Microsoft SQL Server JDBC Driver

In its continued commitment to interoperability, Microsoft provides a Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) driver for use with SQL Server. The SQL Server JDBC Driver is available to all SQL Server users at no additional charge, and provides access to SQL Server 2000, SQL Server 2005, and SQL Server 2008 from any Java application, application server, or Java-enabled applet. This driver is a Type 4 JDBC driver that provides database connectivity through the standard JDBC application program interfaces (APIs) available in Java Platform Enterprise Edition 5 (Java EE 5).

The SQL Server JDBC Driver is JDBC 4.0 compliant and runs on the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) 5.0 or later. It has been tested against all major application servers, including BEA WebLogic, IBM WebSphere, and JBoss.

	Download SQL Server JDBC Driver 2.0 This version of the JDBC Driver provides support for JDBC Spec 4.0, which includes new national character set conversion API methods, new metadata methods and new data types. The support for the national character set includes new setter, getter, and updater methods for new JDBC data types, such as NCHAR, NVARCHAR, LONGNVARCHAR, and NCLOB. Also, this release introduces the support for the SQLXML JDBC data type to store and retrieve an XML document in and from a relational database. In addition, this release enhances tracing the driver operation by logging the entry and exit points of public methods and by providing better distinction between the trace levels.
	Register to Redistribute the SQL Server JDBC Driver The SQL Server JDBC driver is freely redistributable under a separate Redistribution License that requires registration.
	Frequently Asked Questions for SQL Server JDBC Driver This article provides answers to the top 20 most frequently asked questions about the Microsoft SQL Server JDBC Driver. For detailed documentation, see the Microsoft SQL Server JDBC Driver Documentation.

SQL Server JDBC Driver Documentation

Overview of the JDBC Driver

The Microsoft SQL Server JDBC Driver 2.0 is a Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) 4.0 compliant driver that provides robust data access to SQL Server 2000, SQL Server 2005, and SQL Server 2008 databases.

Connecting to SQL Server with the JDBC Driver
One of the most fundamental things that you will do with the JDBC driver is to make a connection to a SQL Server database. All interaction with the database happens through the SQLServerConnection object, and because the JDBC driver has such a flat architecture, almost all interesting behavior touches the SQLServerConnection object.

Understanding the JDBC Driver Data Types
The JDBC driver supports the use of JDBC basic and advanced data types within a Java application that uses SQL Server as its database.

Using Statements with the JDBC Driver
The JDBC driver can be used to work with data in a SQL Server database in a variety of ways. The JDBC driver can be used to run SQL statements against the database, or it can be used to call stored procedures in the database, using both input and output parameters.

Managing Result Sets with the JDBC Driver
The JDBC driver supports the use of result sets, including result set cursor types, concurrency, and row locking.

Performing Transactions with the JDBC Driver
The topics in this section describe how the JDBC driver supports transactions including isolation levels, transaction savepoints, and result set holdability.

JDBC Driver API Reference
The JDBC driver implements a number of classes that make up the JDBC driver application programming interface (API). The JDBC API can be used within Java programming code to connect to and interact with a Microsoft SQL Server database.

Previous Versions

Download SQL Server 2005 JDBC Driver 1.2

This latest version of the JDBC driver provides an adaptive buffering feature to retrieve any kind of large-value data without the overhead of server cursors. In addition, this release includes support for Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption and tightly coupled distributed transactions.

Download SQL Server 2005 JDBC Driver 1.1
This version of the JDBC driver includes support for integrated authentication and database mirroring and a number of performance enhancements. In addition, this release includes an expanded help system that has sample applications to help you learn how to use the driver with a SQL Server 2005 database.

Blogs

Data Team Blog

Discussions from the Data Programmability product team on data access components — ODBC, OLE DB, JDBC, ADO, ADO.NET, protocols, and so on.

JDBC Blog

Discussions related to the Microsoft SQL Server JDBC Driver. Topics include JDBC API and SQL connectivity.

Protocols Blog

Discussions related to Microsoft's SQL Server Protocols - Netlibs, TDS, SQL Browser, and so on.

Forums

SQL Server Data Access
Answers to SQL Server Data Programmability product questions, including JDBC driver issues.

Newsgroups

microsoft.public.sqlserver.jdbcdriver