Getting the table names in an MS Access database

Question

Hi,
I am new to JDBC and making a client/server application that updates a MS Access database through jdbc:odbc.
I need to get a list of existing user tables in the db. I have found a great document on the net which has the code, however the code doesn't work. I have tried different ways and looked every where with no success. (link to the doco: http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/opensource/library/j-jdbc-objects/)
Here is my dbManager class that handles all db related services in my application. I would appreciate any help I can get as I have exhusted all my avenues.
Thanks
Sep,
* dbManager.java
* Created on 31 October 2005, 10:20
* To change this template, choose Tools | Options and locate the template under
* the Source Creation and Management node. Right-click the template and choose
* Open. You can then make changes to the template in the Source Editor.
import java.io.*;
import java.sql.*;
import java.util.regex.*;
* @author AUMahdavSe
public class dbManager {
    /** Constant Declaration                */
    public static final String Driver = "sun.jdbc.odbc.JdbcOdbcDriver";
    public static final
        String sqlCreateTable = "create table TABLENAME (" +
            "name varchar (100)," +
            "surname varchar(100)," +
            "computerType integer," +
            "computerNAL varchar(20)," +
            "haveMonitor integer," +
            "monitorNAL varchar (20)," +
            "auditDate varchar(10) );";
    public static final String sqlUpdateTable = "insert into TABLENAME values" +
            " (NAMEHOLDER, SURNAMEHOLDER, COMPTYPE, COMPNAL, HAVEMON, MONNAL);";
    /** Attributes                          */
    private String dbURL = "jdbc:odbc:";
    private String Username = "admin";  // user input
    private String Password = "purina123";  // user input
    private String ODBCDataSource;  // config file
    private String dbPath;  // set through config file or defaults to current folder
    private String configFile = "config.txt"; // set either at commandline or defaults to current folder
    private Connection con = null;
    private Statement stmt = null;
    private ResultSet tables;
    private DatabaseMetaData dma;
    private ResultSetMetaData rsmd;
    private String CurrentAuditTable = "TestTable2";
    int numCols, i;
    /** Set Methodes                        */
    public void setUsername( String usr ) {
        this.Username = usr;
    public void setPassword( String pswd ) {
        this.Password = pswd;
    public void setDbPath( String path ) {
        this.dbPath = path;
    public void setODBCDataSource( String ds ) {
        this.ODBCDataSource = ds;
    public void setDbURL( String dsname ) {
        this.dbURL = this.dbURL + dsname;
    /** Get Methodes                        */
    public String getDriver() {
        return this.Driver;
    // can be run only after a connection obj is setup
    public void getMDA() {
        try {
            this.dma = this.con.getMetaData();           
        catch (SQLException ex) {
            System.err.println("database connection: " + ex.getMessage());
    public void getDBTables() {
        //now dump out the names of the tables in the database
        String[] types = new String[1];
        types[0] = "TABLES"; //set table type mask
        //note the %-sign is a wild card (not '*')
        try {
            this.tables = this.dma.getTables(null, null, "%", types);
            dumpResults("--Tables--");
            this.tables.close();
            //this.listTables();
        catch (SQLException ex) {
            System.err.println("database connection: " + ex.getMessage());
        // listing tables
        /*int count = 0;
        int numCols = 0;
        //ResultSetMetaData rsmd;
        try {
            System.out.println("Listing db tables ...");
            //this.tables.beforeFirst();
            rsmd = this.tables.getMetaData();
            numCols = rsmd.getColumnCount();
            System.out.println("number of cols: " + numCols);
            boolean more = this.tables.first();
            System.out.println("this is why: " + more);
            while ( more ) {
                count++;
                for (int i = 1; i <= numCols; i++)
                    System.out.print( "Table-" + count + " -> " + this.tables.getString(count)+"    " );
                System.out.println();
                more = this.tables.next();
        catch ( SQLException ex ) {
            System.out.println( "problem listing db tables: " + ex.getMessage() );
    /** Other Methodes                      */
    // Initialize the db parameters, like driver, username, passwd, etc.
