DataDirect Connect for JDBC - History of Releases Prior to 4.0

Release 3.7, Service Pack 1
Release 3.6
Release 3.5
Release 3.4
Release 3.3
Release 3.2
Release 3.1
Release 3.0

Release 3.7

In Release 3.7, DataDirect Connect for JDBC offers the following new features and functionality:

  • New Operating Systems (OS) authentication support for Oracle
  • SSL (Secure Socket Layer) encryption support
  • JDBC 4.0-specific feature support
  • Enhancements to the statement pooling capability
  • Support for IPv6 – The U.S. government has mandated that federal agencies use IPv6 by June 2008. In Release 3.7, IPv6 is supported by the DB2, Informix, SQL Server, and Sybase drivers.

Additional features available in Release 3.7, Service Pack 1:

A detailed list of what’s new is included below, along with a summary of what’s included for each database.

Operating System Authentication (aka Single Sign-On/Kerberos)

With this release, organizations using Oracle can now benefit from the authentication capability that is already supported in our SQL Server, Sybase, and DB2 drivers.

Kerberos-based authentication allows organizations to create a Single Sign-On environment that bolsters security, eliminates the need for users to log in separately for each application, and reduces the costs associated with managing user accounts. DataDirect's OS authentication features allow the JDBC driver to integrate seamlessly into that environment.

The following authentication features are supported:

  • Delegated credentials – Provides the ability for the application to act on behalf of the user. For web-based applications, the application or web server can use the delegated credential that represents the user vs. the credential that represents the server administrator. This bolsters security because the application can base permissions on the actual end-user. In addition, the application audit trail can associate usage with the end-user vs. a generic system administrator ID.
  • Re-authentication – DataDirect provides the ability to re-associate a pooled connection with a different authenticated user. Applications that use connection pooling can use this feature to more efficiently re-use connections while minimizing the number of connections required in the pool. Support for re-authentication is dependent on the database (refer to database specific section for more information).
  • Comprehensive KDC support – Support for both Active Directory and MIT.

Secure Socket Layer (SSL) Encryption Support

SSL is an industry-standard protocol for sending encrypted data over database connections. SSL secures the integrity of your data by encrypting information and providing client/server authentication. With Release 3.7, DataDirect Connect for JDBC drivers support SSL to protect critical data that is transmitted between the database and the application, data that could otherwise be compromised. Support for data encryption and encryption algorithm is dependent on the database (refer to the database-specific section for more information).

JDBC 4.0 Features

  • Connection isValid – DataDirect now supports the ability to determine whether a connection is valid using a JDBC standard API. This functionality previously available as an optional proprietary method is a common operation performed by connection pool managers.
  • Connection Client Info – DataDirect now supports the ability to get and set client information using standard JDBC 4.0 APIs. This functionality previously available as proprietary APIs can be used to distinguish between connections in a pool that are typically created using the same user id and password. This information is necessary to determine which application is using a connection, provides the ability to identify the source of a run-away query, provides usage statistics and can be used to adjust the priority of work.
  • Auto Load Driver – DataDirect drivers can now be automatically loaded by the Java SE 6 VM. This important ease of development feature of the JDBC 4.0 specification eliminates the need to register the JDBC driver in the application.

Validation with Hibernate – Extensive testing has been completed to ensure reliable database connectivity using Hibernate and the DataDirect driver for Oracle.

Statement Pool Monitor – The DataDirect statement pooling capability has been enhanced to control which statements are added and removed from the pool. This allows the developer to add frequently used statements vs. pooling all statements resulting in a more efficient pooling mechanism. DataDirect has also added monitoring capability to the statement pool, which can be used to troubleshoot statement pooling performance as well as the ability to clear the contents of the statement pool. The monitoring support is implemented using Java Management Extensions (JMX) allowing support for JMX-compliant tools such as JConsole.

IPv6 Support – The pool of IPv4 Internet addresses is shrinking rapidly. IPv6 (Internet protocol version 6) opens up a large number of additional Internet addresses and is supported by the latest version of all major databases. The U.S. government has mandated that federal agencies use IPv6 by June 2008. In Release 3.7, IPv6 is supported by the DataDirect Connect for JDBC DB2, Informix, SQL Server, and Sybase drivers.

