Using the JDBC Core Classes to Control Basic JDBC Processing and Error Handling

This section covers how to use the JDBC core classes to control basic JDBC processing, including error handling. It includes the following topics:

Using JdbcTemplate

JdbcTemplate is the central class in the JDBC core package. It handles the creation and release of resources, which helps you avoid common errors, such as forgetting to close the connection. It performs the basic tasks of the core JDBC workflow (such as statement creation and execution), leaving application code to provide SQL and extract results. The JdbcTemplate class:

  • Runs SQL queries

  • Updates statements and stored procedure calls

  • Performs iteration over ResultSet instances and extraction of returned parameter values.

  • Catches JDBC exceptions and translates them to the generic, more informative, exception hierarchy defined in the org.springframework.dao package. (See Consistent Exception Hierarchy.)

When you use the JdbcTemplate for your code, you need only to implement callback interfaces, giving them a clearly defined contract. Given a Connection provided by the JdbcTemplate class, the PreparedStatementCreator callback interface creates a prepared statement, providing SQL and any necessary parameters. The same is true for the CallableStatementCreator interface, which creates callable statements. The RowCallbackHandler interface extracts values from each row of a ResultSet.

You can use JdbcTemplate within a DAO implementation through direct instantiation with a DataSource reference, or you can configure it in a Spring IoC container and give it to DAOs as a bean reference.

The DataSource should always be configured as a bean in the Spring IoC container. In the first case the bean is given to the service directly; in the second case it is given to the prepared template.

All SQL issued by this class is logged at the DEBUG level under the category corresponding to the fully qualified class name of the template instance (typically JdbcTemplate, but it may be different if you use a custom subclass of the JdbcTemplate class).

The following sections provide some examples of JdbcTemplate usage. These examples are not an exhaustive list of all of the functionality exposed by the JdbcTemplate. See the attendant javadoc for that.

Querying (SELECT)

The following query gets the number of rows in a relation:

  • Java

  • Kotlin

int rowCount = this.jdbcTemplate.queryForObject("select count(*) from t_actor", Integer.class);
val rowCount = jdbcTemplate.queryForObject<Int>("select count(*) from t_actor")!!

The following query uses a bind variable:

  • Java

  • Kotlin

int countOfActorsNamedJoe = this.jdbcTemplate.queryForObject(
		"select count(*) from t_actor where first_name = ?", Integer.class, "Joe");
val countOfActorsNamedJoe = jdbcTemplate.queryForObject<Int>(
		"select count(*) from t_actor where first_name = ?", arrayOf("Joe"))!!

The following query looks for a String:

  • Java

  • Kotlin

String lastName = this.jdbcTemplate.queryForObject(
		"select last_name from t_actor where id = ?",
		String.class, 1212L);
val lastName = this.jdbcTemplate.queryForObject<String>(
		"select last_name from t_actor where id = ?",
		arrayOf(1212L))!!

The following query finds and populates a single domain object:

  • Java

  • Kotlin

Actor actor = jdbcTemplate.queryForObject(
		"select first_name, last_name from t_actor where id = ?",
		(resultSet, rowNum) -> {
			Actor newActor = new Actor();
			newActor.setFirstName(resultSet.getString("first_name"));
			newActor.setLastName(resultSet.getString("last_name"));
			return newActor;
		},
		1212L);
val actor = jdbcTemplate.queryForObject(
			"select first_name, last_name from t_actor where id = ?",
			arrayOf(1212L)) { rs, _ ->
		Actor(rs.getString("first_name"), rs.getString("last_name"))
	}

The following query finds and populates a list of domain objects:

  • Java

  • Kotlin

List<Actor> actors = this.jdbcTemplate.query(
		"select first_name, last_name from t_actor",
		(resultSet, rowNum) -> {
			Actor actor = new Actor();
			actor.setFirstName(resultSet.getString("first_name"));
			actor.setLastName(resultSet.getString("last_name"));
			return actor;
		});
val actors = jdbcTemplate.query("select first_name, last_name from t_actor") { rs, _ ->
		Actor(rs.getString("first_name"), rs.getString("last_name"))

