring.h2.console.path=/h2-ui

• spring.datasource.url: jdbc:h2:mem:[database-name] for In-memory database and jdbc:h2:file:[path/database-name] for disk-based database.
• We configure H2Dialect for H2 Database
• spring.h2.console.enabled=true tells the Spring to start H2 Database administration tool and you can access this tool on the browser: http://localhost:8080/h2-console.
• spring.h2.console.path=/h2-ui is for H2 console’s url, so the default url http://localhost:8080/h2-console will change to http://localhost:8080/h2-ui.

Create Entity

In model package, we define Tutorial class.

Tutorial has following fields: id, title, level, description, published, createdAt.

model/Tutorial.java

package com.bezkoder.spring.jpa.query.model;

import javax.persistence.*; // import jakarta.persistence.*; // for Spring Boot 3
import java.util.Date;

@Entity
@Table(name = "tutorials")
public class Tutorial {

  @Id
  @GeneratedValue(strategy = GenerationType.AUTO)
  private long id;

  private String title;

  private String description;
  
  private int level;

  private boolean published;
  
  @Temporal(TemporalType.TIMESTAMP)
  private Date createdAt;

  public Tutorial() {

  }

  public Tutorial(String title, String description, int level, boolean published, Date createdAt) {
    this.title = title;
    this.description = description;
    this.level = level;
    this.published = published;
    this.createdAt = createdAt;
  }

  // getters and setters
}

– @Entity annotation indicates that the class is a persistent Java class.
– @Table annotation provides the table that maps this entity.

– @Id annotation is for the primary key.
– @GeneratedValue annotation is used to define generation strategy for the primary key.

– @Temporal annotation converts back and forth between timestamp and java.util.Date or time-stamp into time. For example, @Temporal(TemporalType.DATE) drops the time value and only preserves the date.

@Temporal(TemporalType.DATE)
private Date createdAt;

Define JPA Repository Query methods

Let’s create a repository to interact with database.
In repository package, create TutorialRepository interface that extend JpaRepository.

repository/TutorialRepository.java

package com.bezkoder.spring.jpa.query.repository;

import com.bezkoder.spring.jpa.query.model.Tutorial;

public interface TutorialRepository extends JpaRepository<Tutorial, Long> {

}

In this interface, we will write JPA Derived Queries to fetch data from database.

Assume that we’ve already have tutorials table like this:

Let’s check the basic query method: findAll() first.

public interface TutorialRepository extends JpaRepository<Tutorial, Long> {
  List<Tutorial> findAll();
}

Result:

List<Tutorial> tutorials = new ArrayList<>();

tutorials = tutorialRepository.findAll();
show(tutorials);
/*
Tutorial [id=1, title=Spring Data, description=Spring Data Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-03-11 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=2, title=Java Spring Boot, description=Spring Framework Description, level=1, published=false, createdAt=2022-03-11 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=3, title=Hibernate, description=Hibernate ORM Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-04-26 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=4, title=Spring Boot, description=Spring Boot Description, level=2, published=false, createdAt=2022-04-26 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=5, title=Spring JPA, description=Spring Data JPA Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-05-19 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=6, title=Spring Batch, description=Spring Batch Description, level=4, published=true, createdAt=2022-05-19 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=7, title=Spring Security, description=Spring Security Description, level=5, published=false, createdAt=2022-05-19 00:00:00.0]
*/

JPA find by field

We only need to append the field right after by, then add either Is or Equals keyword for readability (optional) on Derived Query.

Optional<Tutorial> findById(long id);

List<Tutorial> findByLevel(int level);

List<Tutorial> findByPublished(boolean isPublished);

List<Tutorial> findByLevelIs(int level);

List<Tutorial> findByLevelEquals(int level);

Result:

Tutorial tutorial = tutorialRepository.findById(1).get();
System.out.println(tutorial);
/*
Tutorial [id=1, title=Spring Data, description=Spring Data Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-03-11 00:00:00.0]
*/

tutorials = tutorialRepository.findByPublished(true);
show(tutorials);
/*
Tutorial [id=1, title=Spring Data, description=Spring Data Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-03-11 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=3, title=Hibernate, description=Hibernate ORM Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-04-26 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=5, title=Spring JPA, description=Spring Data JPA Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-05-19 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=6, title=Spring Batch, description=Spring Batch Description, level=4, published=true, createdAt=2022-05-19 00:00:00.0]
*/

tutorials = tutorialRepository.findByLevel(3);
// or
tutorials = tutorialRepository.findByLevelIs(3);
// or
tutorials = tutorialRepository.findByLevelEquals(3);
show(tutorials);
/*
Tutorial [id=1, title=Spring Data, description=Spring Data Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-03-11 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=3, title=Hibernate, description=Hibernate ORM Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-04-26 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=5, title=Spring JPA, description=Spring Data JPA Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-05-19 00:00:00.0]
*/

On the contrary, you can use Not or IsNot keyword.

