Removal of Jdbc Odbc bridge in java 8

984075

Starting with Java 8, the JDBC-ODBC Bridge will no longer be included with the JDK.

Class.forName("sun.jdbc.odbc.JdbcOdbcDriver"); // classNotFoundException is thrown

Is there any other solution connecting JDBC-ODBC Bridge?

gimbal2

https://blogs.oracle.com/Lance/entry/removal_of_the_jdbc_odbc

I agree with what is said here - it never really was a solution to begin with. An alternative is not going to be provided by Oracle, you'll have to look for something third party, or use a legacy Java version for your legacy requirements. The emptiness of this related stackoverflow thread doesn't give much hope that you'll find an alternative:

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/13358217/replacment-for-jdbc-odbc-bridge

EDIT:

and I guess this is you:

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/14229072/removal-of-jdbc-odbc-bridge-in-java-8

if so - you should mention it (by providing a link to the original forum post) when you cross-post.

jschellSomeoneStoleMyAlias

gimbal2 wrote:
https://blogs.oracle.com/Lance/entry/removal_of_the_jdbc_odbc

It does make one wonder how Oracle is going to unit test the jdbc package

jschellSomeoneStoleMyAlias

gimbal2 wrote:
https://blogs.oracle.com/Lance/entry/removal_of_the_jdbc_odbc

I agree with what is said here - it never really was a solution to begin with.

However most if not all of that was marketing nonsense.

The original jdbc odbc bridge driver was more or perhaps entirely created by a commercial company - Merant. That company was also significantly involved in creating the first JDBC 1.0 spec (such as it was.) The goal at the time and one which basically continues today is to sell jdbc drivers. Through various corporate acquisitions the company today that holds that legacy is DataDirect. And they still sell a bridge driver (still referred to as Merant as well which is kind of odd.)

It doesn't take a lot of reasoning to decide that the the original documentation of the bridge driver was to meet the business goals of the commercial company that developed the driver while still allowing Sun to deliver a free driver that did in fact work. It had nothing to do with the actual quality of the driver. One might suppose that if that driver was not in fact good enough that it would have certainly have cast aspersions on the quality of the commercial driver. It worked well and for many applications and was updated for a while and was maintained as least to point of verifying that it still worked with all versions of java. And for a long time for a number of data stores it was the only choice. And for other there was no other free choice - and some of the license arrangements were impossible since they were per sku rather than via product. And that was an era when sku applications were much more likely to be the client product.

EJP

It does make one wonder how Oracle is going to unit test the jdbc package

Why? Is JDBC/ODBC really the only way to test it? And what is there to test? It's mostly interfaces.

However most if not all of that was marketing nonsense.

I didn't see any marketing statements in there, let alone any 'nonsense'. What exactly are you referring to?

jschellSomeoneStoleMyAlias

EJP wrote:

It does make one wonder how Oracle is going to unit test the jdbc package

Why? Is JDBC/ODBC really the only way to test it? And what is there to test? It's mostly interfaces.

They used the bridge to test it for for the platforms that they supported.

Without it they must use something. The advantage with a real driver is that it is real. A mock driver wouldn't be.
Seems to me Derby would fulfill that though.

However most if not all of that was marketing nonsense.

I didn't see any marketing statements in there, let alone any 'nonsense'. What exactly are you referring to?

From the 1.5 docs for the bridge.

http://docs.oracle.com/javase/1.5.0/docs/guide/jdbc/bridge.html

+"The JDBC-ODBC Bridge should be considered a transitional solution. Sun Microsystems and _DataDirect Technologies_ are working to make the Bridge more reliable and robust, but they do not consider it a supported product."+

Verbiage like that has always been part of the docs for that driver.

The entire content of that statement is exactly what I would expect a marketing department and/or lawyers to come up with specifically and especially in combination with the business that DataDirect (and Merant) were doing and still are doing. Quite reasonable from the business standpoint but it doesn't alter the fact that it is based on marketing needs.