Direct and indirect JNDI lookup methods for data sources

Use a direct or indirect method for the JNDI name (such as jdbc/DataSource) to look up a data source.

Direct

When we use a JNDI name such as jdbc/myDatasource, the application server assigns default values to the resource reference data. An informational message resembling the following is logged to document the default values:

[10/5/07 11:40:38:468 CDT] 0000002e ConnectionFac W  
 J2CA0294W: Direct JNDI lookup of resource jdbc/myDatasource.
   The following default values are used:

[Resource-ref CMConfigData key items]  	
res-auth:                 1 (APPLICATION) 	
res-isolation-level:      0 (TRANSACTION_NONE) 	
res-sharing-scope:        true (SHAREABLE) 	
loginConfigurationName:   null 	
loginConfigProperties:    null  

[Resource-ref non-key items]  	
isCMP1_x:                 false (not CMP1.x) 	
isJMS:                    false (not JMS) 
commitPriority            0 	
Java EE Name:                not set 	
Resource ref name:        not set 	
isCMP:                    false (not set)

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 we do not specify an activation specification or we 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, we 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, we should change the application to use an indirect JNDI name instead of the direct JNDI name, and we 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 using an assembly tool. After defining the resource reference, we can do an indirect JNDI lookup (using the java:comp/env context). Then the values for the resource reference properties defined in the resource reference are used and the J2CA0122I message no longer appears. See on creating a resource reference for more information.

Related:

Development and assembly tools

Developing applications that use JNDI

Create or change a resource reference

Connection factory JNDI name practices