List<Tutorial> findByLevelNot(int level);

List<Tutorial> findByLevelIsNot(int level);

Result:

tutorials = tutorialRepository.findByLevelNot(3);
// or
tutorials = tutorialRepository.findByLevelIsNot(3);
show(tutorials);
/*
Tutorial [id=2, title=Java Spring Boot, description=Spring Framework Description, level=1, published=false, createdAt=2022-03-11 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=4, title=Spring Boot, description=Spring Boot Description, level=2, published=false, createdAt=2022-04-26 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=6, title=Spring Batch, description=Spring Batch Description, level=4, published=true, createdAt=2022-05-19 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=7, title=Spring Security, description=Spring Security Description, level=5, published=false, createdAt=2022-05-19 00:00:00.0]
*/

JPA find by multiple Columns

For multiple fields/multiple columns, we can use And, Or keywords between fields/columns.
Notice that you can concatenate as much And/Or as you want.

List<Tutorial> findByLevelAndPublished(int level, boolean isPublished);

List<Tutorial> findByTitleOrDescription(String title, String description);

Result:

tutorials = tutorialRepository.findByLevelAndPublished(3, true);
show(tutorials);
/*
Tutorial [id=1, title=Spring Data, description=Spring Data Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-03-11 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=3, title=Hibernate, description=Hibernate ORM Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-04-26 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=5, title=Spring JPA, description=Spring Data JPA Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-05-19 00:00:00.0]
*/

tutorials = tutorialRepository.findByTitleOrDescription("Hibernate", "Spring Data Description");
show(tutorials);
/*
Tutorial [id=1, title=Spring Data, description=Spring Data Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-03-11 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=3, title=Hibernate, description=Hibernate ORM Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-04-26 00:00:00.0]
*/

JPA Like Query

We can perform SQL LIKE query with following keywords:

• Like: where x.field like param
• NotLike: where x.field not like param
• StartingWith: where x.field like %param (with appended %)
• EndingWith: where x.field like param% (with prepended %)
• Containing: where x.field like %param% (wrapped in %)

List<Tutorial> findByTitleLike(String title);

List<Tutorial> findByTitleStartingWith(String title);

List<Tutorial> findByTitleEndingWith(String title);

List<Tutorial> findByTitleContaining(String title);

List<Tutorial> findByTitleContainingOrDescriptionContaining(String title, String description);

List<Tutorial> findByTitleContainingAndPublished(String title, boolean isPublished);

For case insensitive query, in SQL, we can force the value to all capital or lower case letters, then compare with the query values.
Spring JPA provide IgnoreCase keyword to do this with Derived Query.

List<Tutorial> findByTitleContainingIgnoreCase(String title);

Result:

tutorials = tutorialRepository.findByTitleStartingWith("Spring");
show(tutorials);
/*
Tutorial [id=1, title=Spring Data, description=Spring Data Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-03-11 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=4, title=Spring Boot, description=Spring Boot Description, level=2, published=false, createdAt=2022-04-26 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=5, title=Spring JPA, description=Spring Data JPA Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-05-19 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=6, title=Spring Batch, description=Spring Batch Description, level=4, published=true, createdAt=2022-05-19 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=7, title=Spring Security, description=Spring Security Description, level=5, published=false, createdAt=2022-05-19 00:00:00.0]
*/

tutorials = tutorialRepository.findByTitleEndingWith("ot");
show(tutorials);
/*
Tutorial [id=2, title=Java Spring Boot, description=Spring Framework Description, level=1, published=false, createdAt=2022-03-11 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=4, title=Spring Boot, description=Spring Boot Description, level=2, published=false, createdAt=2022-04-26 00:00:00.0]
*/

tutorials = tutorialRepository.findByTitleContaining("at");
show(tutorials);
/*
Tutorial [id=1, title=Spring Data, description=Spring Data Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-03-11 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=3, title=Hibernate, description=Hibernate ORM Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-04-26 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=6, title=Spring Batch, description=Spring Batch Description, level=4, published=true, createdAt=2022-05-19 00:00:00.0]
*/

tutorials = tutorialRepository.findByTitleContainingIgnoreCase("dat");
show(tutorials);
/*
Tutorial [id=1, title=Spring Data, description=Spring Data Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-03-11 00:00:00.0]
*/

