How do I delete rows with JDBC?

To delete rows from a database using JDBC, you use the executeUpdate() method. This method is used for SQL statements that modify data (like DELETE, INSERT, or UPDATE) and returns an integer representing the number of rows affected.

While you can use a simple Statement, it is highly recommended to use a PreparedStatement to prevent SQL injection and handle parameters safely.

Example: Deleting a Row with PreparedStatement

Here is a typical implementation using the try-with-resources pattern to ensure database connections are closed properly:

package org.kodejava.jdbc;

import java.sql.Connection;
import java.sql.DriverManager;
import java.sql.PreparedStatement;
import java.sql.SQLException;

public class DeleteRowExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        String url = "jdbc:mysql://localhost:3306/your_database";
        String user = "username";
        String password = "password";

        // SQL query with a placeholder (?) for the ID
        String sql = "DELETE FROM users WHERE id = ?";

        try (Connection conn = DriverManager.getConnection(url, user, password);
             PreparedStatement pstmt = conn.prepareStatement(sql)) {

            // Set the value for the placeholder
            int idToDelete = 101;
            pstmt.setInt(1, idToDelete);

            // Execute the delete operation
            int rowsDeleted = pstmt.executeUpdate();

            if (rowsDeleted > 0) {
                System.out.println("Successfuly deleted " + rowsDeleted + " row(s).");
            } else {
                System.out.println("No record found with the specified ID.");
            }

        } catch (SQLException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }
}

Key Steps:

  1. Prepare the SQL: Use the DELETE syntax. Use ? as placeholders for dynamic values.
  2. Create a PreparedStatement: Call connection.prepareStatement(sql).
  3. Bind Parameters: Use setter methods like setInt(), setString(), or setLong() to provide values for the placeholders (indices start at 1).
  4. Execute Update: Call executeUpdate(). It returns the count of deleted rows.
  5. Handle Exceptions: Wrap the code in a try-catch block to handle SQLException.

Which method should I use?

  • executeUpdate(): Use this for DELETE statements. It returns the number of rows removed.
  • Statement: Use only for static SQL with no user input.
  • PreparedStatement: Always preferred for security and performance when using variables in your WHERE clause.

How do I insert rows with JDBC?

To insert rows into a database using JDBC, you typically use the executeUpdate(String sql) method of a Statement or PreparedStatement object.

Here are the two primary ways to do it:

1. Using PreparedStatement (Recommended)

This is the standard approach because it prevents SQL Injection and is more efficient for repeated inserts.

package org.kodejava.jdbc;

import java.sql.Connection;
import java.sql.DriverManager;
import java.sql.PreparedStatement;
import java.sql.SQLException;

public class InsertRecordExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        String url = "jdbc:mysql://localhost:3306/kodejava";
        String user = "root";
        String password = "password";

        String sql = "INSERT INTO users (username, email) VALUES (?, ?)";

        try (Connection conn = DriverManager.getConnection(url, user, password);
             PreparedStatement pstmt = conn.prepareStatement(sql)) {

            // Set the values for the placeholders (?)
            pstmt.setString(1, "john_doe");
            pstmt.setString(2, "[email protected]");

            // executeUpdate returns the number of rows affected
            int rowsInserted = pstmt.executeUpdate();
            if (rowsInserted > 0) {
                System.out.println("A new user was inserted successfully!");
            }

        } catch (SQLException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }
}

2. Using Statement

Use this only for simple, static SQL queries where no user input is involved.

// ... existing code ...
    try (Connection conn = DriverManager.getConnection(url, user, password);
         Statement stmt = conn.createStatement()) {

        String sql = "INSERT INTO users (username, email) VALUES ('jane_doe', '[email protected]')";
        int rows = stmt.executeUpdate(sql);

        System.out.println("Rows affected: " + rows);
    } catch (SQLException e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
    }
// ... existing code ...