If the last two snippets of code actually existed in the same application, it would make sense to remove the duplication present in the two RowMapper lambda expressions and extract them out into a single field that could then be referenced by DAO methods as needed. For example, it may be better to write the preceding code snippet as follows:

  • Java

  • Kotlin

private final RowMapper<Actor> actorRowMapper = (resultSet, rowNum) -> {
	Actor actor = new Actor();
	actor.setFirstName(resultSet.getString("first_name"));
	actor.setLastName(resultSet.getString("last_name"));
	return actor;
};

public List<Actor> findAllActors() {
	return this.jdbcTemplate.query("select first_name, last_name from t_actor", actorRowMapper);
}
val actorMapper = RowMapper<Actor> { rs: ResultSet, rowNum: Int ->
	Actor(rs.getString("first_name"), rs.getString("last_name"))
}

fun findAllActors(): List<Actor> {
	return jdbcTemplate.query("select first_name, last_name from t_actor", actorMapper)
}

Updating (INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE) with JdbcTemplate

You can use the update(..) method to perform insert, update, and delete operations. Parameter values are usually provided as variable arguments or, alternatively, as an object array.

The following example inserts a new entry:

  • Java

  • Kotlin

this.jdbcTemplate.update(
		"insert into t_actor (first_name, last_name) values (?, ?)",
		"Leonor", "Watling");
jdbcTemplate.update(
		"insert into t_actor (first_name, last_name) values (?, ?)",
		"Leonor", "Watling")

The following example updates an existing entry:

  • Java

  • Kotlin

this.jdbcTemplate.update(
		"update t_actor set last_name = ? where id = ?",
		"Banjo", 5276L);
jdbcTemplate.update(
		"update t_actor set last_name = ? where id = ?",
		"Banjo", 5276L)

The following example deletes an entry:

  • Java

  • Kotlin

this.jdbcTemplate.update(
		"delete from t_actor where id = ?",
		Long.valueOf(actorId));
jdbcTemplate.update("delete from t_actor where id = ?", actorId.toLong())

Other JdbcTemplate Operations

You can use the execute(..) method to run any arbitrary SQL. Consequently, the method is often used for DDL statements. It is heavily overloaded with variants that take callback interfaces, binding variable arrays, and so on. The following example creates a table:

  • Java

  • Kotlin

this.jdbcTemplate.execute("create table mytable (id integer, name varchar(100))");
jdbcTemplate.execute("create table mytable (id integer, name varchar(100))")

The following example invokes a stored procedure:

  • Java

  • Kotlin

this.jdbcTemplate.update(
		"call SUPPORT.REFRESH_ACTORS_SUMMARY(?)",
		Long.valueOf(unionId));
jdbcTemplate.update(
		"call SUPPORT.REFRESH_ACTORS_SUMMARY(?)",
		unionId.toLong())

More sophisticated stored procedure support is covered later.

JdbcTemplate Best Practices

Instances of the JdbcTemplate class are thread-safe, once configured. This is important because it means that you can configure a single instance of a JdbcTemplate and then safely inject this shared reference into multiple DAOs (or repositories). The JdbcTemplate is stateful, in that it maintains a reference to a DataSource, but this state is not conversational state.

A common practice when using the JdbcTemplate class (and the associated NamedParameterJdbcTemplate class) is to configure a DataSource in your Spring configuration file and then dependency-inject that shared DataSource bean into your DAO classes. The JdbcTemplate is created in the setter for the DataSource. This leads to DAOs that resemble the following:

  • Java

  • Kotlin

public class JdbcCorporateEventDao implements CorporateEventDao {

	private JdbcTemplate jdbcTemplate;

	public void setDataSource(DataSource dataSource) {
		this.jdbcTemplate = new JdbcTemplate(dataSource);
	}

	// JDBC-backed implementations of the methods on the CorporateEventDao follow...
}
class JdbcCorporateEventDao(dataSource: DataSource) : CorporateEventDao {

	private val jdbcTemplate = JdbcTemplate(dataSource)