String text = "ot";
tutorials = tutorialRepository.findByTitleContainingOrDescriptionContaining(text, text);
show(tutorials);
/*
Tutorial [id=2, title=Java Spring Boot, description=Spring Framework Description, level=1, published=false, createdAt=2022-03-11 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=4, title=Spring Boot, description=Spring Boot Description, level=2, published=false, createdAt=2022-04-26 00:00:00.0]
*/

tutorials = tutorialRepository.findByTitleContainingAndPublished("ring", true);
show(tutorials);
/*
Tutorial [id=1, title=Spring Data, description=Spring Data Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-03-11 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=5, title=Spring JPA, description=Spring Data JPA Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-05-19 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=6, title=Spring Batch, description=Spring Batch Description, level=4, published=true, createdAt=2022-05-19 00:00:00.0]
*/

JPA Boolean Query

We can use True, False keywords for making JPA Boolean Derived Query.

List<Tutorial> findByPublishedTrue();

List<Tutorial> findByPublishedFalse();

Result:

tutorials = tutorialRepository.findByPublishedTrue();
show(tutorials);
/*
Tutorial [id=1, title=Spring Data, description=Spring Data Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-03-11 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=3, title=Hibernate, description=Hibernate ORM Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-04-26 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=5, title=Spring JPA, description=Spring Data JPA Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-05-19 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=6, title=Spring Batch, description=Spring Batch Description, level=4, published=true, createdAt=2022-05-19 00:00:00.0]
*/

tutorials = tutorialRepository.findByPublishedFalse();
show(tutorials);
/*
Tutorial [id=2, title=Java Spring Boot, description=Spring Framework Description, level=1, published=false, createdAt=2022-03-11 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=4, title=Spring Boot, description=Spring Boot Description, level=2, published=false, createdAt=2022-04-26 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=7, title=Spring Security, description=Spring Security Description, level=5, published=false, createdAt=2022-05-19 00:00:00.0]
*/

JPA Repository Query with Comparison

We can perform SQL Comparison query with following keywords:

• Between: where x.field between param_1 and param_2
• LessThan: where x.field < param
• LessThanEqual: where x.field <= param
• GreaterThan: where x.field > param
• GreaterThanEqual: where x.field >= param

For JPA Query with Date Comparison, we can also use After, Before keywords.

• After: where x.dateField > param
• Before: where x.dateField < param

List<Tutorial> findByLevelGreaterThan(int level);

List<Tutorial> findByCreatedAtGreaterThanEqual(Date date);

List<Tutorial> findByCreatedAtAfter(Date date);

List<Tutorial> findByLevelBetween(int start, int end);

List<Tutorial> findByLevelBetweenAndPublished(int start, int end, boolean isPublished);

List<Tutorial> findByCreatedAtBetween(Date start, Date end);

Result:

tutorials = tutorialRepository.findByLevelGreaterThan(3);
show(tutorials);
/*
Tutorial [id=6, title=Spring Batch, description=Spring Batch Description, level=4, published=true, createdAt=2022-05-19 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=7, title=Spring Security, description=Spring Security Description, level=5, published=false, createdAt=2022-05-19 00:00:00.0]
*/

