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(Quick Reference) # 6.4.1 Dynamic Finders - Reference Documentation Authors: Graeme Rocher, Peter Ledbrook, Marc Palmer, Jeff Brown, Luke Daley, Burt Beckwith, Lari Hotari Version: 2.3.8 ## 6.4.1 Dynamic Finders GORM supports the concept of dynamic finders. A dynamic finder looks like a static method invocation, but the methods themselves don't actually exist in any form at the code level. Instead, a method is auto-magically generated using code synthesis at runtime, based on the properties of a given class. Take for example the `Book` class:
    class Book {
        String title
        Date releaseDate
        Author author
    }
    class Author {
        String name
    }
The `Book` class has properties such as `title`, `releaseDate` and `author`. These can be used by the findBy and findAllBy methods in the form of "method expressions":

    def book = Book.findByTitle("The Stand")book = Book.findByTitleLike("Harry Pot%")book = Book.findByReleaseDateBetween(firstDate, secondDate)book = Book.findByReleaseDateGreaterThan(someDate)book = Book.findByTitleLikeOrReleaseDateLessThan("%Something%", someDate)
#### Method Expressions A method expression in GORM is made up of the prefix such as findBy followed by an expression that combines one or more properties. The basic form is:
    Book.findBy([Property][Comparator][Boolean Operator])?[Property][Comparator]
The tokens marked with a '?' are optional. Each comparator changes the nature of the query. For example:

    def book = Book.findByTitle("The Stand")book =  Book.findByTitleLike("Harry Pot%")
In the above example the first query is equivalent to equality whilst the latter, due to the `Like` comparator, is equivalent to a SQL `like` expression. The possible comparators include: `InList` - In the list of given values `LessThan` - less than a given value `LessThanEquals` - less than or equal a give value `GreaterThan` - greater than a given value `GreaterThanEquals` - greater than or equal a given value `Like` - Equivalent to a SQL like expression `Ilike` - Similar to a `Like`, except case insensitive `NotEqual` - Negates equality `InRange` - Between the `from` and `to` values of a Groovy Range `Rlike` - Performs a Regexp LIKE in MySQL or Oracle otherwise falls back to `Like` `Between` - Between two values (requires two arguments) `IsNotNull` - Not a null value (doesn't take an argument) `IsNull` - Is a null value (doesn't take an argument) Notice that the last three require different numbers of method arguments compared to the rest, as demonstrated in the following example:

    def now = new Date()
    def lastWeek = now - 7
    def book = Book.findByReleaseDateBetween(lastWeek, now)books = Book.findAllByReleaseDateIsNull()
    books = Book.findAllByReleaseDateIsNotNull()
#### Boolean logic (AND/OR) Method expressions can also use a boolean operator to combine two or more criteria:
    def books = Book.findAllByTitleLikeAndReleaseDateGreaterThan(
                          "%Java%", new Date() - 30)
In this case we're using `And` in the middle of the query to make sure both conditions are satisfied, but you could equally use `Or`:
    def books = Book.findAllByTitleLikeOrReleaseDateGreaterThan(
                          "%Java%", new Date() - 30)
You can combine as many criteria as you like, but they must all be combined with `And` or all `Or`. If you need to combine `And` and `Or` or if the number of criteria creates a very long method name, just convert the query to a Criteria or HQL query. #### Querying Associations Associations can also be used within queries:

    def author = Author.findByName("Stephen King")def books = author ? Book.findAllByAuthor(author) : []
In this case if the `Author` instance is not null we use it in a query to obtain all the `Book` instances for the given `Author`. #### Pagination and Sorting The same pagination and sorting parameters available on the list method can also be used with dynamic finders by supplying a map as the final parameter:
    def books = Book.findAllByTitleLike("Harry Pot%",
                   [max: 3, offset: 2, sort: "title", order: "desc"])
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