Why Ebean returns null for no reason?

Question

Using Play Framework, I have a model like this :

class MyModel extends Model {
    // Some columns

    @ManyToOne
    public OtherModel other;

    public OtherModel getOther() {
        return other;
    }
}

For a reason I can't understand, if I call myModel.other OR myModel.getOther() (myModel being an instance of MyModel), I got a Null value, even if it should return an instance of OtherModel !

Moreover, if I change the getOther() methods to this :

public OtherModel getOther() {
    console.log (String.valueOf(other));
    return other;
}

getOther() returns the expected instance of OtherModel

Why do I get this, and how to fix this odd behavior?

Forget

I had a similar problem (but I did not need the console.log). All I did was just replacing public fields by private ones, and using public getters & setters. I think it was a Playframework bug, but I don't find where I saw that. What version are you using ? – Tambac

I'm using 2.0.4 but I encountered the problem since 2.0 soo ... . I'll try what you say, I think I already done that somewhere and it worked so yeah, it seems good. I'll update a comment and if it's this, you can add your comment as an answer so I can accept it. – Forget

Well after my initials tests, it seems you are correct! You can answer with your comment, I'll accept it :) – Forget

This is probably the biggest "gotcha" when using Play Framework with Ebean. Strange things may happen when ebeans autofetch collides with Play's getter/setter approach. I recommend you reading this great post by Timo to understand what is going on: groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/play-framework/XaGlipnEgBc/… – Apatetic

Answer 1

I had a similar problem (but I did not need the console.log statement).

All I did was just replacing public fields by private ones, and using public getters & setters. I think it was a Playframework bug, but I don't find where I saw that.

Tambac

That's odd, I switched all my properties to private, but now, all the ManyToOne returns null (like getOtherModel()). Do you know why ? Is there something I missed? – Forget

Ok, after some inspection, it seems to have this problem when I use the model too soon, that's odd. – Forget

What do you mean by "using the model too soon" ? – Tambac

I use it in a Session.class I made that returns "first needed" objects, like the Account instance of the connected user. And if I'm trying to access his city, (via getCity()), I got null. I did a workaround by doing an home made sql query to get the city. But after that, everything else is working fine. I don't know why. – Forget