Date myDate = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd").parse("2022-05-11");

tutorials = tutorialRepository.findByCreatedAtGreaterThanEqual(myDate);
show(tutorials);
/*
Tutorial [id=5, title=Spring JPA, description=Spring Data JPA Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-05-19 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=6, title=Spring Batch, description=Spring Batch Description, level=4, published=true, createdAt=2022-05-19 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=7, title=Spring Security, description=Spring Security Description, level=5, published=false, createdAt=2022-05-19 00:00:00.0]
*/

tutorials = tutorialRepository.findByCreatedAtAfter(myDate);
show(tutorials);
/*
Tutorial [id=5, title=Spring JPA, description=Spring Data JPA Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-05-19 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=6, title=Spring Batch, description=Spring Batch Description, level=4, published=true, createdAt=2022-05-19 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=7, title=Spring Security, description=Spring Security Description, level=5, published=false, createdAt=2022-05-19 00:00:00.0]
*/

tutorials = tutorialRepository.findByLevelBetween(3, 5);
show(tutorials);
/*
Tutorial [id=1, title=Spring Data, description=Spring Data Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-03-11 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=3, title=Hibernate, description=Hibernate ORM Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-04-26 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=5, title=Spring JPA, description=Spring Data JPA Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-05-19 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=6, title=Spring Batch, description=Spring Batch Description, level=4, published=true, createdAt=2022-05-19 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=7, title=Spring Security, description=Spring Security Description, level=5, published=false, createdAt=2022-05-19 00:00:00.0]
*/

tutorials = tutorialRepository.findByLevelBetweenAndPublished(3, 5, true);
show(tutorials);
/*
Tutorial [id=1, title=Spring Data, description=Spring Data Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-03-11 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=3, title=Hibernate, description=Hibernate ORM Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-04-26 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=5, title=Spring JPA, description=Spring Data JPA Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-05-19 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=6, title=Spring Batch, description=Spring Batch Description, level=4, published=true, createdAt=2022-05-19 00:00:00.0]
*/

Date myDate1 = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd").parse("2022-04-11");
Date myDate2 = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd").parse("2022-05-11");

tutorials = tutorialRepository.findByCreatedAtBetween(myDate1, myDate2);
show(tutorials);
/*
Tutorial [id=3, title=Hibernate, description=Hibernate ORM Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-04-26 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=4, title=Spring Boot, description=Spring Boot Description, level=2, published=false, createdAt=2022-04-26 00:00:00.0]
*/

JPA Repository Query with Sorting

We can use OrderBy keyword along with Asc (default) and Desc for sorting by field/column with Derived Query.

List<Tutorial> findByOrderByLevel();
// same as
List<Tutorial> findByOrderByLevelAsc();

List<Tutorial> findByOrderByLevelDesc();

List<Tutorial> findByTitleContainingOrderByLevelDesc(String title);

List<Tutorial> findByPublishedOrderByCreatedAtDesc(boolean isPublished);

Result:

tutorials = tutorialRepository.findByOrderByLevel();
show(tutorials);
/*
Tutorial [id=2, title=Java Spring Boot, description=Spring Framework Description, level=1, published=false, createdAt=2022-03-11 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=4, title=Spring Boot, description=Spring Boot Description, level=2, published=false, createdAt=2022-04-26 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=1, title=Spring Data, description=Spring Data Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-03-11 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=3, title=Hibernate, description=Hibernate ORM Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-04-26 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=5, title=Spring JPA, description=Spring Data JPA Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-05-19 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=6, title=Spring Batch, description=Spring Batch Description, level=4, published=true, createdAt=2022-05-19 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=7, title=Spring Security, description=Spring Security Description, level=5, published=false, createdAt=2022-05-19 00:00:00.0]
*/

tutorials = tutorialRepository.findByOrderByLevelDesc();
show(tutorials);
/*
Tutorial [id=7, title=Spring Security, description=Spring Security Description, level=5, published=false, createdAt=2022-05-19 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=6, title=Spring Batch, description=Spring Batch Description, level=4, published=true, createdAt=2022-05-19 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=1, title=Spring Data, description=Spring Data Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-03-11 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=3, title=Hibernate, description=Hibernate ORM Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-04-26 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=5, title=Spring JPA, description=Spring Data JPA Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-05-19 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=4, title=Spring Boot, description=Spring Boot Description, level=2, published=false, createdAt=2022-04-26 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=2, title=Java Spring Boot, description=Spring Framework Description, level=1, published=false, createdAt=2022-03-11 00:00:00.0]
*/

tutorials = tutorialRepository.findByTitleContainingOrderByLevelDesc("at");
show(tutorials);
/*
Tutorial [id=6, title=Spring Batch, description=Spring Batch Description, level=4, published=true, createdAt=2022-05-19 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=1, title=Spring Data, description=Spring Data Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-03-11 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=3, title=Hibernate, description=Hibernate ORM Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-04-26 00:00:00.0]
*/

tutorials = tutorialRepository.findByPublishedOrderByCreatedAtDesc(true);
show(tutorials);
/*
Tutorial [id=5, title=Spring JPA, description=Spring Data JPA Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-05-19 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=6, title=Spring Batch, description=Spring Batch Description, level=4, published=true, createdAt=2022-05-19 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=3, title=Hibernate, description=Hibernate ORM Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-04-26 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=1, title=Spring Data, description=Spring Data Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-03-11 00:00:00.0]
*/

If you want to sort more than one field, you need to pass Sort object as parameter with the help of Order class.

