Spring JPA repository casting error when using JPQL - jpa

Question

I have a PagingAndSorting JPA repository declared. I am using the #Query annotation.
I am getting an exception when I call the get() method on an Optional object from the findById(id) method of the repository.
The weird thing is it only happens when I use JPQL.
The code works if my query is native:
#Override
public BatchDto findById(String id) {
Optional<Batch> findResult = this.batchRepository.findById(id);
if (!findResult.isPresent()) return null;
Batch entity = findResult.get(); **<-------- Cast Exception Here**
BatchDto dto = this.mapper.toDto(entity, BatchDto.class);
List<BatchTransaction> transactions = entity.getTransactions();
dto.setTransactionDtos(mapper.toListDto(transactions, TransactionDto.class));
return dto;
}
Inspecting the findResult object with a breakpoint - I can see:
Optional[net.domain.data.batch#4b8bb6f]
when I have nativeQuery = true in the #Query annotation.
#Query(value = Sql.FindBatchById, nativeQuery = true)
Here is the query being used:
SELECT DISTINCT(B.batchNumber), COUNT(B.batchNumber) as TransactionCount FROM BATCH B WHERE B.batchReferenceNumber = :id GROUP BY B.batchNumber
However if I change it to JPQL and remove the nativeQuery=true attribute - the findResult is
Optional[[Ljava.lang.Object;#76e04327].
and I get a ClassCastException:
java.lang.ClassCastException: [Ljava.lang.Object; cannot be cast to net.domain.data.batch
So bottom line - this works when specify nativeQuery=true and fails when I try to use JPQL.
I would prefer not to specify nativeQuery as we will eventually port this db to Oracle.

Answer 1

First of all the query shown below doesn't return a single Batch instance. Since there are distinct and count aggregate functions, the query will return a List of aggregates.
To be able to read that statistics you can add appropriate method into the batchRepository. Something like this:
#Query("SELECT DISTINCT(B.batchNumber) as dist, COUNT(B.batchNumber) as cnt FROM BATCH B GROUP BY B.batchNumber")
List<Map<Long, Long>> findStatistics();
and then iterate through the list.
UPD
If the id parameter exactly guarantee that will return a single record, you can change a return type to a Map
#Query("SELECT DISTINCT(B.batchNumber) as dist, COUNT(B.batchNumber) as cnt FROM BATCH B WHERE B.batchReferenceNumber = :id GROUP BY B.batchNumber")
Map<Long, Long> findStatisticsById(#Param("id") Long id);