DriverManager.getConnection() and Connection URL

This section describes how to use DriverManager.getConnection() and connection URL for the Microsoft JDBC driver.

Once the JDBC driver class is loaded, you are ready to connect to a SQL Server by using the DriverManager.getConnection(connection_url) method. The connection URL, connection_url, is a string with the following syntax:

jdbc:sqlserver://server_name;user=login;password=****

The tutorial program below shows you a good example of using getConnection() and connection URL:

/* ConnectionTest2.java
 - Copyright (c) 2015, HerongYang.com, All Rights Reserved.
 */
import java.sql.*;
public class ConnectionTest2 {
  public static void main(String [] args) {
    Connection con = null;
    try {

// Obtaining a connection to SQL Server
      con = DriverManager.getConnection(
          "jdbc:sqlserver://localhost;"
        + "user=sa;password=HerongY@ng");

    } catch (Exception e) {
      e.printStackTrace();
    }
  }
}

If you run this program with JDK 1.8 and JDBC Driver 4.2, you may get a surprising error like this:

C:\herong>\Progra~1\java\jdk1.8.0_45\bin\javac ConnectionTest2.java

C:\herong>\Progra~1\java\jdk1.8.0_45\bin\java 
   -cp .;\local\lib\sqljdbc42.jar ConnectionTest2

com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerException: 
The TCP/IP connection to the host localhost, port 1433 
has failed. Error: "connect timed out. Verify the connection 
properties. Make sure that an instance of SQL Server is running on the
host and accepting TCP/IP connections at the port. Make sure that TCP 
connections to the port are not blocked by a firewall.".

The error suggests us to verify: is the database instance running or not, which TCP/IP port the instance is listening for incoming connections, and is there any firewall blocking the TCP/IP connection. See the next tutorial on how to troubleshoot the problem.

Previously, when I ran the same example program with JDK 1.6, JDBC Driver 1.0, and SQL Server 2005 Express Edition, the program failed with a different error message:

C:\herong>\progra~1\java\jdk1.6.0_02\bin\javac ConnectionTest2.java

C:\herong>\progra~1\java\jdk1.6.0_02\bin\java 
   -cp .;\local\lib\sqljdbc.jar ConnectionTest2

SQLException: The TCP/IP connection to the host  has failed. 
java.net.ConnectException: Connection refused: connect

Last update: 2015.

Table of Contents

 About This Book

 JDBC (Java Database Connectivity) Introduction

 JDK (Java SE) Installation

 Installing and Running Java DB - Derby

 Derby (Java DB) JDBC Driver

 Derby (Java DB) JDBC DataSource Objects

 Java DB (Derby) - DML Statements

 Java DB (Derby) - ResultSet Objects of Queries

 Java DB (Derby) - PreparedStatement

 MySQL Installation on Windows

 MySQL JDBC Driver (MySQL Connector/J)

 MySQL - PreparedStatement

 MySQL - Reference Implementation of JdbcRowSet

 MySQL - JBDC CallableStatement

 MySQL CLOB (Character Large Object) - TEXT

 MySQL BLOB (Binary Large Object) - BLOB

 Oracle Express Edition Installation on Windows

 Oracle JDBC Drivers

 Oracle - Reference Implementation of JdbcRowSet

 Oracle - PreparedStatement

 Oracle - JBDC CallableStatement

 Oracle CLOB (Character Large Object) - TEXT

 Oracle BLOB (Binary Large Object) - BLOB

 Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition

Microsoft JDBC Driver for SQL Server - sqljdbc42.jar

 Installing Microsoft JDBC Driver for SQL Server

 Loading Driver Class Automatically

 Loading Driver Class with Class.forName()

DriverManager.getConnection() and Connection URL

 Enabling TCP/IP with SQL Server Configuration Manager

 Specifying Port Number in Connection URL

 Instance Name Better than Port Number

 Specifying Instance Name in Connection URL

 Closing the Database Connection - con.close()

 Specifying Database Name in Connection URL

 Incorrect Database Name in Connection URL

 Creating Connections with DataSource Class

 Microsoft JDBC Driver - Query Statements and Result Sets

 Microsoft JDBC Driver - DatabaseMetaData Object

 Microsoft JDBC Driver - DDL Statements

 Microsoft JDBC Driver - DML Statements

 SQL Server - PreparedStatement

 SQL Server CLOB (Character Large Object) - TEXT

 SQL Server BLOB (Binary Large Object) - BLOB

 JDBC-ODBC Bridge Driver - sun.jdbc.odbc.JdbcOdbcDriver

 JDBC-ODBC Bridge Driver - Flat Text Files

 JDBC-ODBC Bridge Driver - MS Access

 JDBC-ODBC Bridge Driver - MS SQL Server

 Summary of JDBC Drivers and Database Servers

 Additional Tutorial Notes to Be Added

 Outdated Tutorials

 References

 PDF Printing Version