    public void dbInitialize() {
        // load configuration from config.txt (dbPath and ODBC Data Source name)
        this.loadDbConfig();
        // loadDriver
        this.loadDriver();
        // get username and password for the ODBC from user
        this.getDSSecurity();
        // populate dbURL, username and password
        this.setDbURL( this.ODBCDataSource );
        // connect to db
        this.dbConnect();
        // get db metadata
        this.getMDA();
        // get a list of tables in db
        this.getDBTables();
    // load JDBC driver
    public void loadDriver() {
        try {
            Class.forName( getDriver() );
        } catch (Exception e) {
            System.out.println("Failed to load JDBC/ODBC driver.");
            return;
    // connects to db and create a Connection obj and a Statement obj
    public void dbConnect() {
       try {
            this.con = DriverManager.getConnection (
                this.dbURL,
                this.Username,
                this.Password);
            this.stmt = con.createStatement();
        } catch (Exception e) {
            System.err.println("problems connecting to "+this.dbURL);
    // creates table tblname in db
    public void CreateTable( String tblname ) {
        try {
            String sqlcommand = mergeTblName(sqlCreateTable, tblname);
            this.stmt.execute( sqlcommand );
        catch (SQLException ex) {
            System.err.println("problems with SQL statement sent to "+this.dbURL+
                ": "+ex.getMessage());
            System.out.println("SQL Command: " + mergeTblName(sqlCreateTable, tblname) );
    // updates db with new record(s) by executing the SQL query sqlstmt
    // and closes db connection
    public void dbUpdate( String sqlstmt ) {
        try {
            // execute SQL commands to create table, insert data
            this.stmt.execute( sqlstmt );
            this.con.close();
        } catch (Exception e) {
            System.err.println("problems with SQL sent to "+this.dbURL+
                ": "+e.getMessage());
    // list all user tables in the db
    public void listTables() {
        //now dump out the names of the tables in the database
        int count = 0;       
        try {
            System.out.println("Listing db tables ...");
            //this.tables.beforeFirst();
            while ( this.tables.next() ) {
                count++;
                System.out.print( "Table-" + count + " -> " + this.tables.getString(1) );
                System.out.println();
        catch ( SQLException ex ) {
            System.out.println( "problem listing db tables: " + ex.getMessage() );
    // checks whether tbname exist in db as a table
    // this function has to be called after dbConnect
    public boolean tableExists( String tbname ) {
        boolean tbexists = false;
        //get the database metadata
        try {
            dma = con.getMetaData();           
        catch (SQLException ex) {
            System.err.println("database connection: " + ex.getMessage());
        //now dump out the names of the tables in the database
        String[] types = new String[1];
        types[0] = "TABLES"; //set table type mask
        //note the %-sign is a wild card (not '*')
        try {
            tables = dma.getTables(null, null, "%", types);
        catch (SQLException ex) {
            System.err.println("database connection: " + ex.getMessage());
        try {
            while ( tables.next() ) {
                if ( tbname.equalsIgnoreCase( tables.getString(1) ) ) {
                    tbexists = true;
        catch ( SQLException ex ) {
            System.err.println("database connection: " + ex.getMessage());
        return tbexists;
    // merge tablename using REGEX
    public String mergeTblName( String sqlcommand, String tbname ) {
        String REGEX = "TABLENAME";
        String INPUT = sqlcommand;
        String REPLACE = tbname;
        Pattern p = Pattern.compile(REGEX);
        Matcher m = p.matcher(INPUT); // get a matcher object
        INPUT = m.replaceAll(REPLACE);
        //System.out.println(INPUT);
        return INPUT;
    // merge feildnames specific terms using REGEX
    public String mergeFldName( Message msg ) {
        String sqlcommand;
        sqlcommand = "insert into TABLENAME values" +
                " ('" + msg.getName() + "', '" + msg.getSurname() + "', " +
                msg.getComputerType() + ", '" + msg.getComputerNAL() + "', " +
                msg.getHaveMonitor() + ", '" + msg.getMonitorNAL() + "', '" +
                msg.getDateOfMsg() + "');";
        sqlcommand = mergeTblName( sqlcommand, CurrentAuditTable );
        return sqlcommand;
    // get users input char
    /**public char getChar() {
        int i = System.in.read();
        while (i != -1) {
          // here's your character
          char c = (char) i;
          i = System.in.read();
        return (char) i;
    // load the config parameters from config.txt
    public void loadDbConfig() {
        // make a file obj pointing to the config file config.txt
        File configFile = new File( this.configFile );
        //...checks on configFile are elided
        StringBuffer contents = new StringBuffer();
        //declared here only to make visible to finally clause
        BufferedReader input = null;
        try {
          //use buffering
          //this implementation reads one line at a time
          input = new BufferedReader( new FileReader(configFile) );
          String line = null; //not declared within while loop
          int count = 0;
          while (( line = input.readLine()) != null){
            //first line in config file is dbPath
            if(count == 0) this.setDbPath( line.trim() );
            //second line in config file is ODBCDataSource
            if(count == 1) this.setODBCDataSource( line.trim() );
            count++; 
            //contents.append(line);
            //contents.append(System.getProperty("line.separator"));
        catch (FileNotFoundException ex) {
            System.err.println("the file congif.txt cannot be found ...");
