JDBC connectivity from applet on WPS 6.1

[verduka fox]

I am trying to connect to a Sybase database from an applet running on WebSphere Portal Server 6.1. I have signed the jar. I receive this error in the Java Console:

NamingException: Need to specify class name in environment or system property, or as an applet parameter, or in an application resource file: java.naming.factory.initial

Can anyone advise how I can get around this please? Thanks in advance.

[Ulf Dittmer]

Are you using JNDI to acquire the DB connection? That most likely won't work in an applet, since there's no JEE environment that can provide resources. You'll probably need to use the general JDBC way of obtaining connections.

Is this an intranet application? Otherwise I'd be very concerned about security.

[verduka fox]

Thanks for the response. Yes, this is an intranet portlet application.

I don't understand what you mean by "You'll probably need to use the general JDBC way of obtaining connections."

Here's my current db connection code.

    
      try
      {
         javax.naming.Context ctx = new javax.naming.InitialContext();
         dataSource = (javax.sql.DataSource) ctx.lookup("java:comp/env/jdbc/" + database);
         return dataSource.getConnection(databaseUserName, databasePassword);
      }
      catch (NamingException ne)
      {
         throw new Exception("NamingException: " + ne.getMessage());
      }
      catch (Exception e)
      {
         throw new Exception("Exception: " + e.getMessage());
      }

[Tim Holloway]

Firstly, I think the applet sandbox expressly forbids JDBC connections. So you'd have to create a signed applet.

Secondly, what you're intending is a 2-tier application. The inadvisability of using a 2-tier architecture was rather graphically demonstrated when the SQL Slammer worm was unleashed.

JDBC opens a port directly into your database server, which makes it a higher risk than if you use an intermediary (3-tier) architecture. I only recommend 2-tier for stuff that's operating entirely inside a firewall.

[Ulf Dittmer]

Like I said, an applet isn't part of the JEE environment, and thus won't be able to get resources (like a DB connection) through JNDI. So you need to open the connection using Class.forName etc., as you would for any old DB connection.