Key Takeaways:

  • executeUpdate(): Unlike executeQuery() (which returns a ResultSet), executeUpdate() returns an int representing how many rows were added, changed, or deleted.
  • Try-with-resources: Always wrap your Connection, Statement, or PreparedStatement in a try-with-resources block to ensure they are closed automatically, even if an error occurs.
  • Placeholders: In a PreparedStatement, indices for ? parameters start at 1.

How do I update rows with executeUpdate?

In JDBC, the executeUpdate method is used for SQL statements that modify data, such as UPDATE, INSERT, or DELETE. Unlike executeQuery, which returns a ResultSet, executeUpdate returns an int representing the number of rows affected by the operation.

Here is how you can update rows using PreparedStatement (the recommended way) and Statement.

1. Using PreparedStatement (Recommended)

This approach is more secure as it prevents SQL injection and is more efficient for queries used multiple times.

package org.kodejava.jdbc;

import java.sql.Connection;
import java.sql.DriverManager;
import java.sql.PreparedStatement;
import java.sql.SQLException;

public class UpdateExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        String url = "jdbc:mysql://localhost:3306/musicdb";
        String user = "root";
        String password = "password";

        String sql = "UPDATE album SET title = ? WHERE id = ?";

        try (Connection conn = DriverManager.getConnection(url, user, password);
             PreparedStatement pstmt = conn.prepareStatement(sql)) {

            // Bind values to the placeholders (?)
            pstmt.setString(1, "The White Album");
            pstmt.setLong(2, 10L);

            // Execute the update
            int rowsAffected = pstmt.executeUpdate();

            System.out.println("Rows updated: " + rowsAffected);

        } catch (SQLException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }
}

2. Using Statement

Use this only for simple, static SQL queries where no user input is involved.

String sql = "UPDATE album SET title = 'Rubber Soul' WHERE id = 5";

try (Connection conn = DriverManager.getConnection(url, user, password);
     Statement stmt = conn.createStatement()) {

    int rowsAffected = stmt.executeUpdate(sql);
    System.out.println("Rows updated: " + rowsAffected);
}

Key Points to Remember:

  • Return Value: The method returns the number of rows changed. If it returns 0, it means no rows matched your WHERE clause.
  • Transaction Control: If you have set connection.setAutoCommit(false), you must call connection.commit() after executeUpdate() to persist the changes to the database.
  • Resource Management: Always use a try-with-resources block to ensure the Connection and Statement are closed automatically, which prevents database connection leaks.

How do I use PreparedStatement to prevent SQL injection?

Using PreparedStatement is one of the most effective ways to prevent SQL injection in Java. It works by separating the SQL query structure from the data, ensuring that user input is treated strictly as data and never as part of the executable SQL command.

Here is how you use it:

1. The Key Concept: Placeholders

Instead of concatenating strings (which is where the danger lies), you use a question mark (?) as a placeholder for every dynamic value.

2. Implementation Example

package org.kodejava.jdbc;

import java.sql.Connection;
import java.sql.DriverManager;
import java.sql.PreparedStatement;
import java.sql.ResultSet;
import java.sql.SQLException;

public class SecureQueryExample {
    public void getUserDetails(String username) {
        // 1. Define SQL with placeholders (?)
        String sql = "SELECT id, email, status FROM users WHERE username = ?";

        try (Connection conn = DriverManager.getConnection("jdbc:mysql://localhost:3306/mydb", "user", "pass");
             // 2. Prepare the statement
             PreparedStatement pstmt = conn.prepareStatement(sql)) {

            // 3. Bind the values (index starts at 1)
            pstmt.setString(1, username);

            // 4. Execute the query
            try (ResultSet rs = pstmt.executeQuery()) {
                while (rs.next()) {
                    System.out.println("User ID: " + rs.getInt("id"));
                }
            }
        } catch (SQLException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }
}

Why this prevents SQL Injection

Imagine a malicious user provides this as a “username”: ' OR '1'='1.

  • Vulnerable (String Concatenation):
    SELECT * FROM users WHERE username = '' OR '1'='1' — This changes the logic to return all users.
  • Secure (PreparedStatement):
    The database receives the query structure first. When the input is sent, the database looks literally for a user whose name is the string ' OR '1'='1. Since no such user exists, the attack fails, and the query remains safe.