	// JDBC-backed implementations of the methods on the CorporateEventDao follow...
}

The following example shows the corresponding XML configuration:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
	xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
	xmlns:context="http://www.springframework.org/schema/context"
	xsi:schemaLocation="
		http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans
		https://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans.xsd
		http://www.springframework.org/schema/context
		https://www.springframework.org/schema/context/spring-context.xsd">

	<bean id="corporateEventDao" class="com.example.JdbcCorporateEventDao">
		<property name="dataSource" ref="dataSource"/>
	</bean>

	<bean id="dataSource" class="org.apache.commons.dbcp.BasicDataSource" destroy-method="close">
		<property name="driverClassName" value="${jdbc.driverClassName}"/>
		<property name="url" value="${jdbc.url}"/>
		<property name="username" value="${jdbc.username}"/>
		<property name="password" value="${jdbc.password}"/>
	</bean>

	<context:property-placeholder location="jdbc.properties"/>

</beans>

An alternative to explicit configuration is to use component-scanning and annotation support for dependency injection. In this case, you can annotate the class with @Repository (which makes it a candidate for component-scanning) and annotate the DataSource setter method with @Autowired. The following example shows how to do so:

  • Java

  • Kotlin

@Repository (1)
public class JdbcCorporateEventDao implements CorporateEventDao {

	private JdbcTemplate jdbcTemplate;

	@Autowired (2)
	public void setDataSource(DataSource dataSource) {
		this.jdbcTemplate = new JdbcTemplate(dataSource); (3)
	}

	// JDBC-backed implementations of the methods on the CorporateEventDao follow...
}
1 Annotate the class with @Repository.
2 Annotate the DataSource setter method with @Autowired.
3 Create a new JdbcTemplate with the DataSource. 
@Repository (1)
class JdbcCorporateEventDao(dataSource: DataSource) : CorporateEventDao { (2)

	private val jdbcTemplate = JdbcTemplate(dataSource) (3)

	// JDBC-backed implementations of the methods on the CorporateEventDao follow...
}
1 Annotate the class with @Repository.
2 Constructor injection of the DataSource.
3 Create a new JdbcTemplate with the DataSource.

The following example shows the corresponding XML configuration:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
	xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
	xmlns:context="http://www.springframework.org/schema/context"
	xsi:schemaLocation="
		http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans
		https://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans.xsd
		http://www.springframework.org/schema/context
		https://www.springframework.org/schema/context/spring-context.xsd">

	<!-- Scans within the base package of the application for @Component classes to configure as beans -->
	<context:component-scan base-package="org.springframework.docs.test" />

	<bean id="dataSource" class="org.apache.commons.dbcp.BasicDataSource" destroy-method="close">
		<property name="driverClassName" value="${jdbc.driverClassName}"/>
		<property name="url" value="${jdbc.url}"/>
		<property name="username" value="${jdbc.username}"/>
		<property name="password" value="${jdbc.password}"/>
	</bean>

	<context:property-placeholder location="jdbc.properties"/>

</beans>

If you use Spring’s JdbcDaoSupport class and your various JDBC-backed DAO classes extend from it, your sub-class inherits a setDataSource(..) method from the JdbcDaoSupport class. You can choose whether to inherit from this class. The JdbcDaoSupport class is provided as a convenience only.

Regardless of which of the above template initialization styles you choose to use (or not), it is seldom necessary to create a new instance of a JdbcTemplate class each time you want to run SQL. Once configured, a JdbcTemplate instance is thread-safe. If your application accesses multiple databases, you may want multiple JdbcTemplate instances, which requires multiple DataSources and, subsequently, multiple differently configured JdbcTemplate instances.