List<Tutorial> findByTitleContaining(String title, Sort sort);

List<Tutorial> findByPublished(boolean isPublished, Sort sort);

Result:

tutorials = tutorialRepository.findByTitleContaining("at", Sort.by("level").descending());
show(tutorials);
/*
Tutorial [id=6, title=Spring Batch, description=Spring Batch Description, level=4, published=true, createdAt=2022-05-19 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=1, title=Spring Data, description=Spring Data Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-03-11 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=3, title=Hibernate, description=Hibernate ORM Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-04-26 00:00:00.0]
*/

tutorials = tutorialRepository.findByPublished(false, Sort.by("level").descending());
show(tutorials);
/*
Tutorial [id=7, title=Spring Security, description=Spring Security Description, level=5, published=false, createdAt=2022-05-19 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=4, title=Spring Boot, description=Spring Boot Description, level=2, published=false, createdAt=2022-04-26 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=2, title=Java Spring Boot, description=Spring Framework Description, level=1, published=false, createdAt=2022-03-11 00:00:00.0]
*/

List<Order> orders = new ArrayList<Order>();
orders.add(new Order(Sort.Direction.DESC, "level"));
orders.add(new Order(Sort.Direction.ASC, "title"));

tutorials = tutorialRepository.findByPublished(true, Sort.by(orders));
show(tutorials);
/*
Tutorial [id=6, title=Spring Batch, description=Spring Batch Description, level=4, published=true, createdAt=2022-05-19 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=3, title=Hibernate, description=Hibernate ORM Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-04-26 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=1, title=Spring Data, description=Spring Data Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-03-11 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=5, title=Spring JPA, description=Spring Data JPA Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-05-19 00:00:00.0]
*/

You can find way to implement Rest APIs for sorting multiple fields/columns at:
Spring Data JPA Sort/Order by multiple Columns | Spring Boot Rest APIs

JPA Repository Query with Pagination

Similar to Sort, you can use Pageable object as input parameter to make pagination on the Derived Query. We will add this parameter to method definition with Page<User> as return type.

Page<Tutorial> findAll(Pageable pageable);

Page<Tutorial> findByTitle(String title, Pageable pageable);

Result:

int page = 0;
int size = 3;

Pageable pageable = PageRequest.of(page, size);

tutorials = tutorialRepository.findAll(pageable).getContent();
show(tutorials);
/*
Tutorial [id=1, title=Spring Data, description=Spring Data Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-03-11 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=2, title=Java Spring Boot, description=Spring Framework Description, level=1, published=false, createdAt=2022-03-11 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=3, title=Hibernate, description=Hibernate ORM Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-04-26 00:00:00.0]
*/

tutorials = tutorialRepository.findByTitleContaining("ring", pageable).getContent();
show(tutorials);
/*
Tutorial [id=1, title=Spring Data, description=Spring Data Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-03-11 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=2, title=Java Spring Boot, description=Spring Framework Description, level=1, published=false, createdAt=2022-03-11 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=4, title=Spring Boot, description=Spring Boot Description, level=2, published=false, createdAt=2022-04-26 00:00:00.0]
*/

You can find way to implement Rest APIs for pagination and filter at:
Spring Boot Rest APIs: Pagination & Filter example | Spring JPA, Pageable

JPA Repository Query with Pagination and Sorting

Pageable can also be used for paging and sorting with the help of PageRequest.of() method.

