About Query Results Cache

The EclipseLink query results cache allows the results of named queries to be cached, similar to how objects are cached.

By default in EclipseLink all queries access the database, unless they are by Id, or by cache-indexed fields. The resulting rows will still be resolved with the cache, and further queries for relationships will be avoided if the object is cached, but the original query will always access the database. EclipseLink does have options for querying the cache, but these options are not used by default, as EclipseLink cannot assume that all of the objects in the database are in the cache. The query results cache allows for non-indexed and result list queries to still benefit from caching.

The query results cache is indexed by the name of the query, and the parameters of the query. Only named queries can have their results cached, dynamic queries cannot use the query results cache. As well, if you modify a named query before execution, such as setting hints or properties, then it cannot use the cached results.

The query results cache does not pick up committed changes from the application as the object cache does. It should only be used to cache read-only objects, or should use an invalidation policy to avoid caching stale results. Committed changes to the objects in the result set will still be picked up, but changes that affect the results set (such as new or changed objects that should be added/removed from the result set) will not be picked up.

The query results cache supports a fixed size, cache type, and invalidation options.