Developer Reference > Data Access Methods > JDBC Driver Guide > Introducing the Zen JDBC Driver
Introducing the Zen JDBC Driver
The following topics introduce you to the Zen Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) interface:
For instructions and details on this Zen feature, see Programming with the Zen JDBC 2 Driver and JDBC API Reference.
Zen JDBC Support
JDBC is a standard API that Java programmers can use to develop database and Internet applications using Java. It consists of interfaces to develop SQL based database applications in the Java programming language. The JDBC interfaces are included as part of the Java Developer Kit.
JDBC is the counterpart of ODBC in Java and is heavily influenced by ODBC and relational databases.
Detailed information on the JDBC API is available at the Oracle website.
The rest of this section covers the following topics:
JDBC Requirements
The Zen JDBC driver works in conjunction with Zen. You can use the Enterprise Server, Cloud Server, or a Workgroup engine.
JDBC Features
The following list summarizes features of the Zen JDBC driver:
• 100% Java certified
• JDBC 4 compliant, type 4 driver that is also compatible with applications that use JDBC 2 drivers
• Supports thread safe operation
• Supports transactions isolation levels supported by the Zen engine, for example READ_COMMITTED, serializable
• Performs result set caching to reduce network access
• Supports binary data through the longvarbinary data type (2 GB limit)
• Supports long char data through the longvarchar and nlongvarchar data types (2 GB limit)
• Supports stored procedures with parameters
• Encrypts connection strings to provide security
• Support for code page filtering when reading from the database by specified the code page using a connection string parameter
• Support for result set cursors CONCUR_UPDATABLE, TYPE_SCROLL_INSENSITIVE, and TYPE_SCROLL_SENSITIVE
• Supports the DataSource interface to register Zen databases in JNDI, shielding your applications from specific driver features for Zen
• Supports the ParameterMetaData interface
Zen JDBC Data Types
The numerical identifiers used to specify Zen JDBC data types in some cases differ from the JDBC standard identifiers. The following table gives the full list.
Data Type
Identifier
 
Data Type
Identifier
AUTOTIMESTAMP
93
 
MONEY
  3
BFLOAT4
  7
 
NCHAR
-15
BFLOAT8
  8
 
NLONGVARCHAR
-10
BIGIDENTITY
-5
 
NUMERIC
  2
BIGINT
-5
 
NVARCHAR
-9
BINARY
-2
 
REAL
  7
BIT
-7
 
SMALLIDENTITY
  5
CHAR
  1
 
SMALLINT
  5
CURRENCY
  3
 
TIME
92
DATE
91
 
TIMESTAMP
93
DATETIME
93
 
TIMESTAMP2
93
DECIMAL
  3
 
TINYINT
-6
DOUBLE
  8
 
UBIGINT
-5
IDENTITY
  4
 
UINTEGER
  4
INTEGER
  4
 
USMALLINT
  5
LONGVARBINARY
-4
 
UTINYINT
-6
LONGVARCHAR
-1
 
VARCHAR
12
MONEY
  3
 
 
 
Zen JDBC Driver Limitations
Unsupported APIs
The Zen JDBC driver does not support the following JDBC interfaces:
• Array
• Blob
• Clob
• NClob
• Ref
• RowId
• SQLXML
• Struct
• SQLData
• SQLInput
• SQLOutput
• URL
These are not supported due to the fact the Zen engine does not currently support the underlying SQL 3 data types.
Driver Limitations
• You cannot use long data in out parameters.
• The smallest actual fetch size is two rows.
• You cannot have an updatable result set with a join.
• You cannot have an updatable result set with a GROUP BY.
• The JDBC driver will not store data in UnicodeBig or UnicodeLittle formats.
• The only Holdability is HOLD_CURSORS_OVER_COMMIT.
• Pooled statements are not supported.
• Named parameters are not supported.
 
Last modified date: 10/31/2023