Page<Tutorial> findAll(Pageable pageable);

Page<Tutorial> findByTitleContaining(String title, Pageable pageable);

Result:

int page = 0;
int size = 3;

Pageable pageable = PageRequest.of(page, size, Sort.by("level").descending());

tutorials = tutorialRepository.findAll(pageable).getContent();
show(tutorials);
/*
Tutorial [id=7, title=Spring Security, description=Spring Security Description, level=5, published=false, createdAt=2022-05-19 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=6, title=Spring Batch, description=Spring Batch Description, level=4, published=true, createdAt=2022-05-19 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=5, title=Spring JPA, description=Spring Data JPA Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-05-19 00:00:00.0]
*/

pageable = PageRequest.of(page, size, Sort.by("level").descending());

tutorials = tutorialRepository.findByTitleContaining("at", pageable).getContent();
show(tutorials);
/*
Tutorial [id=6, title=Spring Batch, description=Spring Batch Description, level=4, published=true, createdAt=2022-05-19 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=3, title=Hibernate, description=Hibernate ORM Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-04-26 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=1, title=Spring Data, description=Spring Data Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-03-11 00:00:00.0]
*/

You can find way to implement Rest APIs for pagination and sorting at:
Spring Boot Rest APIs: Pagination and Sorting example

JPA Delete multiple Rows

Spring Data JPA also supports Derived Query for delete multiple rows:

@Transactional
void deleteAllByCreatedAtBefore(Date date);

Result:

Date outdate = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd").parse("2022-05-1");

tutorialRepository.deleteAllByCreatedAtBefore(outdate);
tutorials = tutorialRepository.findAll();
show(tutorials);
/*
Tutorial [id=5, title=Spring JPA, description=Spring Data JPA Description, level=3, published=true, createdAt=2022-05-19 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=6, title=Spring Batch, description=Spring Batch Description, level=4, published=true, createdAt=2022-05-19 00:00:00.0]
Tutorial [id=7, title=Spring Security, description=Spring Security Description, level=5, published=false, createdAt=2022-05-19 00:00:00.0]
*/

Run Spring JPA Derived Query project

Let’s open SpringJpaRepositoryQueryExampleApplication.java, we will implement CommandLineRunner and autowire TutorialRepository interface to run JPA Query methods here.

package com.bezkoder.spring.jpa.query;

// import ...

@SpringBootApplication
public class SpringJpaRepositoryQueryExampleApplication implements CommandLineRunner {

  @Autowired
  TutorialRepository tutorialRepository;

  public static void main(String[] args) {
    SpringApplication.run(SpringJpaRepositoryQueryExampleApplication.class, args);
  }

  @Override
  public void run(String... args) throws Exception {
    // call tutorialRepository methods here
  }

  private void show(List<Tutorial> tutorials) {
    tutorials.forEach(System.out::println);
  }
}

Conclusion

Today we’ve known how to use Spring JPA Repository Query in Spring Boot example using Derived Query.

You can continue to write CRUD Rest APIs with:
Spring Boot, Spring Data JPA – Rest CRUD API example

If you want to write Unit Test for the JPA Repository:
Spring Boot Unit Test for JPA Repository with @DataJpaTest

You can also know:
– how to deploy this Spring Boot App on AWS (for free) with this tutorial.
– dockerize with Docker Compose: Spring Boot and MySQL example
– way to upload an Excel file and store the data in MySQL database with this post
– upload CSV file and store the data in MySQL with this post.

Happy learning! See you again.

Further Reading

• Secure Spring Boot App with Spring Security & JWT Authentication
• Spring Data JPA Reference Documentation
• Spring Boot Pagination and Sorting example

Fullstack CRUD App:
– Vue + Spring Boot example
– Angular 8 + Spring Boot example
– Angular 10 + Spring Boot example
– Angular 11 + Spring Boot example
– Angular 12 + Spring Boot example
– Angular 13 + Spring Boot example
– Angular 14 + Spring Boot example
– React + Spring Boot example

Source Code

You can find the complete source code for this tutorial on Github.

Using Native Query instead:
Spring JPA Native Query example with Spring Boot

Or JPQL:
Spring JPA @Query example with JPQL

Or EntityManager:
JPA EntityManager example in Spring Boot

Associations:
– JPA One To One example with Hibernate in Spring Boot
– JPA One To Many example with Hibernate and Spring Boot
– JPA Many to Many example with Hibernate in Spring Boot

You can apply this implementation in following tutorials:
– Spring JPA + H2 example
– Spring JPA + MySQL example
– Spring JPA + PostgreSQL example
– Spring JPA + Oracle example
– Spring JPA + SQL Server example

Documentation: Spring Boot Swagger 3 example