Spring Data method name for custom query accepting and-connected multiple search strings

Question

Is there a way to build a custom repository method for a special query in Spring Data, that accepts multiple and-connected search strings, meaning that all those strings need to be found in one database field?

Take this example, where only one string is accepted:

import java.util.List;

import org.jean.dossier.model.entities.Contact;
import org.springframework.data.jpa.repository.JpaRepository;
import org.springframework.stereotype.Repository;

@Repository
public interface ContactRepository extends JpaRepository<Contact, Long> {
    List<Contact> findTop10ByNameContainingOrderByName(String name);
}

Here I essentially select all the contacts that have the content of the name variable within the contact.name parameter. I also sort the result by name, and I limit the output to 10 rows.

This search only takes one parameter name, i.e. "alfonso" to find all the contacts that are called "alfonso". What I would like to achieve though, is the same search with multiple strings.

Example: I provide the strings "al" and "du". Possible results of the query would be:

Alfonso Ducatti
Malina Perfudu
Galina Padufi

I would assume that a correct way to change the above method would be something like:

List findTop10ByNameContainingOrderByName(String[] name);

Is there any way to do that?

Maybe regex can be used as discussed at How to use Regex keyword in Spring Data Repository Method. — prasad_
– prasad_, Commented Nov 7, 2023 at 4:02

Socrates · Accepted Answer · 2023-11-07 22:04:21Z

Apparently what I am looking for is not possible with Spring Data. I therefore built it a bit different, by still achieving my result. Maybe there is another one out there facing the same issue as I did, so hopefully this way I can provide a possible solution.

I added a new findAll()-method to the ContactRepository, accepting a specification (for the string restrictions on the name field) and a pageable (for limiting the quantity of output lines):

import org.jean.dossier.model.entities.Contact;
import org.springframework.data.domain.Page;
import org.springframework.data.domain.Pageable;
import org.springframework.data.jpa.domain.Specification;
import org.springframework.data.jpa.repository.JpaRepository;
import org.springframework.stereotype.Repository;

@Repository
public interface ContactRepository extends JpaRepository<Contact, Long> {
    Page<Contact> findAll(Specification<Contact> spec, Pageable pageable);
}

To call this repository method I created a new service where I prepare the query:

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;

import org.jean.dossier.data.ContactRepository;
import org.jean.dossier.model.entities.Contact;
import org.slf4j.Logger;
import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
import org.springframework.data.domain.Page;
import org.springframework.data.domain.PageRequest;
import org.springframework.data.domain.Pageable;
import org.springframework.data.domain.Sort;
import org.springframework.data.jpa.domain.Specification;
import org.springframework.stereotype.Service;

import jakarta.persistence.criteria.Predicate;

@Service
public class ContactService {
    
    @Autowired
    private ContactRepository contactRepository;

    private final Logger logger = LoggerFactory.getLogger(ContactService.class);

    public List<Contact> findFirst10ByMultipleStrings(String... searchStrings) {
        this.logger.info("Find contacts using multiple strings.");

        // Sort by attribute "name" ascending.
        Sort sort = Sort.by(Sort.Direction.ASC, "name");

        // Limit to the first 10 lines.
        Pageable pageable = PageRequest.of(0, 10, sort);
        Page<Contact> resultPage = this.contactRepository.findAll(createSpecification(searchStrings), pageable);
        return resultPage.getContent();
    }

    private Specification<Contact> createSpecification(String... searchStrings) {
        this.logger.info("Create specification for query.");

        return (root, query, criteriaBuilder) -> {
            List<Predicate> predicates = new ArrayList<>();

            for (String searchString : searchStrings) {
                predicates.add(criteriaBuilder.like(root.get("name"), "%" + searchString + "%"));
            }

            return criteriaBuilder.and(predicates.toArray(new Predicate[0]));
        };
    }
}

Eventually, calling this becomes easy from i.e. a controller:

@Autowired
private ContactService contactService;

List<Contact> contacts = this.contactService.findFirst10ByMultipleStrings(name.split(" "));

This was going to be my suggestion, to use a Specification. Note that you can also perform your sorting in the spec too, simply by adding criteriaQuery.orderBy(criteriaBuilder.desc(root.get("name"))); and it looks like you've already figured out that you'll have to use a Page to get the top n records.

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