How to create a ms-access table with java?

Question

hi all
i've my application and i want to add the capability to creat an access file (.mdb) and then, via SQL , create a table, with many columns of many types, and with a primary key too.
i know that it's also an SQL problem, but i'm searching for it everywhere
thanx for your reply
sandro

Answer 1

Hi,
It would have been much better if you had specified your development environment- the database driver class depends on which environment you are working with. Forexample, if you are working with vj++6 you can make use of the com.ms.jdbc.odbc.JdbcOdbcDriver class. If you are using IBM's Visual Age for Java3.5 you can find the sun.jdbc.odbc.JdbcOdbcDriver. Oneway or another you should have the .class for jdbc-odbc(usu they have the form: xxx:jdbc:odbc:JdbcOdbcDriver). Check all the packages that are available in your development environment that have the form xxx.jdbc.odbc.JdbcOdbcDriver.(And not clear what you know and what you don't - so I start from the very elementary steps)
Anyways, What you have to know is that it is not possible to create databases (e.g. .mdb) directly from a Java application(as far as I know). What is possible is to create new tables inside an already created database and process queries based on those tables.In short what I am saying is : you need to have a DSN before writing applications that create tables.
Follow the following steps to create DSN(for win2000):
1)Go to the control panel and click the 'administrative tools'
2)In the 'administrative tools' click to open ODBC(data sources)
3)Click the 'add' button and choose 'Microsoft Access driver'
4)In the DSN text field enter the dsn (e.g., Test)
5)If you want to create a table in an already existing database choose select and select one. However, if you want to create a new database click 'create' and enter a name for your database(e.g. ExampleDB.mdb). If you do this successfully it will issue a successfull operation message.
6)Click advanced and enter the login name(e.g. Albert) and password(e.g. mxvdk) for the database
7)Click 'ok's to finish the operation.
After the above three operations what you will have is an empty database(with no tables) named "ExampleDB.mdb" in the directory you specified.
Now, you can write a java application that creates a table inside the database "ExampleDB.mdb".
Check this out:
import java.sql.*;
public class Class1{
public Class1(){
String userName = "Albert";
String password = "mxvdk";
String dsn = "Test";
String databaseURL = "jdbc:odbc:"+dsn;
//This is just an sql table creating statement- have nothing to do with java
String sqlCreateStmt = "CREATE TABLE StudentTable" +
"(StudentID varchar(32) PRIMARY KEY," +
"name varchar(30)," +
"age int)";
     try{
     Class.forName("com.ms.jdbc.odbc.JdbcOdbcDriver");
     }catch(ClassNotFoundException eCNF){
          System.err.println("ClassNotFoundException:");
          System.err.println(eCNF.getMessage());
     try{
     con = DriverManager.getConnection(databaseURL,userName,password);
     stmt = con.createStatement();
     stmt.executeUpdate(sqlCreateStmt);
     }catch(SQLException e){
System.err.println("SQLException:");
e.printStackTrace();
     //insert one sample data
insertSampleData();
private void insertSampleData(){
     String sampleStudentID = "scr-342-tch";
     String sampleStudentName = "Tom James";
     int sampleStudentAge = 24;
//This is just an sql table updating statement- have nothing to do with java
     String sqlUpdateStmt = "INSERT INTO StudentTable VALUES ('"+
                         sampleStudentID+"','"+
                         sampleStudentName+"',"+
                         sampleStudentAge+")";
     try{
          stmt.executeUpdate(sqlUpdateStmt);
          }catch(SQLException e){
          System.err.println("SQLException:");
          e.printStackTrace();
public static void main(String[] args){
new Class1();
private Connection con;
private Statement stmt;
//This program runs perfectly in my VJ++6.0 (console application mode) and also in my IBM's
//visual Age for Java3.5 (with sun.jdbc.odbc.JdbcOdbcDriver as my database driver)
//If you are developing in another development environment, what you need to change is the
//"com.ms.jdbc.odbc.JdbcOdbcDriver" in Class.forName("com...") stmt.
//If you run this program more than once, it will issue 'tableAlreadyExists' message
If you still experience the problem, pls be specific and repost!