Jaybird 2.1 JDBC driver Java Programmer's Manual - Firebird

PURE_JAVA driver when connecting the server on the same host. This is mostly
due to the fact that TCP/IP stack is not involved in this mode.
In order to instantiate a connection using the NATIVE JDBC driver to connect to
a remote server you have to use the following JDBC URL with new subprotocol:
jdbc:firebirdsql:native:host[/port]:
When connecting to a local database server using the LOCAL driver, you should
use following:
jdbc:firebirdsql:local:
Additionally to the Firebird client library installation, driver requires a JNI proxy
to be available to the JVM. The JNI proxy is a platform-dependent dynamically
linked library that translates GDS calls into Firebird API calls.
Windows
On Windows, the JNI proxy is represented by a dynamically linked library (DLL)
jaybird21.dll. You have to make this library available through PATH
environment variable. Alternatively you can specify the directory containing this
DLL in java.library.path system property.
For example, if you put library in the current directory you have to use the
following command to start Java:
java -Djava.library.path=. com.mycompany.MyClass
Linux
On Linux JNI proxy is represented by a shared library libjaybird21.so. It must
be available through the LD_PATH environment variable. Usually shared libraries
are stored in the /usr/lib/ directory; however you will need root permissions to
copy libjaybird21.so there. Alternatively you can specify directory containing
the proxy in java.library.path Java system property. See Windows example
above for more details.
Limitations
Firebird client library is not thread-safe when connecting to a local database
server using IPC. Jaybird provides the necessary synchronization in Java code
using a static object instance. However, this static object instance is local to the
classloader that has loaded the Jaybird classes.
In order to guarantee correct synchronization , the Jaybird driver must be loaded
by the top-most classloader. For example, when using the Type 2 JDBC driver
with a web or application server, you have to add the Jaybird classes to the main
classpath (for example, to the lib/ directory of your web or application server),
but not to the web or J2EE application, e.g. the WEB-INF/lib directory.
EMBEDDED type
The Embedded server JDBC driver is the Type 2 JDBC driver that rather than
using the Firebird client library, loads Firebird embedded server library instead.
This is the highest performance type of JDBC driver for accessing local databases,
as the Java code accesses the database file directly.
In order to obtain a connection via DriverManager you have to use following
URL:
Chapter 2. Obtaining a connection 14