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  Interface java.sql.Driver
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<h1>
  Interface java.sql.Driver
</h1>
<dl>
  <dt> public interface <b>Driver</b>
</dl>
<P>The Java SQL framework allows for multiple database drivers.
 <P>Each driver should supply a class that implements
 the Driver interface.
 <P>The DriverManager will try to load as many drivers as it can
 find and then for any given connection request, it will ask each
 driver in turn to try to connect to the target URL.
 <P>It is strongly recommended that each Driver class should be
 small and standalone so that the Driver class can be loaded and
 queried without bringing in vast quantities of supporting code.
 <P>When a Driver class is loaded, it should create an instance of
 itself and register it with the DriverManager. This means that a
 user can load and register a driver by doing
 Class.forName("foo.bah.Driver").
<p>
<dl>
    <dt> <b>See Also:</b>
    <dd> <a href="java.sql.DriverManager.html#_top_">DriverManager</a>, <a href="java.sql.Connection.html#_top_">Connection</a>
</dl>
<hr>
<a name="index"></a>
<h2>
  <img src="images/method-index.gif" width=207 height=38 alt="Method Index">
</h2>
<dl>
  <dt> <img src="images/red-ball-small.gif" width=6 height=6 alt=" o ">
	<a href="#acceptsURL(java.lang.String)"><b>acceptsURL</b></a>(String)
  <dd>  Returns true if the driver thinks that it can open a connection
 to the given URL.
  <dt> <img src="images/red-ball-small.gif" width=6 height=6 alt=" o ">
	<a href="#connect(java.lang.String, java.util.Properties)"><b>connect</b></a>(String, Properties)
  <dd>  Try to make a database connection to the given URL.
  <dt> <img src="images/red-ball-small.gif" width=6 height=6 alt=" o ">
	<a href="#getMajorVersion()"><b>getMajorVersion</b></a>()
  <dd>  Get the driver's major version number.
  <dt> <img src="images/red-ball-small.gif" width=6 height=6 alt=" o ">
	<a href="#getMinorVersion()"><b>getMinorVersion</b></a>()
  <dd>  Get the driver's minor version number.
  <dt> <img src="images/red-ball-small.gif" width=6 height=6 alt=" o ">
	<a href="#getPropertyInfo(java.lang.String, java.util.Properties)"><b>getPropertyInfo</b></a>(String, Properties)
  <dd>  <p>The getPropertyInfo method is intended to allow a generic GUI tool to 
 discover what properties it should prompt a human for in order to get 
 enough information to connect to a database.
  <dt> <img src="images/red-ball-small.gif" width=6 height=6 alt=" o ">
	<a href="#jdbcCompliant()"><b>jdbcCompliant</b></a>()
  <dd>  Report whether the Driver is a genuine JDBC COMPLIANT (tm) driver.
</dl>
<a name="methods"></a>
<h2>
  <img src="images/methods.gif" width=151 height=38 alt="Methods">
</h2>
<a name="connect(java.lang.String, java.util.Properties)"><img src="images/red-ball.gif" width=12 height=12 alt=" o "></a>
<a name="connect"><b>connect</b></a>
<pre>
 public abstract <a href="java.sql.Connection.html#_top_">Connection</a> connect(<a href="java.lang.String.html#_top_">String</a> url,
                                    <a href="java.util.Properties.html#_top_">Properties</a> info) throws <a href="java.sql.SQLException.html#_top_">SQLException</a>
</pre>
<dl>
  <dd> Try to make a database connection to the given URL.
 The driver should return "null" if it realizes it is the wrong kind
 of driver to connect to the given URL.  This will be common, as when
 the JDBC driver manager is asked to connect to a given URL it passes
 the URL to each loaded driver in turn.
 <P>The driver should raise a SQLException if it is the right 
 driver to connect to the given URL, but has trouble connecting to
 the database.
 <P>The java.util.Properties argument can be used to passed arbitrary
 string tag/value pairs as connection arguments.
 Normally at least "user" and "password" properties should be
 included in the Properties.
<p>
  <dd><dl>
    <dt> <b>Parameters:</b>
    <dd> url - The URL of the database to connect to
    <dd> info - a list of arbitrary string tag/value pairs as
 connection arguments; normally at least a "user" and
 "password" property should be included
    <dt> <b>Returns:</b>
    <dd> a Connection to the URL
    <dt> <b>Throws:</b> <a href="java.sql.SQLException.html#_top_">SQLException</a>
    <dd> if a database-access error occurs.