Best Practices

  • Use setXXX methods: Always use the specific setter for your data type (e.g., setInt(), setString(), setTimestamp()). This adds an extra layer of type validation.
  • Never Concatenate: Even if you use a PreparedStatement, if you build the SQL string using + or StringBuilder before passing it to prepareStatement(), you are still vulnerable.
  • Try-with-resources: As shown above, use try-with-resources to ensure the Connection and PreparedStatement are closed automatically, preventing resource leaks.

How do I update records in MS Access database?

In this post, we will learn how to update records in a database using the Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) API. JDBC is a Java API which is used to connect and execute query in the database.

We will be working with an MS Access database file named musicdb.accdb for this example. Our goal is to update an album’s title and release date in our album table.

The following code snippet show you how to do it. The selectAlbum() method is just a helper method to show the album data before and after the data was updated.

package org.kodejava.jdbc;

import java.sql.*;
import java.time.LocalDate;
import java.time.Month;

public class MSAccessUpdate {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        String url = "jdbc:ucanaccess://C:/Users/wayan/Temp/musicdb.accdb";
        try (Connection conn = DriverManager.getConnection(url)) {
            conn.setAutoCommit(false);
            selectAlbum(conn, 2L);

            String sql = """
                    update album
                        set title = ?,
                        release_date = ?
                    where id = ?
                    """;

            PreparedStatement ps = conn.prepareStatement(sql);
            ps.setString(1, "A Hard Day's Night");
            ps.setDate(2, Date.valueOf(LocalDate.of(1964, Month.JULY, 10)));
            ps.setLong(3, 2);

            int rowCount = ps.executeUpdate();
            System.out.printf("%s (rows) updated.%n", rowCount);

            selectAlbum(conn, 2L);

            conn.commit();
        } catch (SQLException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }

    /**
     * Executes a SQL query to select an album from the database based on the
     * provided ID.
     *
     * @param conn the Connection object representing the database connection
     * @param id   the ID of the album to be selected
     * @throws SQLException if a database access error occurs or the SQL query
     * is invalid
     */
    private static void selectAlbum(Connection conn, Long id) throws SQLException {
        String sql = "select * from album where id = ?";
        PreparedStatement ps = conn.prepareStatement(sql);
        ps.setLong(1, id);

        ResultSet rs = ps.executeQuery();
        while (rs.next()) {
            System.out.printf("id=%s, title=%s, released_date=%s%n",
                    rs.getLong("id"), rs.getString("title"),
                    rs.getDate("release_date"));
        }
    }
}

The following is an output produced by the code snippet above:

id=2, title=With the Beatles, released_date=1963-11-22
1 (rows) updated.
id=2, title=A Hard Day's Night, released_date=1964-07-10

Maven Dependencies

<dependency>
    <groupId>io.github.spannm</groupId>
    <artifactId>ucanaccess</artifactId>
    <version>5.1.1</version>
</dependency>

Maven Central

How do I insert a record into Microsoft Access database and get the generated key?

In this tutorial, we’ll guide you through the process of inserting records into an MS Access Database. In the code snippet below we are using the UCanAccess JDBC driver, you can find the Maven dependencies at the end of this tutorial.

Setting Up The Connection

Firstly, we need to set up a connection to our MS Access database. This is done by specifying the path of your database file (.mdb or .accdb) in the JDBC URL and then getting a connection from DriverManager.

String url = "jdbc:ucanaccess://C:/Users/wayan/Temp/musicdb.accdb";
try (Connection connection = DriverManager.getConnection(url)) {
    ...
} catch (SQLException e) {
    e.printStackTrace();
}

Preparing the SQL Statement

Next step is to prepare our SQL insert statement. We use a PreparedStatement – it handles the tedious task of substituting the respective parameters into the placeholders ("?") in our SQL statement.

