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JDBC: Java Database Connectivity

JDBC (Java Database Connectivity) is a standard API for connecting to and interacting with databases.

Spice supports JDBC clients through a JDBC driver implementation based on the Flight SQL protocol. This enables any JDBC-compatible application to connect to Spice, execute queries, and retrieve data.

Set the JDBC pool size to the sum of max_concurrent_queries across the Spice replicas, divided by the number of application instances that share them. Validate the split under load. See Client connection pools. For short lookups, see Short queries.

Download and install the Flight SQL JDBC driver​

Download the Flight SQL JDBC driver​

  • Find the appropriate Flight SQL JDBC driver version.
  • Click Browse next to the version you want to download
  • Click the flight-sql-jdbc-driver-XX.XX.XX.jar file (with only the .jar file extension) from the list of files to download the driver jar file

Add the driver to your application​

Follow the instructions specific to your application for adding a custom JDBC driver. Examples:

Tableau:

  • Windows: C:\Program Files\Tableau\Drivers
  • Mac: ~/Library/Tableau/Drivers
  • Linux: /opt/tableau/tableau_driver/jdbc
  • Start or restart Tableau

Full instruction

JetBrains DataGrip:

  • In Database Explorer menu, select "+" and choose "Driver"
  • Follow the steps to add the JDBC .jar file

Full instruction

DBeaver:

  • In the DBeaver application menu bar, open the "Database" menu and choose: "Driver Manager"
  • Click the "New" button and follow instructions to add JDBC .jar file.

Full instruction

Configure JDBC connection​

  1. Use the following configuration settings:
  • URL: jdbc:arrow-flight-sql://{host}:{port}
  • Dialect: PostgreSQL

For example:

  1. Ensure Spice is running
  2. Click Connect
info

Spice has TLS support. For testing or non-production use cases for Spice without TLS, the following JDBC connection URL will bypass TLS jdbc:arrow-flight-sql://{host}:{port}?useEncryption=false&disableCertificateVerification=true.

Authentication​

If API Key authentication is enabled, the API key can be provided in the JDBC connection URL as a query parameter:

jdbc:arrow-flight-sql://{host}:{port}?user=&password=<enter-api-key-here>

Replace <enter-api-key-here> with the API key value. The user and password parameters are required by the JDBC driver, but only the password parameter is used for the API key.

Execute Test Query​

In the configured application, run a sample query, such as SELECT * FROM taxi_trips;

Query Results

Parameterized Queries​

Spice supports parameterized queries with JDBC. Parameterized queries help prevent SQL injection and improve code clarity by separating query logic from data values.