Using NamedParameterJdbcTemplate

The NamedParameterJdbcTemplate class adds support for programming JDBC statements by using named parameters, as opposed to programming JDBC statements using only classic placeholder ( '?') arguments. The NamedParameterJdbcTemplate class wraps a JdbcTemplate and delegates to the wrapped JdbcTemplate to do much of its work. This section describes only those areas of the NamedParameterJdbcTemplate class that differ from the JdbcTemplate itself — namely, programming JDBC statements by using named parameters. The following example shows how to use NamedParameterJdbcTemplate:

  • Java

  • Kotlin

// some JDBC-backed DAO class...
private NamedParameterJdbcTemplate namedParameterJdbcTemplate;

public void setDataSource(DataSource dataSource) {
	this.namedParameterJdbcTemplate = new NamedParameterJdbcTemplate(dataSource);
}

public int countOfActorsByFirstName(String firstName) {
	String sql = "select count(*) from t_actor where first_name = :first_name";
	SqlParameterSource namedParameters = new MapSqlParameterSource("first_name", firstName);
	return this.namedParameterJdbcTemplate.queryForObject(sql, namedParameters, Integer.class);
}
private val namedParameterJdbcTemplate = NamedParameterJdbcTemplate(dataSource)

fun countOfActorsByFirstName(firstName: String): Int {
	val sql = "select count(*) from t_actor where first_name = :first_name"
	val namedParameters = MapSqlParameterSource("first_name", firstName)
	return namedParameterJdbcTemplate.queryForObject(sql, namedParameters, Int::class.java)!!
}

Notice the use of the named parameter notation in the value assigned to the sql variable and the corresponding value that is plugged into the namedParameters variable (of type MapSqlParameterSource).

Alternatively, you can pass along named parameters and their corresponding values to a NamedParameterJdbcTemplate instance by using the Map-based style. The remaining methods exposed by the NamedParameterJdbcOperations and implemented by the NamedParameterJdbcTemplate class follow a similar pattern and are not covered here.

The following example shows the use of the Map-based style:

  • Java

  • Kotlin

// some JDBC-backed DAO class...
private NamedParameterJdbcTemplate namedParameterJdbcTemplate;

public void setDataSource(DataSource dataSource) {
	this.namedParameterJdbcTemplate = new NamedParameterJdbcTemplate(dataSource);
}

public int countOfActorsByFirstName(String firstName) {
	String sql = "select count(*) from t_actor where first_name = :first_name";
	Map<String, String> namedParameters = Collections.singletonMap("first_name", firstName);
	return this.namedParameterJdbcTemplate.queryForObject(sql, namedParameters, Integer.class);
}
// some JDBC-backed DAO class...
private val namedParameterJdbcTemplate = NamedParameterJdbcTemplate(dataSource)

fun countOfActorsByFirstName(firstName: String): Int {
	val sql = "select count(*) from t_actor where first_name = :first_name"
	val namedParameters = mapOf("first_name" to firstName)
	return namedParameterJdbcTemplate.queryForObject(sql, namedParameters, Int::class.java)!!
}

One nice feature related to the NamedParameterJdbcTemplate (and existing in the same Java package) is the SqlParameterSource interface. You have already seen an example of an implementation of this interface in one of the previous code snippets (the MapSqlParameterSource class). An SqlParameterSource is a source of named parameter values to a NamedParameterJdbcTemplate. The MapSqlParameterSource class is a simple implementation that is an adapter around a java.util.Map, where the keys are the parameter names and the values are the parameter values.

Another SqlParameterSource implementation is the BeanPropertySqlParameterSource class. This class wraps an arbitrary JavaBean (that is, an instance of a class that adheres to the JavaBean conventions) and uses the properties of the wrapped JavaBean as the source of named parameter values.

The following example shows a typical JavaBean:

  • Java

  • Kotlin

public class Actor {

	private Long id;
	private String firstName;
	private String lastName;

	public String getFirstName() {
		return this.firstName;
	}

	public String getLastName() {
		return this.lastName;
	}

	public Long getId() {
		return this.id;
	}

	// setters omitted...
}
data class Actor(val id: Long, val firstName: String, val lastName: String)

The following example uses a NamedParameterJdbcTemplate to return the count of the members of the class shown in the preceding example:

