Question

TL DR; Want some Java help with connecting to a truly local database ( no access to server tech ), or if you can whip up code, that will work. All it has to do is query the DB ( MS Access, although can be changed ), and output a JSON string. See EDIT2 for more specificity.

EDIT: Before anyone says JDBC; I looked through the tutorials ( started reading in depth ), but most of it seems to be geared towards server tech, which I have no access to.

EDIT2: Seems most the answers so far are requiring an installation of some kind which I unfortunately cannot do ( and failed to mention, so I apologize ). However, this is what is currently being used and I would like a solution similar for Java that would make it more cross-browser compatible as opposed to being HTA only (link: https://launchpad.net/accessdb )

Okay, for the long version. I’m trying to make use of a local database to create a desktop style application for work ( and possibly make use of the knowledge for other projects ). The database I can create without a problem ( MS Access 2003, just happens to be quickly available ). Currently I’m using ActiveX scripting to work with the database in a HTML Application (*.HTA file works only with Internet Explorer), I would really like to make this more cross browser ( in the event the company EVER switches to an actual browser ) by using JAVA to access the database, then output the results in JSON to a local variable JavaScript can call and make use of.

Honestly would rather tutorial type information as I want to actually learn why this works so I can later modify it to suit my needs. I have Eclipse installed as well as JDK, and can right small programs in Java, so not completely brain dead ( but not far from 😛 ). I’ve been working with JavaScript so I can read quite a bit of Java code as it stands ( not the same syntax since they are not related, but the little I do know of Java I can translate back to JS without problem ).

Anyway, any assistance would be greatly appreciated. I can continue developing with ActiveX ( as I know that works on the system and I’m 99% sure they will continue using Internet Explorer, but, would like some flexibility ).

Answer 1

I am not sure I understood your requirements very well, however I did decipher some key points. What I am suggesting will let you deliver a complete working application in a single package (say a JAR) that will not require much (if any) configuration or administration of servers.

Some Required skills:

• Java programming langauge
• JDBC, SQL
• JSP and Servlets (for the Web tier)

I’m trying to make use of a local
database to create a desktop style
application […]
I Want some Java help with connecting to
a truly local database ( no access to
server tech )

Datastore

JDBC can be used with any database that has a JDBC driver, which isn’t necessarily a database in “network mode”, it can be used with embedded databases as well.

Here is an example with Derby in embedded mode:

When an application accesses a Derby
database using the Embedded Derby JDBC
driver, the Derby engine does not run
in a separate process, and there are
no separate database processes to
start up and shut down. Instead, the
Derby database engine runs inside the
same Java Virtual Machine (JVM) as the
application. So, Derby becomes part of
the application just like any other
jar file that the application uses.
Figure 1 depicts this embedded
architecture.

Here are some 100% Java and embeddable databases:

http://www.h2database.com/html/main.html

http://db.apache.org/derby/

http://hsqldb.org/

Web tier

You can also embed a Web server like Jetty.

Jetty has a slogan “Don’t deploy your
application in Jetty, deploy Jetty in
your application”. What this means is
that as an alternative to bundling
your application as a standard WAR to
be deployed in Jetty, Jetty is
designed to be a software component
that can be instantiated and used in a
Java program just like any POJO.

Embedding Jetty.

Please note that there are other web servers that you can use this way.