What's the right way in Java to connect to a Microsoft Access 2007 database?

Question

I'm trying to create a simple connection using the jdbc-odbc bridge:

public static Connection  getConnection() {
    Connection con =null;
    try {
        Class.forName("sun.jdbc.odbc.JdbcOdbcDriver");
        String conStr = "jdbc:odbc:Driver={Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb, *.accdb)};DBQ=" +
            "c:\\myfolder\\accesdbfile.accdb";
        con = DriverManager.getConnection(conStr);
    } catch(Exception e) {
        e.printStackTrace();}
    return con;
}

But then I get this exception:

java.sql.SQLException: [Microsoft][ODBC Microsoft Access Driver]General error Unable to open registry key Temporary (volatile) Ace DSN for process 0xa4 Thread 0xec0 DBC 0x2f8574c                                                              Jet'.

Any ideas?

Update 24/Mar/2009: Now it's working. Created a User Data Source, and for some reason the exception went away.

As a general question, What would be the best way to handle database connections in Java?

Answer 1

To answer your general question I would say the best way to handle database connections in Java is to avoid the JDBC-ODBC bridge. Its OK for testing or learning about JDBC but not for real production use. Also, if you have a data source that does not have its own JDBC driver but it has an ODBC driver then you may not have a choice.

The main reason why I suggest that you stay away from it though is that it makes it difficult to deploy your application. You have to set up the Data Source on the machine that you are running your application from. If you have access to the machine no problem, but suppose you are sending the application off to the client? The pure Java JDBC driver works better for this because it is included as part of your application so once your application is installed it is ready to connect to the data source.

Of course depending on your requirements there are two other types of drivers but thats another discussion.

Answer 2

In general, the best way to work with an RDBMS in Java is by using a JDBC driver that is designed to connect directly to the database. Using the JDBC-ODBC bridge tends to be sloww.

If you are trying to do basic read/write manipulations with an Access database, I would also recommend taking a look at the Jackcess library.