Direct and indirect JNDI lookup methods for data sources

 

Although you can use a direct Java Naming and Directory Interface (JNDI) name (such as jdbc/DataSource) to look up a data source, this naming method is deprecated in WAS V6.

 

Direct

Now when you use this method, the appserver assigns default values to the resource reference data. An informational message resembling the following is logged to document the default values:

J2CA0294W: Deprecated usage of direct JNDI lookup of resource jdbc/IOPEntity. The following default values are used: [Resource-ref settings]

res-auth: 1 (APPLICATION)
res-isolation-level: 0 (TRANSACTION_NONE)
res-sharing-scope: true (SHAREABLE)

[Other attributes]

The first of these attributes, res-auth, dictates what type of authentication is done. This default setting says that the component-managed authentication alias is used if you do not specify an activation specification or you do not specify the username and password on the getConnection call. It says that the container-managed alias is not used.

The second of these settings, res-isolation-level, says that the isolation level is set to the "default" settings. For an enterprise bean, you can set this in the EJB bean itself. For a servlet getting a connection, this results in the isolation level being Repeatable_Read. This is a fairly restrictive isolation level. This can lead to lowered performance, because application requests will lock more rows than with a less restrictive isolation level.

Finally, the res-sharing-scope is set to Shareable, meaning a Shareable connection is used. For some applications, a Shareable connection is fine. For others, in particular those servlets that get multiple connections within a single service() method, it is not.

To avoid any surprises that might accompany these settings, you should change your application to use an indirect JNDI name instead of the direct JNDI name, and you should create a resource reference.

 

Indirect

To use values that are different from the defaults, use an assembly tool to define your resource reference. The resource reference can also be created in the EJB Deployment Descriptor (ejb-jar.xml), Web Deployment Descriptor (web.xml), or Application Client Deployment Descriptor (application-client.xml) editors within the Application Server Toolkit (AST). After you define the resource reference, you can do an indirect JNDI lookup (using the java:comp/env context). Then the values for the resource reference properties that are defined in the resource reference are used and the J2CA0122I message no longer appears. For information about creating resource references, see Creating or changing a resource reference.

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Related tasks

Developing applications that use JNDI
Creating or changing a resource reference

 

Related Reference

Connection factory JNDI name practices