To use a SQL query, you need to describe the SQL resultset, this description will help the EntityManager to map your columns onto entity properties. This is done using the @SqlResultSetMapping annotation. Each @SqlResultSetMapping has a name wich is used when creating a SQL query on EntityManager.

@SqlResultSetMapping(name="GetNightAndArea", entities={
    @EntityResult(name="org.hibernate.test.annotations.query.Night", fields = {
        @FieldResult(name="id", column="nid"),
        @FieldResult(name="duration", column="night_duration"),
        @FieldResult(name="date", column="night_date"),
        @FieldResult(name="area", column="area_id")
    }),
    @EntityResult(name="org.hibernate.test.annotations.query.Area", fields = {
        @FieldResult(name="id", column="aid"),
        @FieldResult(name="name", column="name")
    })
    }
)

//or
@SqlResultSetMapping(name="defaultSpaceShip", entities=@EntityResult(name="org.hibernate.test.annotations.query.SpaceShip"))

You can also define scalar results and even mix entity results and scalar results

@SqlResultSetMapping(name="ScalarAndEntities", 
    entities={
        @EntityResult(name="org.hibernate.test.annotations.query.Night", fields = {
            @FieldResult(name="id", column="nid"),
            @FieldResult(name="duration", column="night_duration"),
            @FieldResult(name="date", column="night_date"),
            @FieldResult(name="area", column="area_id")
        }),
        @EntityResult(name="org.hibernate.test.annotations.query.Area", fields = {
            @FieldResult(name="id", column="aid"),
            @FieldResult(name="name", column="name")
        })
    },
    columns={
        @ColumnResult(name="durationInSec")
    }
)

The SQL query will then have to return a column alias durationInSec.

Please refer to the Hibernate Annotations reference guide for more information about @SqlResultSetMapping.

TODO: This sounds like a dupe...

Now that the result set is described, we are capable of executing the native SQL query. EntityManager provides all the needed APIs. The first method is to use a SQL resultset name to do the binding, the second one uses the entity default mapping (the column returned has to have the same names as the one used in the mapping). A third one (not yet supported by Hibernate entity manager), returns pure scalar results.

String sqlQuery = "select night.id nid, night.night_duration, night.night_date, area.id aid, "
    + "night.area_id, area.name from Night night, Area area where night.area_id = area.id "
    + "and night.night_duration >= ?";
Query q = entityManager.createNativeQuery(sqlQuery, "GetNightAndArea");
q.setParameter( 1, expectedDuration );
q.getResultList();

This native query returns nights and area based on the GetNightAndArea result set.

String sqlQuery = "select * from tbl_spaceship where owner = ?";
Query q = entityManager.createNativeQuery(sqlQuery, SpaceShip.class);
q.setParameter( 1, "Han" );
q.getResultList();

The second version is useful when your SQL query returns one entity reusing the same columns as the ones mapped in metadata.

Native named queries share the same calling API than EJB-QL named queries. Your code doesn't need to know the difference between the two. This is very useful for migration from SQL to EJB-QL:

Query q = entityManager.createNamedQuery("getSeasonByNativeQuery");
q.setParameter( 1, name );
Season season = (Season) q.getSingleResult();