String sql = "insert into album (title, release_date, created) values (?, ?, ?)";

PreparedStatement ps = connection.prepareStatement(sql, Statement.RETURN_GENERATED_KEYS);

Setting Parameters and Executing the SQL Statement

After defining our SQL statement with placeholders, we replace these placeholders with actual values using the setter methods (setInt(), setString(), setDate(), etc.) provided by the PreparedStatement class. Once, the placeholders have been replaced with actual values, we call executeUpdate() method on the PreparedStatement object to execute the SQL statement.

ps.setString(1, "With the Beatles");
ps.setDate(2, Date.valueOf(LocalDate.of(1963, Month.NOVEMBER, 22)));
ps.setTimestamp(3, Timestamp.valueOf(LocalDateTime.now()));
int rowCount = ps.executeUpdate();
System.out.println("rowCount = " + rowCount);

In the code snippet above we set all placeholders with values we want to insert into the database, and then the statement is executed. The new record gets added to the database. We also keep the rowCount returned by the executeUpdate() method.

Get the Generated Key Value

When creating the PreparedStatement object we also passes the Statement.RETURN_GENERATED_KEYS parameter, this will allow us to get the generated key from the statement object after executing the query.

ResultSet generatedKeys = ps.getGeneratedKeys();
long generatedKey = 1L;
while (generatedKeys.next()) {
    generatedKey = generatedKeys.getLong(1);
}
System.out.println("Generated Key = " + generatedKey);

The Entire Code Snippet

Here is the entire Java class.

package org.kodejava.jdbc;

import java.sql.*;
import java.time.LocalDate;
import java.time.LocalDateTime;
import java.time.Month;

public class MSAccessInsert {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        String url = "jdbc:ucanaccess://C:/Users/wayan/Temp/musicdb.accdb";
        try (Connection connection = DriverManager.getConnection(url)) {
            String sql = "insert into album (title, release_date, created) values (?, ?, ?)";

            PreparedStatement ps = connection.prepareStatement(sql, Statement.RETURN_GENERATED_KEYS);
            ps.setString(1, "With the Beatles");
            ps.setDate(2, Date.valueOf(LocalDate.of(1963, Month.NOVEMBER, 22)));
            ps.setTimestamp(3, Timestamp.valueOf(LocalDateTime.now()));

            int rowCount = ps.executeUpdate();
            System.out.println("rowCount = " + rowCount);

            ResultSet generatedKeys = ps.getGeneratedKeys();
            long generatedKey = 1L;
            while (generatedKeys.next()) {
                generatedKey = generatedKeys.getLong(1);
            }
            System.out.println("Generated Key = " + generatedKey);
        } catch (SQLException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }
}

The code above inserts a new record into the album table in the Access database. Remember to handle any SQLException that may be thrown while interacting with the database.

And that’s it! You have successfully inserted a record into an MS Access database using UCanAccess in Java. Whether you’re creating a small application or dealing with large-scale data management, UCanAccess is an easy, efficient way to work with MS Access databases in Java applications.

Maven Dependencies

<dependency>
    <groupId>io.github.spannm</groupId>
    <artifactId>ucanaccess</artifactId>
    <version>5.1.1</version>
</dependency>

Maven Central

How do I select a record from Microsoft Access Database?

UCanAccess is a pure Java JDBC Driver implementation which allows Java developers and JDBC client programs to read and write Microsoft Access database files (.mdb and .accdb).

In this tutorial, we will demonstrate how to configure a project with UCanAccess and create a simple Java application to select data from an MS Access database.

Establishing a Connection

Before you can interact with a database, you need to establish a connection to it. The following is an example of how to establish a connection using UCanAccess:

String url = "jdbc:ucanaccess://C:/Users/wayan/Temp/musicdb.accdb;";
try (Connection connection = DriverManager.getConnection(url)) {
    System.out.println("connection = " + connection);
    // Rest of the code goes here...
} catch (SQLException e) {
    e.printStackTrace();
}

In the code above, we create a connection URL using the absolute path to our Access database file. Then, we obtain a connection object by calling DriverManager.getConnection(url).

