JDBC - Data Types

The JDBC driver converts the Java data type to the appropriate JDBC type before sending it to the database. It uses a default mapping for most data types. For example, a Java int is converted to an SQL INTEGER. Default mappings were created to provide consistency between drivers.

The following table summarizes the default JDBC data type that the Java data type is converted to when you call the setXXX() method of the PreparedStatement or CallableStatement object or the ResultSet.updateXXX() method.

SQL	JDBC/Java	setXXX	updateXXX
VARCHAR	java.lang.String	setString	updateString
CHAR	java.lang.String	setString	updateString
LONGVARCHAR	java.lang.String	setString	updateString
BIT	boolean	setBoolean	updateBoolean
NUMERIC	java.math.BigDecimal	setBigDecimal	updateBigDecimal
TINYINT	byte	setByte	updateByte
SMALLINT	short	setShort	updateShort
INTEGER	int	setInt	updateInt
BIGINT	long	setLong	updateLong
REAL	float	setFloat	updateFloat
FLOAT	float	setFloat	updateFloat
DOUBLE	double	setDouble	updateDouble
VARBINARY	byte[ ]	setBytes	updateBytes
BINARY	byte[ ]	setBytes	updateBytes
DATE	java.sql.Date	setDate	updateDate
TIME	java.sql.Time	setTime	updateTime
TIMESTAMP	java.sql.Timestamp	setTimestamp	updateTimestamp
CLOB	java.sql.Clob	setClob	updateClob
BLOB	java.sql.Blob	setBlob	updateBlob
ARRAY	java.sql.Array	setARRAY	updateARRAY
REF	java.sql.Ref	SetRef	updateRef
STRUCT	java.sql.Struct	SetStruct	updateStruct

JDBC 3.0 has enhanced support for BLOB, CLOB, ARRAY, and REF data types. The ResultSet object now has updateBLOB(), updateCLOB(), updateArray(), and updateRef() methods that enable you to directly manipulate the respective data on the server.

The setXXX() and updateXXX() methods enable you to convert specific Java types to specific JDBC data types. The methods, setObject() and updateObject(), enable you to map almost any Java type to a JDBC data type.

ResultSet object provides corresponding getXXX() method for each data type to retrieve column value. Each method can be used with the column name or by its ordinal position.

SQL	JDBC/Java	setXXX	getXXX
VARCHAR	java.lang.String	setString	getString
CHAR	java.lang.String	setString	getString
LONGVARCHAR	java.lang.String	setString	getString
BIT	boolean	setBoolean	getBoolean
NUMERIC	java.math.BigDecimal	setBigDecimal	getBigDecimal
TINYINT	byte	setByte	getByte
SMALLINT	short	setShort	getShort
INTEGER	int	setInt	getInt
BIGINT	long	setLong	getLong
REAL	float	setFloat	getFloat
FLOAT	float	setFloat	getFloat
DOUBLE	double	setDouble	getDouble
VARBINARY	byte[ ]	setBytes	getBytes
BINARY	byte[ ]	setBytes	getBytes
DATE	java.sql.Date	setDate	getDate
TIME	java.sql.Time	setTime	getTime
TIMESTAMP	java.sql.Timestamp	setTimestamp	getTimestamp
CLOB	java.sql.Clob	setClob	getClob
BLOB	java.sql.Blob	setBlob	getBlob
ARRAY	java.sql.Array	setARRAY	getARRAY
REF	java.sql.Ref	SetRef	getRef
STRUCT	java.sql.Struct	SetStruct	getStruct