  • Java

  • Kotlin

// some JDBC-backed DAO class...
private NamedParameterJdbcTemplate namedParameterJdbcTemplate;

public void setDataSource(DataSource dataSource) {
	this.namedParameterJdbcTemplate = new NamedParameterJdbcTemplate(dataSource);
}

public int countOfActors(Actor exampleActor) {
	// notice how the named parameters match the properties of the above 'Actor' class
	String sql = "select count(*) from t_actor where first_name = :firstName and last_name = :lastName";
	SqlParameterSource namedParameters = new BeanPropertySqlParameterSource(exampleActor);
	return this.namedParameterJdbcTemplate.queryForObject(sql, namedParameters, Integer.class);
}
// some JDBC-backed DAO class...
private val namedParameterJdbcTemplate = NamedParameterJdbcTemplate(dataSource)

private val namedParameterJdbcTemplate = NamedParameterJdbcTemplate(dataSource)

fun countOfActors(exampleActor: Actor): Int {
	// notice how the named parameters match the properties of the above 'Actor' class
	val sql = "select count(*) from t_actor where first_name = :firstName and last_name = :lastName"
	val namedParameters = BeanPropertySqlParameterSource(exampleActor)
	return namedParameterJdbcTemplate.queryForObject(sql, namedParameters, Int::class.java)!!
}

Remember that the NamedParameterJdbcTemplate class wraps a classic JdbcTemplate template. If you need access to the wrapped JdbcTemplate instance to access functionality that is present only in the JdbcTemplate class, you can use the getJdbcOperations() method to access the wrapped JdbcTemplate through the JdbcOperations interface.

See also JdbcTemplate Best Practices for guidelines on using the NamedParameterJdbcTemplate class in the context of an application.

Using SQLExceptionTranslator

SQLExceptionTranslator is an interface to be implemented by classes that can translate between SQLExceptions and Spring’s own org.springframework.dao.DataAccessException, which is agnostic in regard to data access strategy. Implementations can be generic (for example, using SQLState codes for JDBC) or proprietary (for example, using Oracle error codes) for greater precision. This exception translation mechanism is used behind the the common JdbcTemplate and JdbcTransactionManager entry points which do not propagate SQLException but rather DataAccessException.

As of 6.0, the default exception translator is SQLExceptionSubclassTranslator, detecting JDBC 4 SQLException subclasses with a few extra checks, and with a fallback to SQLState introspection through SQLStateSQLExceptionTranslator. This is usually sufficient for common database access and does not require vendor-specific detection. For backwards compatibility, consider using SQLErrorCodeSQLExceptionTranslator as described below, potentially with custom error code mappings.

SQLErrorCodeSQLExceptionTranslator is the implementation of SQLExceptionTranslator that is used by default when a file named sql-error-codes.xml is present in the root of the classpath. This implementation uses specific vendor codes. It is more precise than SQLState or SQLException subclass translation. The error code translations are based on codes held in a JavaBean type class called SQLErrorCodes. This class is created and populated by an SQLErrorCodesFactory, which (as the name suggests) is a factory for creating SQLErrorCodes based on the contents of a configuration file named sql-error-codes.xml. This file is populated with vendor codes and based on the DatabaseProductName taken from DatabaseMetaData. The codes for the actual database you are using are used.

The SQLErrorCodeSQLExceptionTranslator applies matching rules in the following sequence:

  1. Any custom translation implemented by a subclass. Normally, the provided concrete SQLErrorCodeSQLExceptionTranslator is used, so this rule does not apply. It applies only if you have actually provided a subclass implementation.

  2. Any custom implementation of the SQLExceptionTranslator interface that is provided as the customSqlExceptionTranslator property of the SQLErrorCodes class.

  3. The list of instances of the CustomSQLErrorCodesTranslation class (provided for the customTranslations property of the SQLErrorCodes class) are searched for a match.

  4. Error code matching is applied.

  5. Use the fallback translator. SQLExceptionSubclassTranslator is the default fallback translator. If this translation is not available, the next fallback translator is the SQLStateSQLExceptionTranslator.

The SQLErrorCodesFactory is used by default to define error codes and custom exception translations. They are looked up in a file named sql-error-codes.xml from the classpath, and the matching SQLErrorCodes instance is located based on the database name from the database metadata of the database in use.