Fetching Data from the Database

Once the connection is established, we can execute SQL queries against the database. Here, let’s create a query to select some data:

String query = "select id, title, release_date from album where id = ?";

PreparedStatement ps = connection.prepareStatement(query);
ps.setLong(1, 1L);

ResultSet rs = ps.executeQuery();
while (rs.next()) {
    System.out.printf("id=%s, title=%s, released_date=%s%n",
            rs.getLong("id"), rs.getString("title"),
            rs.getDate("release_date"));
}

In this code, we create a PreparedStatement object, which enables us to execute parameterized SQL queries in a secure and efficient manner. Here, our SQL query includes a parameter, represented by the ? symbol, which we then set using setLong(). This would replace the ? with the value 1L.

We then execute our query by calling executeQuery() on the PreparedStatement object which returns a ResultSet object. This object represents the result set of the query.

We then loop through the result set and print each record using rs.next(), which is used to iterate through the ResultSet.

Full Code

package org.kodejava.jdbc;

import java.sql.*;

public class MSAccessSelect {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        String url = "jdbc:ucanaccess://C:/Users/wayan/Temp/musicdb.accdb;";
        try (Connection connection = DriverManager.getConnection(url)) {
            System.out.println("connection = " + connection);

            String query = "select id, title, release_date from album where id = ?";

            PreparedStatement ps = connection.prepareStatement(query);
            ps.setLong(1, 1L);

            ResultSet rs = ps.executeQuery();
            while (rs.next()) {
                System.out.printf("id=%s, title=%s, released_date=%s%n",
                        rs.getLong("id"), rs.getString("title"),
                        rs.getDate("release_date"));
            }
        } catch (SQLException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }
}

Remember to handle SQL exceptions that might be thrown during the interaction with the database. And there you have it! Now you know how to work with MS Access Database using UCanAccess in Java. Happy coding!

Maven Dependencies

<dependency>
    <groupId>io.github.spannm</groupId>
    <artifactId>ucanaccess</artifactId>
    <version>5.1.1</version>
</dependency>

Maven Central

How do I store BLOBs data into database?

Database BLOBs (Binary Large Objects) can be used to store any data, such as images, audio, or video files, for instance. This example shows you how we use JDBC library to store image in our database. To send the binary information to the database, we can call the PreparedStatement.setBinaryStream() method and pass the appropriate input stream and its size.

package org.kodejava.jdbc;

import java.io.InputStream;
import java.sql.Connection;
import java.sql.DriverManager;
import java.sql.PreparedStatement;
import java.sql.SQLException;

public class BlobDemo {
    private static final String URL = "jdbc:mysql://localhost/kodejava";
    private static final String USERNAME = "kodejava";
    private static final String PASSWORD = "s3cr*t";

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        try (Connection conn =
                     DriverManager.getConnection(URL, USERNAME, PASSWORD)) {
            conn.setAutoCommit(false);

            String sql = "INSERT INTO product_image " +
                         "(product_id, name, description, image) VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?)";
            String image = "/uml-distilled-3rd-edition.jpg";

            try (PreparedStatement stmt = conn.prepareStatement(sql);
                 InputStream is = BlobDemo.class.getResourceAsStream(image)) {

                stmt.setLong(1, 1L);
                stmt.setString(2, "uml-distilled-3rd-edition.jpg");
                stmt.setString(3, "UML Distilled 3rd Edition");
                stmt.setBinaryStream(4, is);
                stmt.execute();

                conn.commit();
            } catch (Exception e) {
                conn.rollback();
                e.printStackTrace();
            }
        } catch (SQLException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }
}

The structure of product_image table.

