20.17. Obtaining an SessionFactory

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`hibernate-osgi` registers an OSGi service, using the `SessionFactory` interface name, that bootstraps and creates a `SessionFactory` specific for OSGi environments.

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It is VITAL that your `SessionFactory` be obtained through the service, rather than creating it manually. The service handles the OSGi `ClassLoader`, discovered extension points, scanning, etc.
Manually creating a `SessionFactory` is guaranteed to NOT work during runtime!

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<div class="title">Example 494. Discover/Use `SessionFactory`</div>
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<pre class="prettyprint highlight">`public class HibernateUtil {

    private SessionFactory sf;

    public Session getSession() {
        return getSessionFactory().openSession();
    }

    private SessionFactory getSessionFactory() {
        if ( sf == null ) {
            Bundle thisBundle = FrameworkUtil.getBundle( HibernateUtil.class );
            BundleContext context = thisBundle.getBundleContext();

            ServiceReference sr = context.getServiceReference( SessionFactory.class.getName() );
            sf = ( SessionFactory ) context.getService( sr );
        }
        return sf;
    }
}`</pre>
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