You can extend SQLErrorCodeSQLExceptionTranslator, as the following example shows:

  • Java

  • Kotlin

public class CustomSQLErrorCodesTranslator extends SQLErrorCodeSQLExceptionTranslator {

	protected DataAccessException customTranslate(String task, String sql, SQLException sqlEx) {
		if (sqlEx.getErrorCode() == -12345) {
			return new DeadlockLoserDataAccessException(task, sqlEx);
		}
		return null;
	}
}
class CustomSQLErrorCodesTranslator : SQLErrorCodeSQLExceptionTranslator() {

	override fun customTranslate(task: String, sql: String?, sqlEx: SQLException): DataAccessException? {
		if (sqlEx.errorCode == -12345) {
			return DeadlockLoserDataAccessException(task, sqlEx)
		}
		return null
	}
}

In the preceding example, the specific error code (-12345) is translated while other errors are left to be translated by the default translator implementation. To use this custom translator, you must pass it to the JdbcTemplate through the method setExceptionTranslator, and you must use this JdbcTemplate for all of the data access processing where this translator is needed. The following example shows how you can use this custom translator:

  • Java

  • Kotlin

private JdbcTemplate jdbcTemplate;

public void setDataSource(DataSource dataSource) {
	// create a JdbcTemplate and set data source
	this.jdbcTemplate = new JdbcTemplate();
	this.jdbcTemplate.setDataSource(dataSource);

	// create a custom translator and set the DataSource for the default translation lookup
	CustomSQLErrorCodesTranslator tr = new CustomSQLErrorCodesTranslator();
	tr.setDataSource(dataSource);
	this.jdbcTemplate.setExceptionTranslator(tr);
}

public void updateShippingCharge(long orderId, long pct) {
	// use the prepared JdbcTemplate for this update
	this.jdbcTemplate.update("update orders" +
		" set shipping_charge = shipping_charge * ? / 100" +
		" where id = ?", pct, orderId);
}
// create a JdbcTemplate and set data source
private val jdbcTemplate = JdbcTemplate(dataSource).apply {
	// create a custom translator and set the DataSource for the default translation lookup
	exceptionTranslator = CustomSQLErrorCodesTranslator().apply {
		this.dataSource = dataSource
	}
}

fun updateShippingCharge(orderId: Long, pct: Long) {
	// use the prepared JdbcTemplate for this update
	this.jdbcTemplate!!.update("update orders" +
			" set shipping_charge = shipping_charge * ? / 100" +
			" where id = ?", pct, orderId)
}

The custom translator is passed a data source in order to look up the error codes in sql-error-codes.xml.

Running Statements

Running an SQL statement requires very little code. You need a DataSource and a JdbcTemplate, including the convenience methods that are provided with the JdbcTemplate. The following example shows what you need to include for a minimal but fully functional class that creates a new table:

  • Java

  • Kotlin

import javax.sql.DataSource;
import org.springframework.jdbc.core.JdbcTemplate;

public class ExecuteAStatement {

	private JdbcTemplate jdbcTemplate;

	public void setDataSource(DataSource dataSource) {
		this.jdbcTemplate = new JdbcTemplate(dataSource);
	}

	public void doExecute() {
		this.jdbcTemplate.execute("create table mytable (id integer, name varchar(100))");
	}
}
import javax.sql.DataSource
import org.springframework.jdbc.core.JdbcTemplate

class ExecuteAStatement(dataSource: DataSource) {

	private val jdbcTemplate = JdbcTemplate(dataSource)

	fun doExecute() {
		jdbcTemplate.execute("create table mytable (id integer, name varchar(100))")
	}
}

Running Queries

Some query methods return a single value. To retrieve a count or a specific value from one row, use queryForObject(..). The latter converts the returned JDBC Type to the Java class that is passed in as an argument. If the type conversion is invalid, an InvalidDataAccessApiUsageException is thrown. The following example contains two query methods, one for an int and one that queries for a String:

