JDBC 4.0 keeps moving forward

JDBC 4.0 has just completed public draft review and the EG is working on closing the last few issues. One of the interfaces that I expect to change signficantly is the SQLXML interface. Here is a list of the major features being added to JDBC 4:

• ROWID Support
• National Character Set Support
• Additional SQLException sub classes
• Improved Blob/Clob support
• SQL XML support
• Ease of Development
• Ability to unwrap implementation classes to make use of vendor specific methods
• Auto loading of Driver class implementations
• Connection management enhancements

Some of the features have been enhanced in the current drops of Mustang (part of the specification evolution).

We have also spent a lot of time trying to clarify and improve the javadoc method and interface descriptions as well as various sections of the JDBC paper spec that have resulted in some confusion in the past for developers. We will continue to review and address as many issues that we can prior to the official release of Mustang.

As we wind down the spec work, we will also be focusing on addressing as many outstanding JDBC bugs as possible.