  </dl></dd>
</dl>
<a name="acceptsURL(java.lang.String)"><img src="images/red-ball.gif" width=12 height=12 alt=" o "></a>
<a name="acceptsURL"><b>acceptsURL</b></a>
<pre>
 public abstract boolean acceptsURL(<a href="java.lang.String.html#_top_">String</a> url) throws <a href="java.sql.SQLException.html#_top_">SQLException</a>
</pre>
<dl>
  <dd> Returns true if the driver thinks that it can open a connection
 to the given URL.  Typically drivers will return true if they
 understand the subprotocol specified in the URL and false if
 they don't.
<p>
  <dd><dl>
    <dt> <b>Parameters:</b>
    <dd> url - The URL of the database.
    <dt> <b>Returns:</b>
    <dd> True if this driver can connect to the given URL.
    <dt> <b>Throws:</b> <a href="java.sql.SQLException.html#_top_">SQLException</a>
    <dd> if a database-access error occurs.
  </dl></dd>
</dl>
<a name="getPropertyInfo(java.lang.String, java.util.Properties)"><img src="images/red-ball.gif" width=12 height=12 alt=" o "></a>
<a name="getPropertyInfo"><b>getPropertyInfo</b></a>
<pre>
 public abstract <a href="java.sql.DriverPropertyInfo.html#_top_">DriverPropertyInfo</a>[] getPropertyInfo(<a href="java.lang.String.html#_top_">String</a> url,
                                                      <a href="java.util.Properties.html#_top_">Properties</a> info) throws <a href="java.sql.SQLException.html#_top_">SQLException</a>
</pre>
<dl>
  <dd> <p>The getPropertyInfo method is intended to allow a generic GUI tool to 
 discover what properties it should prompt a human for in order to get 
 enough information to connect to a database.  Note that depending on
 the values the human has supplied so far, additional values may become
 necessary, so it may be necessary to iterate though several calls
 to getPropertyInfo.
<p>
  <dd><dl>
    <dt> <b>Parameters:</b>
    <dd> url - The URL of the database to connect to.
    <dd> info - A proposed list of tag/value pairs that will be sent on
          connect open.
    <dt> <b>Returns:</b>
    <dd> An array of DriverPropertyInfo objects describing possible
          properties.  This array may be an empty array if no properties
          are required.
    <dt> <b>Throws:</b> <a href="java.sql.SQLException.html#_top_">SQLException</a>
    <dd> if a database-access error occurs.
  </dl></dd>
</dl>
<a name="getMajorVersion()"><img src="images/red-ball.gif" width=12 height=12 alt=" o "></a>
<a name="getMajorVersion"><b>getMajorVersion</b></a>
<pre>
 public abstract int getMajorVersion()
</pre>
<dl>
  <dd> Get the driver's major version number. Initially this should be 1.
<p>
</dl>
<a name="getMinorVersion()"><img src="images/red-ball.gif" width=12 height=12 alt=" o "></a>
<a name="getMinorVersion"><b>getMinorVersion</b></a>
<pre>
 public abstract int getMinorVersion()
</pre>
<dl>
  <dd> Get the driver's minor version number. Initially this should be 0.
<p>
</dl>
<a name="jdbcCompliant()"><img src="images/red-ball.gif" width=12 height=12 alt=" o "></a>
<a name="jdbcCompliant"><b>jdbcCompliant</b></a>
<pre>
 public abstract boolean jdbcCompliant()
</pre>
<dl>
  <dd> Report whether the Driver is a genuine JDBC COMPLIANT (tm) driver.
 A driver may only report "true" here if it passes the JDBC compliance
 tests, otherwise it is required to return false.
 JDBC compliance requires full support for the JDBC API and full support
 for SQL 92 Entry Level.  It is expected that JDBC compliant drivers will
 be available for all the major commercial databases.
 This method is not intended to encourage the development of non-JDBC
 compliant drivers, but is a recognition of the fact that some vendors
 are interested in using the JDBC API and framework for lightweight
 databases that do not support full database functionality, or for
 special databases such as document information retrieval where a SQL
 implementation may not be feasible.
<p>
</dl>
<hr>
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