Connections

The Connection object represents a connection to a data source in Java™ Database Connectivity (JDBC). It is through Connection objects that Statement objects are created for processing SQL statements against the database. An application program can have multiple connections at one time. These Connection objects can all connect to the same database or connect to different databases.

Obtaining a connection in JDBC can be accomplished in two ways:

• Through the DriverManager class.
• By using DataSources.

Using DataSources to obtain a connection is preferred because it enhances application portability and maintainability. It also allows an application to transparently use connection and statement pooling, and distributed transactions.

For details on obtaining connections, see the following sections:

DriverManager The DriverManager is a static class that manages the set of available JDBC drivers for an application to use.

Connection properties The table lists valid JDBC driver connection properties, their values, and their descriptions.

Use DataSources with UDBDataSource You can deploy a DataSource with the UDBDataSource class by setting it up to have specific properties and then binding it into some directory service through the use of the Java Naming and Directory Interface (JNDI).

DataSource properties The table lists valid DataSource properties, their values, and their descriptions.

Other DataSource implementations There are other implementations of the DataSource interface provided with the native JDBC driver. They exist only to serve as a bridge until the UDBDataSource and its related functions are adopted.

Once a connection is obtained, it can be used to accomplish the following JDBC tasks:

• Create various types of Statement objects for interacting with the database.
• Control transactions against the database.
• Retrieve metadata about the database.

• DriverManager
  DriverManager is a static class in the Java 2 Software Development Kit (J2SDK). DriverManager manages the set of Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) drivers that are available for an application to use.
• Connection properties
  This table contains valid JDBC driver connection properties, their values, and their descriptions.
• Use DataSources with UDBDataSource
  DataSource interfaces were designed to allow additional flexibility in using Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) drivers.
• DataSource properties
  This table contains valid data source properties, their values, and their descriptions.
• Other DataSource implementations
  There are two implementations of the DataSource interface that are included with the native JDBC driver. These DataSource implementations should be considered deprecated. While you can still use them, they are not enhanced with future improvements; for example, robust connection and statement pooling are not added to these implementations. These implementations exist until you adopt the UDBDataSource interface and its related functions.