add support for 'nulls first' and 'nulls last' in queries

see #76.

api/src/main/java/jakarta/persistence/criteria/CriteriaBuilder.java

@@ -117,19 +117,37 @@ public interface CriteriaBuilder {
 
     /**
      * Create an ordering by the ascending value of the expression.
-     * @param x  expression used to define the ordering
+     * @param expression  expression used to define the ordering
      * @return ascending ordering corresponding to the expression
      */
-    Order asc(Expression<?> x);
+    Order asc(Expression<?> expression);
 
     /**
      * Create an ordering by the descending value of the expression.
-     * @param x  expression used to define the ordering
+     * @param expression  expression used to define the ordering
      * @return descending ordering corresponding to the expression
      */
-    Order desc(Expression<?> x);
+    Order desc(Expression<?> expression);
+
+    /**
+     * Create an ordering by the ascending value of the expression.
+     * @param expression  expression used to define the ordering
+     * @param nullPrecedence  the precedence of null values
+     * @return ascending ordering corresponding to the expression
+     * @since 3.2
+     */
+    Order asc(Expression<?> expression, NullPrecedence nullPrecedence);
+
+    /**
+     * Create an ordering by the descending value of the expression.
+     * @param expression  expression used to define the ordering
+     * @param nullPrecedence  the precedence of null values
+     * @return descending ordering corresponding to the expression
+     * @since 3.2
+     */
+    Order desc(Expression<?> expression, NullPrecedence nullPrecedence);
+
 
-
     //aggregate functions:
 
     /**

api/src/main/java/jakarta/persistence/criteria/NullPrecedence.java

@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2008, 2020 Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
+ *
+ * This program and the accompanying materials are made available under the
+ * terms of the Eclipse Public License v. 2.0 which is available at
+ * http://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-2.0,
+ * or the Eclipse Distribution License v. 1.0 which is available at
+ * http://www.eclipse.org/org/documents/edl-v10.php.
+ *
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: EPL-2.0 OR BSD-3-Clause
+ */
+
+// Contributors:
+//     Gavin King      - 3.2
+
+package jakarta.persistence.criteria;
+
+/**
+ * Specifies the precedence of null values within query result sets.
+ *
+ * @see CriteriaBuilder#asc(Expression, NullPrecedence)
+ * @see CriteriaBuilder#desc(Expression, NullPrecedence)
+ *
+ * @since 3.2
+ */
+public enum NullPrecedence {
+	/**
+	 * Null precedence not specified.
+	 */
+	NONE,
+	/**
+	 * Null values occur at the beginning of the result set.
+	 */
+	FIRST,
+	/**
+	 * Null values occur at the end of the result set.
+	 */
+	LAST
+}

api/src/main/java/jakarta/persistence/criteria/Order.java

@@ -35,6 +35,13 @@ public interface Order {
     */
     boolean isAscending();
 
+    /**
+     * Return the precedence of null values.
+     * @return the <code>NullPrecedence</code>
+     * @since 3.2
+     */
+    NullPrecedence getNullPrecedence();
+
    /**
     * Return the expression that is used for ordering.
     * @return expression used for ordering

spec/src/main/asciidoc/appendixes.adoc

@@ -108,6 +108,8 @@ Added support for Java record types as embeddable classes
 
 Added `||` string concatenation operator
 
+Added support for specifying null precedence when ordering JPQL and criteria queries
+
 Added _getSingleResultOrNull()_ to _Query_, _TypedQuery_, _StoredProcedureQuery_
 
 Added _concat()_ overload accepting list of expressions to _CriteriaBuilder_

spec/src/main/asciidoc/ch04-query-language.adoc

@@ -320,10 +320,10 @@ future use.] are reserved identifiers: ABS, ALL, AND, ANY, AS, ASC,
 AVG, BETWEEN, BIT_LENGTH, BOTH, BY, CASE, CEILING, CHAR_LENGTH,
 CHARACTER_LENGTH, CLASS, COALESCE, CONCAT, COUNT, CURRENT_DATE,
 CURRENT_TIME, CURRENT_TIMESTAMP, DELETE, DESC, DISTINCT, ELSE, EMPTY,
-END, ENTRY, ESCAPE, EXISTS, EXP, EXTRACT, FALSE, FETCH, FLOOR, FROM,
-FUNCTION, GROUP, HAVING, IN, INDEX, INNER, IS, JOIN, KEY, LEADING,
-LEFT, LENGTH, LIKE, LOCAL, LN, LOCATE, LOWER, MAX, MEMBER, MIN, MOD,
-NEW, NOT, NULL, NULLIF, OBJECT, OF, ON, OR, ORDER, OUTER, POSITION,
+END, ENTRY, ESCAPE, EXISTS, EXP, EXTRACT, FALSE, FETCH, FIRST, FLOOR,
+FROM, FUNCTION, GROUP, HAVING, IN, INDEX, INNER, IS, JOIN, KEY, LEADING,
+LAST, LEFT, LENGTH, LIKE, LOCAL, LN, LOCATE, LOWER, MAX, MEMBER, MIN, MOD,
+NEW, NOT, NULL, NULLS, NULLIF, OBJECT, OF, ON, OR, ORDER, OUTER, POSITION,
 POWER, ROUND, SELECT, SET, SIGN, SIZE, SOME, SQRT, SUBSTRING, SUM,
 THEN, TRAILING, TREAT, TRIM, TRUE, TYPE, UNKNOWN, UPDATE, UPPER,
 VALUE, WHEN, WHERE.
@@ -2510,6 +2510,7 @@ orderby_clause ::= ORDER BY orderby_item {, orderby_item}*
 orderby_item ::=
     {state_field_path_expression | general_identification_variable | result_variable}
         [ASC | DESC]
+        [NULLS {FIRST | LAST}]
 ----
 
 An orderby_item must be one of the following:
@@ -2586,7 +2587,9 @@ ordering be used for the associated _orderby_item_; the keyword DESC
 specifies that descending ordering be used. Ascending ordering is the
 default.
 
-SQL rules for the ordering of null values
+The keyword NULLS specifies the ordering of null values, either FIRST or LAST.
+
+If NULLS is not specified, SQL rules for the ordering of null values
 apply: that is, all null values must appear before all non-null values
 in the ordering or all null values must appear after all non-null values
 in the ordering, but it is not specified which.
@@ -2985,6 +2988,7 @@ orderby_item ::=
     general_identification_variable |
     result_variable
     [ASC | DESC]
+    [NULLS {FIRST | LAST}]
 subquery ::= simple_select_clause subquery_from_clause [where_clause]
     [groupby_clause] [having_clause]
 subquery_from_clause ::=