  • Java

  • Kotlin

import javax.sql.DataSource;
import org.springframework.jdbc.core.JdbcTemplate;

public class RunAQuery {

	private JdbcTemplate jdbcTemplate;

	public void setDataSource(DataSource dataSource) {
		this.jdbcTemplate = new JdbcTemplate(dataSource);
	}

	public int getCount() {
		return this.jdbcTemplate.queryForObject("select count(*) from mytable", Integer.class);
	}

	public String getName() {
		return this.jdbcTemplate.queryForObject("select name from mytable", String.class);
	}
}
import javax.sql.DataSource
import org.springframework.jdbc.core.JdbcTemplate

class RunAQuery(dataSource: DataSource) {

	private val jdbcTemplate = JdbcTemplate(dataSource)

	val count: Int
		get() = jdbcTemplate.queryForObject("select count(*) from mytable")!!

	val name: String?
		get() = jdbcTemplate.queryForObject("select name from mytable")
}

In addition to the single result query methods, several methods return a list with an entry for each row that the query returned. The most generic method is queryForList(..), which returns a List where each element is a Map containing one entry for each column, using the column name as the key. If you add a method to the preceding example to retrieve a list of all the rows, it might be as follows:

  • Java

  • Kotlin

private JdbcTemplate jdbcTemplate;

public void setDataSource(DataSource dataSource) {
	this.jdbcTemplate = new JdbcTemplate(dataSource);
}

public List<Map<String, Object>> getList() {
	return this.jdbcTemplate.queryForList("select * from mytable");
}
private val jdbcTemplate = JdbcTemplate(dataSource)

fun getList(): List<Map<String, Any>> {
	return jdbcTemplate.queryForList("select * from mytable")
}

The returned list would resemble the following:

[{name=Bob, id=1}, {name=Mary, id=2}]

Updating the Database

The following example updates a column for a certain primary key:

  • Java

  • Kotlin

import javax.sql.DataSource;
import org.springframework.jdbc.core.JdbcTemplate;

public class ExecuteAnUpdate {

	private JdbcTemplate jdbcTemplate;

	public void setDataSource(DataSource dataSource) {
		this.jdbcTemplate = new JdbcTemplate(dataSource);
	}

	public void setName(int id, String name) {
		this.jdbcTemplate.update("update mytable set name = ? where id = ?", name, id);
	}
}
import javax.sql.DataSource
import org.springframework.jdbc.core.JdbcTemplate

class ExecuteAnUpdate(dataSource: DataSource) {

	private val jdbcTemplate = JdbcTemplate(dataSource)

	fun setName(id: Int, name: String) {
		jdbcTemplate.update("update mytable set name = ? where id = ?", name, id)
	}
}

In the preceding example, an SQL statement has placeholders for row parameters. You can pass the parameter values in as varargs or, alternatively, as an array of objects. Thus, you should explicitly wrap primitives in the primitive wrapper classes, or you should use auto-boxing.

Retrieving Auto-generated Keys

An update() convenience method supports the retrieval of primary keys generated by the database. This support is part of the JDBC 3.0 standard. See Chapter 13.6 of the specification for details. The method takes a PreparedStatementCreator as its first argument, and this is the way the required insert statement is specified. The other argument is a KeyHolder, which contains the generated key on successful return from the update. There is no standard single way to create an appropriate PreparedStatement (which explains why the method signature is the way it is). The following example works on Oracle but may not work on other platforms:

  • Java

  • Kotlin

final String INSERT_SQL = "insert into my_test (name) values(?)";
final String name = "Rob";

KeyHolder keyHolder = new GeneratedKeyHolder();
jdbcTemplate.update(connection -> {
	PreparedStatement ps = connection.prepareStatement(INSERT_SQL, new String[] { "id" });
	ps.setString(1, name);
	return ps;
}, keyHolder);

// keyHolder.getKey() now contains the generated key
val INSERT_SQL = "insert into my_test (name) values(?)"
val name = "Rob"

val keyHolder = GeneratedKeyHolder()
jdbcTemplate.update({
	it.prepareStatement (INSERT_SQL, arrayOf("id")).apply { setString(1, name) }
}, keyHolder)

// keyHolder.getKey() now contains the generated key