Question

Is there any way to set a default value to domain class property?
I have a class called PayMethod, where I want the name property to default to "Cash" and I want this default value when I create this table, is this possible using Constraints?

package abc

import util.UserUtil
import embed.AuditUser

class PayMethod {

    String name = "Cash"

    AuditUser audit = new AuditUser()
    static embedded = ['audit']    

    static constraints = {
        name blank: false, size: 5..30, unique: true
    }

    static mapping = {
        table 't01i0010'
        id column: 'F_ID', precision: 4, scale: 0
        name column: 'F_NAME', length: 30, defaultValue: 'Cash'
        version column: 'F_REVISION'
    }

    def authUserService
    int insertIndex = 0
    int updateIndex = 0
    static transients = ['authUserService', 'insertIndex', 'updateIndex']    

    def beforeInsert = {
        audit.entryUser = UserUtil.user()
        audit.entryDate = new Date();
    }

    def beforeUpdate = {
        audit.reviseUser = UserUtil.user()
        audit.reviseDate = new Date();
    }

    def afterInsert = {
        if(insertIndex == 0){
            def user = audit.entryUser
            def date = audit.entryDate
            log.info "POST INSERT => ENTERER: ${user} ENTERED: ${date}"
        }
        insertIndex++
    }

    def afterUpdate = {
        if(updateIndex == 0){
            def user = audit.reviseUser
            def date = audit.reviseDate
            log.info "POST UPDATE => REVISE: ${user} REVISED: ${date}"
        }
        updateIndex++
    }
}

Answer 1

This will be possible in 2.2 which should be released this week or next. See http://jira.grails.org/browse/GRAILS-5520 for the relevant feature request. The syntax will be

static mapping = {
   name defaultValue: "'Cash'"
}

For now you’ll need to do what you’re doing – set the value as the default value of the field. You can manually update the database schema, or do the work as part of a migration.