New MySQL driver (included in Service Pack 1)

DataDirect Technologies extends its unparalleled breadth of database coverage to include MySQL:

Highlights:

  • 100% Type 4 JDBC driver with the standard functionality and high quality available in all DataDirect JDBC drivers
  • Fully compliant with Java SE 6.0, Java EE 5, JDBC 3.0, and supports select JDBC 4.0 functionality.
  • Supports MySQL Enterprise database version 5.0
  • Supports InnoDB, MyISAM, and Memory (HEAP) storage engines
  • Unmatched reliability
  • Performance Tuning Wizard to ensure maximum performance
  • Outstanding technical support available from DataDirect
  • Supports deployment into any standard web or application server environment including, but not limited to Apache's Jakarta projects (Tomcat, Turbine, Velocity, etc.), JBoss, BEA WebLogic, and IBM Websphere Application Server 4.0
  • Database independent Connection Failover and Load Balancing support
  • Interoperability features to allow for ease of development / support for multi-database applications and environments (e.g. SQL Leveling)
  • Problem-free support for the following:
    • Auto-generated keys
    • Full Calendar Support
    • Server-side prepared statements
    • Unicode data
    • Statement pooling
    • Stored procedures
    • Streaming result sets
    • Large BLOBs and CLOBs
    • Parameter metadata for a variety of statement types
    • Batches
    • Savepoints
    • Scroll-sensitivity

DB2-Specific Features

  • DB2 GRAPHIC data type support (included in Service Pack 1)
  • SSL (Secure Socket Layer) encryption support for iSeries (included in Service Pack 1)
  • Support for DB2 V9.1 on z/OS (included in Service Pack 1)
  • DB2-specific authentication support
    • Authentication methods supported –
      • User ID/password
      • Kerberos
      • Client authentication
    • Re-authentication
      • DB2 9.1 and higher for Linux/UNIX/Windows
  • DB2-specific data encryption support
    • Database-specific encryption for LUW and z/OS
  • Performance enhancements – General performance improvements have been made primarily related to fetch performance
  • DB2 V5r4 Features
    • JTA support – DataDirect supports the ability to use distributed transactions in a DB2 V5r4 environment (this is the first iSeries release which has implemented the DRDA functionality needed to enable XA functionality via DRDA).
    • 128 bit column names – IBM now supports 128 bit column names, DataDirect support this capability in the latest release.
    • Raise Error – DataDirect now supports returning errors from stored procedures and SQL statements using the RAISE_ERROR function.
  • XML Data Type (for DB2 v9.1) – IBM, along with the other database vendors, has started to add support for a native XML data type that will allow you to store native XML data. A database table can now be created that contains one or more XML data type columns. Unfortunately, the data type implementation approaches used by the database vendors vary, making it difficult to develop interoperable database access code. In this release, DataDirect added support for XML data types in the DB2 JDBC drivers. DataDirect is providing a consistent mechanism to interact and manage XML data across databases (Oracle, DB2, Sybase, and SQL Server) and across DataDirect products (ADO.NET, JDBC and ODBC).

Oracle-Specific Features

  • Oracle LOB handling performance enhancement (included in Service Pack 1)
  • Support for Oracle 11g (included in Service Pack 1)
  • Oracle-specific authentication support; authentication methods supported –
    • User ID/password
    • Kerberos
    • NTLM
    • Client authentication
    • Re-authentication – Oracle 8.1.6 and higher
  • Oracle-specific data encryption support
    • SSL for all platforms
    • Server and Client validation
    • DataDirect supports the ability to use tnsnames.ora file to map connection information for each Oracle service to a logical alias. This capability has been enhanced to support encrypted data connections.
  • INSERT / UPDATE / DELETE with RETURNING clause – DataDirect adds standards-based support for RETURNING clause on INSERT, UPDATE and DELETE statements. Using a RETURNING clause allows your application to return inserted, updated, or deleted values of a row into a variable, eliminating the need to execute additional statements to return this information.
  • Auto-Generated Keys Support – DataDirect has enhanced the ability to retrieve information about a key generated by the database to include support for a list of column names. An application can return values of auto-generated keys using a result set object with a column for each auto-generated key. This capability better supports applications like Hibernate that work with a list of column names.
  • SYSDBA / SYSOPER login support – DataDirect provides the ability to associate the SYSDBA and / or SYSOPER role with a user. This allows users or applications to perform privileged administrative tasks via the driver.
  • XML data type support – The database vendors have started to add support for a native XML data type that allows you to store native XML data. A database table can now be created that contains one or more XML data type columns. XML data type columns are stored as large binary objects enabling the XML model to support document order and recursive structures. Unfortunately, the data type implementation approaches used by the database vendors vary, making it difficult to develop interoperable database access code. DataDirect supports XML data types and provides a consistent mechanism to interact and manage XML data across databases (Oracle, DB2, Sybase, and SQL Server) and across DataDirect products (JDBC, ODBC, and ADO.NET).
  • Asynchronous Commit Functionality – DataDirect provides the ability to control whether aspects of a commit operation are performed synchronously or asynchronously. This capability provides better control to the developer so that the developer can make trade-offs between transaction control and application response time.