            System.err.print("Enter the path to db file (e.g. c:\\temp): ");
            BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(System.in));
            //  read the db path from the command-line; need to use try/catch with the
            //  readLine() method
            try {
                this.setDbPath( br.readLine() );
            catch (IOException ioe) {
                System.out.println("IO error trying to read user input.");
                System.exit(1);
            System.err.print("Enter the name of the ODBC Data Source: ");
            //  read the ODBC Data Source name from the command-line; need to use try/catch with the
            //  readLine() method
            try {
                this.setODBCDataSource( br.readLine() );
            catch (IOException ioe) {
                System.out.println("IO error trying to read user input.");
                System.exit(1);
            ex.printStackTrace();
        catch (IOException ex){
          //ex.printStackTrace();
        finally {
          try {
            if (input!= null) {
              //flush and close both "input" and its underlying FileReader
              input.close();
          catch (IOException ex) {
            //ex.printStackTrace();
        //return contents.toString();
    // get datasource security details i.e. username and password
    public void getDSSecurity() {
        // get username
        System.out.print("Enter username for the ODBC DataSource: ");
        BufferedReader br = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(System.in));
        //  read the username from the command-line; need to use try/catch with the
        //  readLine() method
        try {
            this.setUsername( br.readLine() );
        catch (IOException ioe) {
            System.out.println("IO error trying to read username.");
            System.exit(1);
        // get password
        System.out.print("Enter password: ");
        //  read the username from the command-line; need to use try/catch with the
        //  readLine() method
        try {
            this.setPassword( br.readLine() );
        catch (IOException ioe) {
            System.out.println("IO error trying to read password.");
            System.exit(1);
    private void dumpResults(String head)
     //this is a general routine to print out
     //column headers and the contents of each column
     System.out.println(head);
      try
       //get the number of columns from the metadata
       this.rsmd = this.tables.getMetaData();      
       numCols = this.rsmd.getColumnCount();
       //print out the column names
       for (i = 1; i<= numCols; i++)
         System.out.print(rsmd.getColumnName(i)+"     ");
       System.out.println();
       //print out the column contents
       boolean more = this.tables.next();
       while (more)
         for (i = 1; i <= numCols; i++)
           System.out.print(this.tables.getString(i)+"     ");
         System.out.println();
         more = this.tables.next();
     catch(Exception e)
       {System.out.println(e.getMessage());}
    /** Creates a new instance of dbManager */
    public dbManager() {
        this.dbInitialize();
}here is the result when I make a new dbManager obj from my server class which is a multithreaded one.
H:\java>java EchoServer
Enter username for the ODBC DataSource: admin
Enter password: purina123
Tables
TABLE_CAT TABLE_SCHEM TABLE_NAME TABLE_TYPE REMARKS
Listening for clients on 12111...
here is the code of my server class called EchoServer:
import java.net.*;
import java.io.*;
public class EchoServer
    ServerSocket m_ServerSocket;
    dbManager haDB;
    public EchoServer() 
        // db methods to setup a jdbc connection to the database
        haDB = new dbManager();
        // list tables
        //haDB.listTables();       
        //haDB.getDBTables();
        // create table
        //haDB.CreateTable("TestTable2");
        // update table
        // server code
        try
            // Create the server socket.
            m_ServerSocket = new ServerSocket(12111);
        catch(IOException ioe)
            System.out.println("Could not create server socket at 12111. Quitting.");
            System.exit(-1);
        System.out.println("Listening for clients on 12111...");
        // Successfully created Server Socket. Now wait for connections.
        int id = 0;
        while(true)
            try
                // Accept incoming connections.
                Socket clientSocket = m_ServerSocket.accept();
                // accept() will block until a client connects to the server.
                // If execution reaches this point, then it means that a client
                // socket has been accepted.
                // For each client, we will start a service thread to
                // service the client requests. This is to demonstrate a
                // multithreaded server, although not required for such a
                // trivial application. Starting a thread also lets our
                // EchoServer accept multiple connections simultaneously.
                // Start a service thread
                ClientServiceThread cliThread = new ClientServiceThread(clientSocket, id++, haDB);
                cliThread.start();
            catch(IOException ioe)
                System.out.println("Exception encountered on accept. Ignoring. Stack Trace :");
                ioe.printStackTrace();
    public static void main (String[] args)
        new EchoServer();    
    class ClientServiceThread extends Thread
        Socket m_clientSocket;        
        int m_clientID = -1;
        dbManager m_db;
        boolean m_bRunThread = true;
        ClientServiceThread(Socket s, int clientID, dbManager db)
            m_clientSocket = s;
            m_clientID = clientID;
            m_db = db;
        public void run()
            // Obtain the input stream and the output stream for the socket
            // A good practice is to encapsulate them with a BufferedReader
            // and a PrintWriter as shown below.