CREATE TABLE `product_image`
(
    `id`          bigint(20) unsigned NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
    `product_id`  bigint(20) unsigned NOT NULL,
    `name`        varchar(255)        NOT NULL,
    `description` varchar(255) DEFAULT NULL,
    `image`       blob,
    PRIMARY KEY (`id`),
    KEY `product_id` (`product_id`),
    CONSTRAINT `product_image_ibfk_1` FOREIGN KEY (`product_id`) REFERENCES `product` (`id`)
) ENGINE = InnoDB;

Maven Dependencies

<dependency>
    <groupId>com.mysql</groupId>
    <artifactId>mysql-connector-j</artifactId>
    <version>8.4.0</version>
</dependency>

Maven Central

How do I execute stored procedure?

Stored-procedure are user-generated functions or procedures that, once created in the database, it can be called by the client applications, such as Java application. In this example we’ll demonstrate how to use the JDBC java.sql.CallableStatement to call a stored procedure. The store procedure in this example is just for selecting records from the products table.

package org.kodejava.jdbc;

import java.sql.*;

public class CallableStatementDemo {
    private static final String URL = "jdbc:mysql://localhost/kodejava";
    private static final String USERNAME = "kodejava";
    private static final String PASSWORD = "s3cr*t";

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        try (Connection connection =
                     DriverManager.getConnection(URL, USERNAME, PASSWORD)) {

            // Create a CallableStatement to execute the GetAllProducts() 
            // procedure.
            CallableStatement stmt =
                    connection.prepareCall("{CALL Get_All_Products()}");

            ResultSet rs = stmt.executeQuery();
            while (rs.next()) {
                System.out.println(rs.getLong("id") + "\t"
                        + rs.getString("code") + "\t"
                        + rs.getString("name") + "\t"
                        + rs.getDouble("price"));
            }
        } catch (SQLException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }
}

Below is the stored procedure definition that was executed in the code above.

DELIMITER ;;
CREATE PROCEDURE `Get_All_Products`()
BEGIN
    SELECT * FROM product;
END;;
DELIMITER ;

When running the code snippet, the result will be something like this:

1   P0000001    UML Distilled 3rd Edition   25.0
3   P0000003    PHP Programming 20.0
4   P0000004    Longman Active Study Dictionary 40.0
5   P0000005    Ruby on Rails   24.0
6   P0000006    Championship Manager    0.0
7   P0000007    Transport Tycoon Deluxe 0.0
8   P0000008    Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 0.0
9   P0000009    Pro Evolution Soccer    0.0
10  P0000010    Data Structures, Algorithms 50.99

Maven Dependencies

<dependency>
    <groupId>com.mysql</groupId>
    <artifactId>mysql-connector-j</artifactId>
    <version>8.4.0</version>
</dependency>

Maven Central

How do I know the number of rows affected when updating data in database table?

In this example you can see how to get number of rows or records affected when we update records in the database. The executeUpdate() method of Statement or PreparedStatement return an integer value which tell us how many records was affected by the executed command.

Note that when the return value for executeUpdate() method is 0, it can mean one of two things: (1) the statement executed was an update statement that affected zero row, or (2) the statement executed was a DDL statement such as statement to create a table in a database.

package org.kodejava.jdbc;

import java.sql.Connection;
import java.sql.DriverManager;
import java.sql.PreparedStatement;

public class HowManyRowExample {
    private static final String URL = "jdbc:mysql://localhost/kodejava";
    private static final String USERNAME = "kodejava";
    private static final String PASSWORD = "s3cr*t";

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        try (Connection connection =
                     DriverManager.getConnection(URL, USERNAME, PASSWORD)) {

            String sql = "UPDATE book SET title = ?, published_year = ? WHERE id = ?";

            PreparedStatement ps = connection.prepareStatement(sql);
            ps.setString(1, "Java 8 in Action, First Edition");
            ps.setInt(2, 2014);
            ps.setLong(3, 1L);
            int rows = ps.executeUpdate();

            System.out.printf("%d row(s) updated!", rows);
        } catch (Exception e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }
}

The result of the code snippet above:

1 row(s) updated!

Maven Dependencies

<dependency>
    <groupId>com.mysql</groupId>
    <artifactId>mysql-connector-j</artifactId>
    <version>8.4.0</version>
</dependency>

Maven Central