SQL Server-Specific Features

  • SQL Server-specific authentication support; authentication methods supported –
    • User ID/password
    • Kerberos
    • NTLM
    • Re-authentication – SQL Server 2005 and higher
  • SQL Server-specific data encryption support
    • SSL
    • Server validation
  • Auto-Generated Keys Support – DataDirect has enhanced the ability to retrieve information about a key generated by the database to include support for a list of column names. An application can return values of auto-generated keys using a result set object with a column for each auto-generated key. This capability better supports applications like Hibernate that work with a list of column names.
  • XML Data Type Support – The database vendors have started to add support for a native XML data type that allows you to store native XML data. A database table can now be created that contains one or more XML data type columns. XML data type columns are stored as large binary objects enabling the XML model to support document order and recursive structures. Unfortunately, the data type implementation approaches used by the database vendors vary, making it difficult to develop interoperable database access code. DataDirect supports XML data types and provides a consistent mechanism to interact and manage XML data across databases (Oracle, DB2, Sybase, and SQL Server) and across DataDirect products (JDBC, ODBC, and ADO.NET)
  • Updated TDS specification – Based on our close relationship with Microsoft, DataDirect has access to and now leverages the new SQL Server 2005 TDS protocol. This allows DataDirect to support features that are not possible using the old protocol, including complete support for MAX data types. Products from other third party vendors do not have access to the latest TDS specification and can not leverage these new capabilities unless they reverse engineer the protocol.

Sybase-Specific Features

  • Sybase-specific data encryption support
    • SSL
    • Server validation

Release 3.6

With Release 3.6, DataDirect expands support for OS authentication to additional databases, application client environments, and KDCs (Kerberos Key Distribution Center). Release 3.6 also adds new database support for Oracle 10g R2, SQL Server 2005, and Sybase 15.

Operating System Authentication (aka Single Sign-On/Kerberos)
With this release, DataDirect expands support for authentication based on the Kerberos authentication protocol or Windows NTLM to cover additional databases, application client environments, and KDCs. This feature can be used to integrate the authentication of users for an application with the authentication mechanisms provided by the environment the application runs in. Organizations can create a Single Sign-On environment that bolsters security, eliminates the need for users to log in separately for each application, and reduces the costs associated with managing user accounts. DataDirect's OS authentication features allow the JDBC driver to integrate seamlessly into that environment.

The following authentication features are supported:

  • Delegated credentials – Provides the ability for the application to act on behalf of the user. For web-based applications, the application or web server can use the delegated credential that represents the user vs. the credential that represents the server administrator. This bolsters security because the application can base permissions on the actual end-user. In addition, the application audit trail can associate usage with the end-user vs. a generic system administrator ID.
  • Expanded client support – OS authentication is now supported for application clients running on UNIX, Linux, and Windows.
  • Comprehensive KDC support – Expanded to include support for both Activity Directory and MIT.

Please note that the availability of these capabilities is dependent on the operating system/database environment. See the individual database descriptions below to determine the level of authentication support for your environment.

JSR-114 Rowset Support
DataDirect JDBC drivers now support the JSR-114 Rowset reference implementations, which is included as part of J2SE 5.0. Support for disconnected Rowsets provides an ideal technology to transmit tabular data over a network (e.g., to support a disconnected thin client). Data is stored in memory (including metadata view) while in disconnected state. The Rowset infrastructure supports propagation of the data back to the host data source. Connected Rowsets are also supported.

