Using Oracle JDBC from PeopleCode

PSST0101's post Writing to Access Databases demonstrates how to call standard JDBC boiler plate code from PeopleCode. I tried it with the Oracle JDBC driver, but couldn't get the driver to load. First, class.forName kept throwing java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: oracle/jdbc/OracleDriver. Since the intent of class.forName is to register the driver with the JDBC DriverManager, I thought I would see if I could register it manually:

Local JavaObject &driverManager = GetJavaClass("java.sql.DriverManager");
&driverManager.registerDriver(CreateJavaObject("oracle.jdbc.OracleDriver"));

This time the JVM found the class, but, when I executed DriverManager.getConnection, the JVM threw java.sql.SQLException: No suitable driver.

The point of boiler plate JDBC code is to abstract the persistence layer from the code tier, allowing for configurable data repositories. Since PeopleCode requires Java class names as strings, PeopleCode affords us this configurable feature without the JDBC abstraction. Therefore, we can skip the JDBC niceties in favor of direct driver usage:

Local JavaObject &driver = CreateJavaObject("oracle.jdbc.OracleDriver");
Local JavaObject &info = CreateJavaObject("java.util.Properties");

&info.put("user", "john_doe");
&info.put("password", "secret");

Local JavaObject &conn = &driver.connect("jdbc:oracle:thin:@servername:1521:SID", &info);
Local JavaObject &stmt = &conn.createStatement();
Local JavaObject &rs = &stmt.executeQuery("SELECT ROLENAME FROM PSROLEDEFN WHERE ROWNUM < 11");
Local number &rowIdx;

While &rs.next()
   &rowIdx = &rowIdx + 1;
   MessageBox(0, "", 0, 0, "Row " | &rowIdx | " column 1: " | &rs.getObject(1).toString());
End-While;

REM ** Close JDBC resources per Cheryl's comment below;
&rs.close();
&stmt.close();
&conn.close();

Even though I find this example thought provoking, I have not used it in production. When integrating with other applications, I first consider Integration Broker's asynchronous services. Integration Broker provides services such as queuing that aren't available with direct access. If I can't find a delivered target connector and can't create a custom target connector to suit my needs, then my next consideration is Oracle database links.

PeopleSoft's flexible architecture provides developers with a vast array of options. It is important for us as developers to know how and when to use these options.

Update (March 24, 2009)

Nicolas pointed out that users should not hard code user names and passwords. I absolutely agree. The code above is provided as an example. If you implement a solution like this, I strongly encourage you to Encrypt the password and store it somewhere else. PeopleCode has Encrypt and Decrypt functions for this purpose. You can either store the user name and password encrypted in the database or store it in a protected file off line. Furthermore, don't use a privileged user. Use a database user that only has the database access required to accomplish the coded task.

Besides a hard coded password, the code above contains a hard coded SQL string literal. I strongly discourage this practice as well. Use App Designer SQL definitions to store SQL statements. Unlike string literals, PeopleSoft change management tools can search, compare, and maintain managed objects referenced in SQL definitions.