            BufferedReader in = null; 
            PrintWriter out = null;
            Message msg = new Message();
            // Print out details of this connection
            System.out.println("Accepted Client : ID - " + m_clientID + " : Address - " + 
                             m_clientSocket.getInetAddress().getHostName());
            try
                in = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(m_clientSocket.getInputStream()));
                out = new PrintWriter(new OutputStreamWriter(m_clientSocket.getOutputStream()));
                // At this point, we can read for input and reply with appropriate output.
                // Run in a loop until m_bRunThread is set to false
                while(m_bRunThread)
                    // read incoming stream
                    String clientCommand = in.readLine();
                    if ( clientCommand.indexOf(",") != -1 ) {
                        msg.deserialize( clientCommand );
                        System.out.println("SQL command: " + m_db.mergeFldName(msg) );
                        m_db.dbUpdate( m_db.mergeFldName(msg) );
                        //System.out.println("Name :" + msg.getName() );
                        //System.out.println("Surname :" + msg.getSurname() );
                        //System.out.println("ComputerType :" + msg.getComputerType() );
                        //System.out.println("ComputerNAL :" + msg.getComputerNAL() );
                        //System.out.println("HaveMonitor :" + msg.getHaveMonitor() );
                        //System.out.println("Monitor NAL :" + msg.getMonitorNAL() );
                        //System.out.println("AuditDate :" + msg.getDateOfMsg() );                       
                    System.out.println("Client Says :" + clientCommand);
                    if(clientCommand.equalsIgnoreCase("quit"))
                        // Special command. Quit this thread
                        m_bRunThread = false;   
                        System.out.print("Stopping client thread for client : " + m_clientID);
                    else
                        // Echo it back to the client.
                        out.println(clientCommand);
                        out.flush();
            catch(Exception e)
                e.printStackTrace();
            finally
                // Clean up
                try
                    in.close();
                    out.close();
                    m_clientSocket.close();
                    System.out.println("...Stopped");
                catch(IOException ioe)
                    ioe.printStackTrace();
}

Answer 1

I find that taking any problem and reducing it to the simplest thing is the best way to approach it.
Why you had to post all that bloody code (especially since you didn't write it) is beyond me.
This will list all the tables in an Access database (or any other, for that matter):
import java.sql.Connection;
import java.sql.DatabaseMetaData;
import java.sql.DriverManager;
import java.sql.ResultSet;
import java.sql.ResultSetMetaData;
import java.sql.SQLException;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;
import org.jdom.Element;
import org.jdom.Document;
import org.jdom.output.XMLOutputter;
public class TableLister
    public static final String DRIVER   = "sun.jdbc.odbc.JdbcOdbcDriver";
    public static final String DATABASE = "jdbc:odbc:DRIVER={Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb)};DBQ=c:\\Edu\\Java\\Forum\\DataConnection.mdb";
    public static final String USERNAME = "admin";
    public static final String PASSWORD = "";
    public static void main(String [] args)
        try
            String driver           = ((args.length > 0) ? args[0] : DRIVER);
            String url              = ((args.length > 1) ? args[1] : DATABASE);
            String username         = ((args.length > 2) ? args[2] : USERNAME);
            String password         = ((args.length > 3) ? args[3] : PASSWORD);
            Class.forName(driver);
            Connection conn         = DriverManager.getConnection(url, username, password);
            DatabaseMetaData meta   = conn.getMetaData();
            // Bring back ALL tables and views, including SYSTEM tables.
            ResultSet tables        = meta.getTables(null, null, null, null);
            ResultSetMetaData rsmd  = tables.getMetaData();
            int numColumns          = rsmd.getColumnCount();
            List columnNames        = new ArrayList();
            for (int j = 0; j < numColumns; ++j)
                columnNames.add(rsmd.getColumnName(j+1));
            Element root = new Element("tables");
            int tableCount = 0;
            while (tables.next())
                Element table = new Element("table");
                table.setAttribute("id", Integer.toString(++tableCount));
                for (int j = 0; j < numColumns; ++j)
                    Element column = new Element((String)columnNames.get(j));
                    column.setText(tables.getString((String)columnNames.get(j)));
                    table.addContent(column);
                root.addContent(table);
            conn.close();
            Document doc = new Document(root);
            XMLOutputter outputter = new XMLOutputter("   ", true);
            System.out.println(outputter.outputString(doc));
        catch (ClassNotFoundException e)
            System.err.println("Couldn't load JDBC driver class");
            e.printStackTrace();
        catch (SQLException e)
            System.err.println("SQL state: " + e.getSQLState());
            System.err.println("SQL error: " + e.getErrorCode());
            e.printStackTrace();
        catch (Exception e)
            e.printStackTrace();
}Run it and see if it works for you. If it does, put the essence of the code into your stuff.
%