Oracle

  • OS Authentication – DataDirect’s authentication support for Oracle includes the following capabilities:
    • Security Protocol – NTLM, Client, and User ID/Password Authentication
    • Client Platform – Linux, UNIX, Windows
  • Performance Improvements:
    • BLOB/CLOB fetches/updates
    • Batch inserts/updates

SQL Server

  • Support for new SQL Server 2005 features:
    • Support for MAX Data Types – Support for VARCHAR(MAX), NVARCHAR(MAX) and VARBINARY(MAX) data types introduced in the SQL Server 2005 release. These new data types overcome the difficulty associated with long data types inherent in the TEXT, NTEXT, and IMAGE data types.
    • Support for XML Data Type – DataDirect supports the XML-related enhancements that allow you to store, query, and update XML-structured data natively. This allows you to store both XML and relational data in the same database, leveraging the existing database engine for storage and query processing.
    • Support for Snapshot transaction isolation level – Support for new transaction isolation levels introduced in the SQL Server 2005 release: Read Committed with Snapshots and Snapshot Isolation Level. These new transaction isolation levels provide optimistic locking capabilities, allowing greater application transaction control.
    • DML with Results – DataDirect supports the return of result sets via an INSERT, UPDATE or DELETE statement using the OUTPUT clause. Application code can eliminate the need for a subsequent query statement by requesting a result set as the result of a DML statement.
    • Support for Managed Stored Procedures – The DataDirect driver supports the SQL Server 2005 capability of authoring stored procedures, triggers, and user defined functions using any managed language such as VB.NET and C#. These managed procedures can now be called by the JDBC driver, which provides greater developer flexibility and productivity.
    • Triggers on DDL Events
    • Additional SQL Constructs
    • Callable Statement Named parameters – DataDirect supports the ability to pass Named Parameters to the CallableStatement object. This complements the current functionality that includes positional or ordinal binding.
  • OS Authentication – DataDirect’s authentication support for SQL Server includes the following capabilities:
    • Security Protocol – Kerberos, NTLM and SQL Server (User Id and Password) Authentication
    • KDC – Active Directory
    • Client Platform – Linux, UNIX, Windows
    • Delegated Credentials

DB2

  • OS Authentication – DataDirect’s authentication support for DB2 includes the following capabilities:
    • Security Protocol – Kerberos, Client and Userid/Password Authentication
    • KDC – Active Directory
    • Client Platform – Linux, UNIX, Windows
    • Delegated Credentials
  • Auto-package Creation – DataDirect has improved the one-time process required by DB2 to create packages, eliminating errors relating to the user canceling the package creation process. DataDirect will automatically create the required components without forcing an administrator to manually drop the packages. Bind files are now provided that can execute on the DB2 server and/or be included in a set of standard server configuration scripts.

Sybase

  • Support for new Sybase 15 features:
    • Data Type support – DataDirect has added support for the new Sybase 15 data types BIGINT, UNITEXT, UNSIGNED SMALLINT, UNSIGNED INT and UNSIGNED BIGINT
    • Large identifiers – DataDirect supports the extension that Sybase has introduced to identifiers such as table names and column names.
  • OS Authentication – DataDirect’s authentication support for Sybase includes the following capabilities:
    • Security Protocol – Kerberos and Userid/Password Authentication
    • KDC – Active Directory and MIT
    • Client Platform – Linux, UNIX, Windows
    • Delegated Credentials

Release 3.5

All Drivers

  • Performance Tuning Wizard - Java performance tuning is part science, part art – for most organizations it is largely guesswork. DataDirect eliminates the guesswork and ensures that optimal driver performance can be attained "out of the box". This is accomplished by allowing you to tune the environment by following an intuitive, graphical-based wizard. The wizard walks you through a set of questions related to the target environment. Based on this information, the wizard automatically generates a connection string, which can then be used to easily configure the driver for optimal performance. Try the Performance Tuning Wizard.
  • Metadata improvements – Parameter metadata capability has been standardized across all databases – including support for Oracle (which doesn't provide this capability). The parameter metadata support has been added to the driver, providing a capability that was not available from the RDBMS. In addition, Resultset metadata capabilities have been enhanced.

Oracle

  • OS Authentication Support - DataDirect extends support for OS Authentication to the Oracle environment. OS Authentication ensures secure access to critical application data while lowering management cost via centralized management and support for single sign-on initiatives. For additional information, please see Enabling Single Sign-On using DataDirect Connect for JDBC Integrated Authentication.
  • Improved character set support – This release includes enhanced support for Character Sets, ensuring support for all domestic and international character sets.

