Neo4J: Write custom converters to save non-primitives as node-properties

[MarkusSchulte]

Hi,

i want to use joda-time[1] as Datetime-Lib for handling date/time-purposes within my J2EE-App. Additional, i want to save a "Currency" as a node-property:

import org.joda.time.DateTime;
import java.util.Currency;

@NodeEntity
public class Company{
  protected DateTime createdAt;
  protected Currency currency;
}

Both values, "createdAt" and "currency", are not saved to the graph.

The Spring Data Neo4J-Documentation[2] explains me the reason: The values are not primitive, and i guess there are not spring-converters for them. So I'd like to wirte converters for this types, how can I do this?

Btw. both types are serializable[3][4] - does spring data neo4j not try to save properties by serializing/unserializing properties, if there are non-primitive but implement Serializable?

I am using Sprint data neo4j 2.1RC2 in standalone-mode.

Greetz,
Markus

[1] http://joda-time.sourceforge.net/
[2] http://static.springsource.org/sprin...e/html/#d5e825
[3] http://joda-time.sourceforge.net/apidocs/index.html
[4] http://docs.oracle.com/javase/6/docs.../Currency.html

[vmarcinko]

AFAIK, custom conversion is still buggy. If you search SDN JIRA, you will find some issues related to it.

BTW, I also tried using Joda-Time lib, and no success. In the mean time, I perform custom conversion in my getters/setters, whereas the mapped field in my domain class is plain long primitive, and it has to be named differently than getter/setter,

[lassewesth]

Markus,

As you said, this should work, as documented in http://static.springsource.org/sprin...e/html/#d5e825.

However, currently you can only convert to String and back (see https://jira.springsource.org/browse/DATAGRAPH-286). And also you have to manually register your converter, something like:

@Configuration
    @EnableNeo4jRepositories
    static class TestConfig extends Neo4jConfiguration {
        @Bean
        GraphDatabaseService graphDatabaseService() {
            return new ImpermanentGraphDatabase();
        }

        @Bean
        protected ConversionService neo4jConversionService() throws Exception {
            ConversionService conversionService = super.neo4jConversionService();
            conversionService.addConverter(new MyAwesomeConverter());
            conversionService.addConverter(new MyAwesomeReverseConverter());
            return conversionService;
        }
    }

However, monitor the jira ticket for updates.

[MarkusSchulte]

Hi,

thanks to your replies. I decided to implement as vmarcinko suggests - for time IMO the easiest way. But not the cleanest.

Btw, the Issue https://jira.springsource.org/browse/DATAGRAPH-286 will be resolved in RC3.

[lassewesth]

... And RC3 came out literally an hour ago

Happy hacking!

Lasse