Choosing a JDBC driver

SQL Anywhere supports the following JDBC drivers:

  • iAnywhere JDBC driver   This driver communicates with SQL Anywhere using the Command Sequence client/server protocol. Its behavior is consistent with ODBC, embedded SQL, and OLE DB applications. The iAnywhere JDBC driver is the recommended JDBC driver for connecting to SQL Anywhere databases.

  • jConnect   This driver is a 100% pure Java driver. It communicates with SQL Anywhere using the TDS client/server protocol.

    jConnect and jConnect documentation are available from [external link] jConnect for JDBC.

When choosing which driver to use, you should consider the following factors:

  • Features   Both the iAnywhere JDBC driver and jConnect 6.0.5 are JDBC 3.0 compliant. However, the iAnywhere JDBC driver provides fully-scrollable cursors when connected to a SQL Anywhere database. The jConnect JDBC driver provides fully-scrollable cursors only when connected to an Adaptive Server Enterprise database.

    The JDBC 3.0 API documentation is available at [external link] JDBC Downloads. For a summary of the iAnywhere JDBC API support, see iAnywhere JDBC 3.0 API support.

  • Pure Java   The jConnect driver is a pure Java solution. The iAnywhere JDBC driver requires the SQL Anywhere ODBC driver and is not a pure Java solution.

  • Performance   The iAnywhere JDBC driver provides better performance for most purposes than the jConnect driver.

  • Compatibility   The TDS protocol used by the jConnect driver is shared with Adaptive Server Enterprise. Some aspects of the driver's behavior are governed by this protocol, and are configured to be compatible with Adaptive Server Enterprise.

For information about platform availability for iAnywhere JDBC driver and jConnect, see [external link] SQL Anywhere Supported Platforms and Engineering Status.

For information about using jConnect with Windows Mobile, see Using jConnect on Windows Mobile.

Copyright © 2008, iAnywhere Solutions, Inc. - SQL Anywhere 11.0.0