DB2 (UDB v8.1 for z/OS)

  • Query Cancel and Timeout - The ability to cancel and/or timeout a query provides greater usability (a user can cancel a long query from their application GUI) and protects valuable server resources (by stopping malformed or runaway queries that consume server resources).
  • Support for New Feature and Compatibility Mode – This release provides support for both new feature mode and compatibility mode, which eases the migration burden associated with database upgrades
    • .

DB2 (UDB v8.2 for Windows, UNIX, Linux)

  • Nested SavePoints - Savepoints provide fine level granularity in terms of transaction management. They allow developers to manage sub-operations within a transaction as a discrete unit of work. This allows finer level commit/rollback support which can eliminate the need to redo an entire transaction. Nested Savepoints allows implementation of multiple Savepoints.
  • Unicode tables in non-Unicode databases - Support for Unicode tables provides greater developer flexibility and removes the need to treat Unicode and non-Unicode tables differently (e.g., VARCHAR, CHAR datatype discrepancies).

DB2 (UDB v5R3 for AS/400)

  • Support for new UTF-8/UTF-16 character encodings - Support for all character encodings ensures greatest possible coverage for languages and code pages.

Microsoft SQL Server

  • Microsoft SQL Server 2005 (these capabilities require Release 3.5, Service Pack 2):
    • Support for MAX DataTypes – Support for VARCHAR(MAX), NVARCHAR(MAX) and VARBINARY(MAX) datatypes introduced in the SQL Server 2005 release. These new datatypes overcome the difficulty associated with long data types inherent in the TEXT, NTEXT, and IMAGE data types.
    • Support for Snapshot transaction isolation level – Support for new transaction isolation levels introduced in the SQL Server 2005 release: Read Committed with Snapshots and Snapshot Isolation Level. These new transaction isolation levels provide optimistic locking capabilities, allowing greater application transaction control.
  • Simplified OS Authentication support - Release 3.5 adds Type 2 support for Windows authentication, enabling organizations that are not Kerberos savvy to leverage the benefits of OS authentication (such as secure access to critical application data, centralized management, and support for single sign-on implementations). For additional information, please see Windows Authentication on Microsoft SQL Server.

Release 3.4

  • All Drivers – Connection Failover, load balancing
  • Oracle – 10g support, JTA, TNSNames
  • DB2 – Encrypted password and DBCLOB support
  • SQL Server – XA Transaction Timeout, XA Transaction cleanup and recovery

Release 3.3

  • SQL Server
    • Supports Windows Authentication for establishing connections to Microsoft SQL Server, while still remaining a pure Type 4 JDBC driver
    • Improved updateable resultset functionality
  • DB2
    • Improved performance for batch inserts and updates for DB2 UDB v8.1
    • Full transaction isolation level support
    • Auto-creation of required packages
  • Oracle – Improved NClob support
  • Informix – Support for Informix 9.4
  • Support for retrieval of auto generated keys (a JDBC 3.0 optional feature)
  • Certified with Sun Microsystem's generic resource adapter (JDBC Connector). See Using DataDirect Connect for JDBC Resource Adapters for more information.

Release 3.2

  • JTA (Java Transaction API) support for DB2 (UDB v8.1 only)
  • New DB2 database support - DB2 UDB v8.1 and AS/400 v5R2
  • Improved performance across all drivers, including batch inserts/updates
  • Performance and scalability improvements as measured by the SPECjAppServer2002 benchmark test
  • BLOB/CLOB support for DB2, SQL Server and Sybase

Release 3.1

Release 3.1 included a completely redesigned DB2 driver with significantly improved performance and support for DB2 on IBM's AS/400 (or iSeries), making DataDirect Technologies the only Type 4 driver vendor to support DB2 servers on all available backend platforms (Unix, Windows, OS/390, and now AS/400) from a single driver. This release also included significant improvements to the drivers for SQL Server, Sybase and Oracle, and support for new JDBC features across all databases.

Release 3.0

Release 3.0 brought our drivers into full compliance with the JDBC 3.0 specification, allowing you to take advantage of new JDBC features that introduce more flexibility and control for developers, and better performance for Java applications.