> Hi!
>
> Having read your "How to Use Java and JDBC To Access a Database"-page I have
> a question.
>
> I'm somewhat a novice in this database server/connection stuff, so my
> question might seem a bit stupid, I don't know :) But here we go:
>
> Is there anyway to establish the JDBC-ODBC bridge without having any rights
> on the server, meaning: I would like to establish the JDBC-ODBC bridge on
> the webserver at school, but without having to go to the sysadmins(who
> normally would do this, right?). I COULD do it, but is there a way to do
> yourself?
> I am looking to create a client/server(that connects to a
> database)-application.
>
> Hope that you can help me, 
> Morten Kristensen
> Denmark
> ______________________________________________________
> Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
>           

I assume you're using an NT network, with the web server running on the
NT server machine.

The database must be registered with the ODBC control panel on whatever
machine attempts to access it via JDBC-ODBC.    So, if you can create
the database on an NT client machine, and register the database via
the ODBC control panel on that machine, then you would be able to get
a java database application to work without going to the sysadmins.

However, this is not true if you want to use JDBC-ODBC with an applet.
In that case, you would need to either (a) keep your database on the
web server, which would require the sysadmins to register it with ODBC,
or (b) run a socket server on the web server, which would require running
a program on the web server's machine.   (The socket server would connect
to another machine, which would have the database on it.)  I assume this
would require cooperation of the sysadmins, too.

Another option is to install a web server on the NT client machine.
The client software for NT comes with the IIS web server.    It is not
part of a normal NT installation, so you'd have to get the NT CD and
install it.

Even if you did this, you might have the problem of multiple people using     
your machine.  In that case, if you registered your database with ODBC,
the database would only remain registered while you were logged on.
To register the database for all users, you'd need to have Administrator
privileges for the machine.

And even if you were able to register the database, you'd need to
have either (a) a socket server, or (b) RmiJDBC, or (c) a commercial
database server such as SQL server, Oracle, or dbAnywhere running on
the machine to accept requests from your applet.    You'd have to
ensure that whichever of these you chose, it would remain running when
you logged off, which would require having it run as an NT service.
Running an NT service probably would require Administrator privileges.

Another possibility would be Active Server Pages or Java Server Pages,
which are extensions to your web server.   The advantage there would
be that since the web server is already an NT service, ASP or JSP would
always be running.    I have no experience with JSP, and it would be
a bit tricky accessing ASPs or JSPs from an applet, though it can be
done.

If you don't mind your database server going down when you log off, and you 
can install a web server on your machine, then you could get your
applet running with any of the four methods I listed.   In some cases,
sysadmins will prevent you from accessing things such as the ODBC
control panel, which would mean you'd have to at least get help from
them on that.

Hope this helps,

--Kurt