Spring REST partial update with @PATCH method

Question

I'm trying to implement a partial update of the Manager entity based in the following:

Entity

public class Manager {
    private int id;
    private String firstname;
    private String lastname;
    private String username;
    private String password;

    // getters and setters omitted
}

SaveManager method in Controller

@RequestMapping(value = "/save", method = RequestMethod.PATCH)
public @ResponseBody void saveManager(@RequestBody Manager manager){
    managerService.saveManager(manager);
}

Save object manager in Dao impl.

@Override
public void saveManager(Manager manager) {  
    sessionFactory.getCurrentSession().saveOrUpdate(manager);
}

When I save the object the username and password has changed correctly but the others values are empty.

So what I need to do is update the username and password and keep all the remaining data.

Answer 1

If you are truly using a PATCH, then you should use RequestMethod.PATCH, not RequestMethod.POST.

Your patch mapping should contain the id with which you can retrieve the Manager object to be patched. Also, it should only include the fields with which you want to change. In your example you are sending the entire entity, so you can't discern the fields that are actually changing (does empty mean leave this field alone or actually change its value to empty).

Perhaps an implementation as such is what you're after?

@RequestMapping(value = "/manager/{id}", method = RequestMethod.PATCH)
public @ResponseBody void saveManager(@PathVariable Long id, @RequestBody Map<Object, Object> fields) {
    Manager manager = someServiceToLoadManager(id);
    // Map key is field name, v is value
    fields.forEach((k, v) -> {
       // use reflection to get field k on manager and set it to value v
        Field field = ReflectionUtils.findField(Manager.class, k);
        field.setAccessible(true);
        ReflectionUtils.setField(field, manager, v);
    });
    managerService.saveManager(manager);
}