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WebLogic jDriver for Oracle (Deprecated)

# Introduction

Note: The WebLogic jDriver for Oracle is deprecated and will be removed in a future release. BEA recommends that you use a different JDBC driver to connect to your Oracle database. For information about supported database versions and drivers, see "Supported Database Configurations" in Supported Configurations for WebLogic Platform 8.1.

This document explains how to configure and use BEA's JDBC driver for the Oracle Database Management System (DBMS) with WebLogic Server.

We assume you are familiar with Java, general DBMS concepts, and Structured Query Language (SQL).

This section discusses the following topics:

- Overview of WebLogic jDrivers
- WebLogic jDriver for Oracle

# Overview of WebLogic jDrivers

BEA offers the following WebLogic jDrivers for use with the WebLogic Server software:

- Type 2 native JDBC driver for Oracle that includes distributed transaction capability
- Type 4 JDBC driver for Microsoft SQL Server

Type-2 drivers use client libraries supplied by a database vendor, while Type-4 drivers are pure-Java—they connect to the database server at the wire level without vendor-supplied client libraries.

You use these drivers to create the physical database connections in a connection pool. You can also use JDBC drivers from other vendors. See Using JDBC Drivers with WebLogic Server in Programming WebLogic JDBC.

# WebLogic jDriver for Oracle

WebLogic jDriver for Oracle, a Type 2 JDBC driver for the Oracle DBMS, is provided with the WebLogic Server software. To use this driver, you must install a complete Oracle client, including all required libraries, on the machine that will be the client to the Oracle DBMS. This Oracle client installation must contain vendor-supplied client libraries and associated files required by WebLogic Server.

Note: You must use the same version of the WebLogic jDriver for Oracle, the Oracle client, and the database management system. That is, if you use version 8.1.7 of the Oracle DBMS, you must also use the 8.1.7 version of the Oracle client and the WebLogic jDriver for Oracle.

## Oracle Shared Libraries

The WebLogic Server distribution includes a choice of several BEA-supplied native libraries for WebLogic Server. Which library you choose depends on which Oracle client version is installed on your client machine and which version of the Oracle API you will use to access your Oracle server. Before you can use this driver, you must include both the BEA-supplied native library and the Oracle-supplied client libraries in your the client's `PATH` (Windows) or `shared library path` (UNIX). For more information, see Configuring WebLogic jDriver for Oracle.

## Distributed Transactions with the WebLogic jDriver for Oracle/XA

WebLogic Server provides a multithreaded JDBC/XA driver for Oracle Corporation's Oracle8i and Oracle9i database management systems. The WebLogic jDriver for Oracle/XA is the transaction-enabled version of WebLogic jDriver for Oracle. The WebLogic jDriver for Oracle/XA fully supports XA, the bidirectional system-level interface between a transaction manager and a resource manager of the X/Open Distributed Transaction Processing (DTP) model. For more information, see Using WebLogic jDriver for Oracle/XA in Distributed Transactions.