I have the following situation:
(source: kawoolutions.com)
JPA 2.0 mappings (It might probably suffice to consider only the Zip and ZipId class
Answering own question...
The way I modeled the reference, I use a String because the FK points to the iso_code column in the Countries table which is a CHAR(2), so basically my mapping is right. However, the problem is that JPA 2.0 doesn't allow anything but references to primary key columns. This is what the Eclipse Dali JPA validator shows.
Taken from "Pro JPA 2.0" by Keith/Schincariol p.283 top, "Basic Rules for Derived Identifiers" (rule #6): "If an id attribute in an entity is a relationship, then the type of the matching attribute in the id class is of the same type as the primary key type of the target entity in the relationship (whether the primary key type is a simple type, an id class, or an embedded id class)."
Personal addendum:
I disagree with JPA 2.0 having this limitation. JPA 1.0 mappings allow references to non-PK columns. Note, that using JPA 1.0 mappings instead isn't what I'm looking for. I'd rather be interested in the reason why this restriction was imposed on JPA 2.0. The JPA 2.0 is definitely limiting.