JDeveloper link to MS SQL Server database MDS errors

Question

The database connection to the SQL server can be successfully created and used (after putting the sqljdbc4.jar file into the project's path). Then when I try to use that db connection for a SOA-MDS connection, the "Messages" tab in JDev displays the following error:
WARNING: Error reading db partitions for connection name Connection1. Reason : MDS-00003: error connecting to the database
Unable to start the Universal Connection Pool: oracle.ucp.UniversalConnectionPoolException: Error during pool creation in Universal Connection Pool Manager MBean: oracle.ucp.UniversalConnectionPoolException: Error during pool creation in Universal Connection Pool Manager: java.sql.SQLException: Invalid Universal Connection Pool configuration: java.sql.SQLException: Unable to create factory class instance with provided factory class name: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: com.microsoft.sqlserver.jdbc.SQLServerXADataSource
To get around this error, I explicitly added the sqljdbc4.jar file to the classpath by doing the following:
In the jar “C:\Oracle\Middleware_2\jdeveloper\jdev\extensions\oracle.mds.dt.jar”, need to modify the META-INF/extension.xml to include the classpath:
<classpath>C:/Oracle/Middleware/jdeveloper/lib/sqljdbc4.jar</classpath>
Once this is done, then I can successfully create the SOA-MDS connection. I can also explore the MDS connection and see the names of available resources. However, the problem then comes again when a resource is actually chosen to be referenced in a composite. When choosing the resource or when trying to build after choosing the resource, an error is displayed that is the same as the original (reference above).
I tried following both of the workarounds located in the following link, but it does fix the error when attempting to use MDS resources. http://efreedom.com/Question/1-5805190/JDeveloper-DB-Based-MDS-Connection-Issue
It seems to me like JDeveloper uses multiple different class paths when doing different actions (creating DB link, creating MDS connection, using MDS resources, compiling projects that use MDS resources, etc.).
Please let me know if you know how to use an MDS that is based in a Microsoft SQL Server DB.
Ben

Answer 1

I found a different way to implement the database connection that is used by the SOA-MDS connection. Instead of using the microsoft provided sqljdbc4.jar for the SQLServerDriver, I setup the db connection to instead use the Weblogic provided wlsqlserver.jar. I no longer need any of the workarounds mentioned previously and everything appears to be working. I can navigate the MDS resources as well as viewing and choosing to use them in the composites.
As a side note, any user that is used for the DB connection for MDS connections must have the SOA_MDS (or DEV_MDS, depending on the setup) schema as its default (Jdev assumes the user’s default schema and thus doesn’t define the whole path). Also, the user must have select and execute privileges on the SOA_MDS schema (direct or role-based) as it needs to query tables and execute stored procs.