JDBC error - Unable to find or load Driver

Question

Hi,
I'm attempting to connect to a MySQL database with using the statement below, using MySQL Connector 3.0.8:
public void connectToDB() {
try {
connection = DriverManager.getConnection(
"jdbc:mysql://localhost:3306/accounts?user=root&password=spider");
} catch(SQLException connectException) {
System.out.println(connectException.getMessage());
System.out.println(connectException.getSQLState());
System.out.println(connectException.getErrorCode());
However, I obtain the error shown below when executing my code:
C:\> java Accounts
Unable to find and load Driver
which is an output from:
public Accounts() {
try {
Class.forName("com.mysql.jdbc.Driver").newInstance();
} catch (Exception e) {
System.err.println("Unable to find and load driver");
System.exit(1);
My database is not located on another machine, but on the same machine rather (127.0.0.1) i.e. on my local PC.
I've tried trouble shooting the problem by:
C:\> telnet localhost 3306
Bad Connection 4.0.20a-max@!5
Connection to host lost
C:\> ping 127.0.0.1
4.0.20a-maCGxG;2&f,☻
Connection to host lost.
C:\>ping 127.0.0.1:3306
Ping request could not find host 127.0.0.1:3306. Please check the name and try a
gain.
C:\>ping 127.0.0.1
Pinging 127.0.0.1 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Ping statistics for 127.0.0.1:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms
C:\>
Could anyone kindly tell me where did I go wrong, and how do I go about solving this issue?
Below is the complete set of code(Accounts.java) which querries, inserts and deletes entries in the database.
Thanks in advance.
// Accounts.java
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.event.*;
import javax.swing.*;
import java.sql.*;
import java.util.*;
public class Accounts extends JFrame {
private JButton getAccountButton,
insertAccountButton,
deleteAccountButton,
updateAccountButton;
private JList accountNumberList;
private Connection connection;
private JTextField accountIDText,
usernameText,
passwordText,
tsText,
activeTSText;
private JTextArea errorText;
public Accounts() {
try {
Class.forName("com.mysql.jdbc.Driver").newInstance();
} catch (Exception e) {
System.err.println("Unable to find and load driver");
System.exit(1);
private void loadAccounts() {
Vector v = new Vector();
try {
Statement statement = connection.createStatement();
ResultSet rs = statement.executeQuery("SELECT acc_id FROM acc_acc");
while(rs.next()) {
v.addElement(rs.getString("acc_id"));
rs.close();
} catch(SQLException e) {
displaySQLErrors(e);
accountNumberList.setListData(v);
private void buildGUI() {
Container c = getContentPane();
c.setLayout(new FlowLayout());
accountNumberList = new JList();
loadAccounts();
accountNumberList.setVisibleRowCount(2);
JScrollPane accountNumberListScrollPane = new JScrollPane(accountNumberList);
//Do Get Account Button
getAccountButton = new JButton("Get Account");
getAccountButton.addActionListener (
new ActionListener() {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
try {
Statement statement = connection.createStatement();
ResultSet rs = statement.executeQuery("SELECT * FROM acc_acc WHERE acc_id = " + accountNumberList.getSelectedValue());
if (rs.next()) {
accountIDText.setText(rs.getString("acc_id"));
usernameText.setText(rs.getString("username"));
passwordText.setText(rs.getString("password"));
tsText.setText(rs.getString("ts"));
activeTSText.setText(rs.getString("act_ts"));
} catch(SQLException selectException) {
displaySQLErrors(selectException);
//Do Insert Account Button
insertAccountButton = new JButton("Insert Account");
insertAccountButton.addActionListener (
new ActionListener() {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
try {
Statement statement = connection.createStatement();
int i = statement.executeUpdate("INSERT INTO acc_acc VALUES(" +
accountIDText.getText() + ", " +
"'" + usernameText.getText() + "', " +
"'" + passwordText.getText() + "', " +
"0" + ", " +
"now())");
errorText.append("Inserted " + i + " rows successfully");
accountNumberList.removeAll();
