When you use ij interactively to connect to a database, you generally supply connection information on the full database connection URL. ij automatically loads the appropriate driver based on the syntax of the URL. The following example shows how to connect in this way by using the Connect command and the embedded driver:

If the URL entered contains Network Client information, the Connect command loads the Network Client driver:

In these and subsequent examples, the databases are created in the derby.system.home directory. For more information on the System Directory, see the .

ij provides alternate methods of specifying part or all of a connection URL: the ij.protocol, ij.database, and ij.connection.connectionName properties. These properties are often used when a script is being used and the database path name or the driver name is not known until runtime. The properties can also to used to shorten the amount of information that must be provided with the connection URL. The following are some examples of different ways to supply the connection information:

• Supplying full connection information on the command line

  Specifying one of the following properties along with a valid connection URL on the ij command line starts ij with the connection already active. This mechanism is often used when running a SQL script, so that the database path name can be specified at runtime.

  • ij.database: Opens a connection using the URL provided
  • ij.connection.connectionName: Used to open one or more connections. The property can appear multiple times on the command line with different connectionNames and the same or different URLs.

  This example shows how to create the database myTours and run the script ToursDB_schema.sql by specifying the database URL using the ij.database property.

  java -Dij.database=jdbc:derby:myTours;create=true \ org.apache.derby.tools.ij \ %DERBY_HOME%\demo\programs\toursdb\ToursDB_schema.sql ij version CONNECTION0* - jdbc:derby:myTours * = current connection ij> -- Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more -- contributor license agreements. See the NOTICE file distributed with ...output removed... ij> CREATE TRIGGER TRIG2 AFTER DELETE ON FLIGHTS FOR EACH STATEMENT MODE DB2SQL INSERT INTO FLIGHTS_HISTORY (STATUS) VALUES ('INSERTED FROM TRIG2'); 0 rows inserted/updated/deleted ij>
• Defining a Protocol and using a "short form" URL

  You can specify a default URL protocol and subprotocol by setting the property ij.protocol or using the Protocol command. This allows you to make a connection by specifying only the database name. This "short form" of the database connection URL defaults the protocol (For more information, see ).

  This example uses the Protocol command and a "short form" connection URL:

  java org.apache.derby.tools.ij ij version ij> protocol 'jdbc:derby:'; ij> connect 'sample'; ij>
• Specifying an alternate driver

  If you are using the drivers supplied by , you can specify the driver names listed in JDBC drivers overview. However, the drivers are implicitly loaded when a supported protocol is used, so specifying them is usually redundant. You may find it useful to specify the driver if you need to reload it after you have shut down the engine and deregistered the driver.

  To load a driver explicitly, use the ij command Driver or specify the JVM system property jdbc.drivers.