loadAccounts();
} catch(SQLException insertException) {
displaySQLErrors(insertException);
//Do Delete Account Button
deleteAccountButton = new JButton("Delete Account");
deleteAccountButton.addActionListener (
new ActionListener() {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
try {
Statement statement = connection.createStatement();
int i = statement.executeUpdate("DELETE FROM acc_acc WHERE acc_id = " +
accountNumberList.getSelectedValue());
errorText.append("Deleted " + i + " rows successfully");
accountNumberList.removeAll();
loadAccounts();
} catch(SQLException insertException) {
displaySQLErrors(insertException);
//Do Update Account Button
updateAccountButton = new JButton("Update Account");
updateAccountButton.addActionListener (
new ActionListener() {
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
try {
Statement statement = connection.createStatement();
int i = statement.executeUpdate("UPDATE acc_acc " +
"SET username='" + usernameText.getText() + "', " +
"password='" + passwordText.getText() + "', " +
"act_ts = now() " +
"WHERE acc_id = " + accountNumberList.getSelectedValue());
errorText.append("Updated " + i + " rows successfully");
accountNumberList.removeAll();
loadAccounts();
} catch(SQLException insertException) {
displaySQLErrors(insertException);
JPanel first = new JPanel(new GridLayout(5,1));
first.add(accountNumberListScrollPane);
first.add(getAccountButton);
first.add(insertAccountButton);
first.add(deleteAccountButton);
first.add(updateAccountButton);
accountIDText = new JTextField(15);
usernameText = new JTextField(15);
passwordText = new JTextField(15);
tsText = new JTextField(15);
activeTSText = new JTextField(15);
errorText = new JTextArea(5, 15);
errorText.setEditable(false);
JPanel second = new JPanel();
second.setLayout(new GridLayout(6,1));
second.add(accountIDText);
second.add(usernameText);
second.add(passwordText);
second.add(tsText);
second.add(activeTSText);
JPanel third = new JPanel();
third.add(new JScrollPane(errorText));
c.add(first);
c.add(second);
c.add(third);
setSize(500,500);
show();
public void connectToDB() {
try {
connection = DriverManager.getConnection(
"jdbc:mysql://localhost:3306/accounts?user=root&password=spider");
} catch(SQLException connectException) {
System.out.println(connectException.getMessage());
System.out.println(connectException.getSQLState());
System.out.println(connectException.getErrorCode());
private void displaySQLErrors(SQLException e) {
errorText.append("SQLException: " + e.getMessage() + "\n");
errorText.append("SQLState: " + e.getSQLState() + "\n");
errorText.append("VendorError: " + e.getErrorCode() + "\n");
private void init() {
connectToDB();
public static void main(String[] args) {
Accounts accounts = new Accounts();
accounts.addWindowListener(
new WindowAdapter() {
public void windowClosing(WindowEvent e) {
System.exit(0);
accounts.init();
accounts.buildGUI();
}

Answer 1

Hi,
Below is my PATH setting to the MySQL JDBC JAR added in the autoexec.bat file:
PATH C:\j2sdk1.4.1_01\bin;C:\mysql-connector-java-3.0.8-stable-bin.jar;%CLASSPATH%
Could you tell me where did I go wrong & how can I fix this problem?
FYI, I'm using a Windows XP platform.
Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.
C:\mysql\bin>net stop mysql
The MySQL service is stopping..
The MySQL service was stopped successfully.
C:\mysql\bin>mysqld.exe
C:\mysql\bin>net stop mysql
The MySQL service is not started.
More help is available by typing NET HELPMSG 3521.
C:\mysql\bin>net start mysql
The MySQL service is starting.
The MySQL service was started successfully.
I then tried initiating the MySQL client also on the same PC machine, but obtained the error below:
Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.
C:\mysql\bin>mysql.exe
ERROR 2003: Can't connect to MySQL server on 'localhost' (10061)
C:\mysql\bin>telnet localhost 3306
Connecting To localhost...Could not open connection to the host, on port 3306: C
onnect failed
C:\mysql\bin>
Could you or anyone else help me on this problem? I'm still a newbie with MySQL and JDBC.
Thanks in advance