A RowSet is an object that encapsulates a set of rows from either java Database Connectivity (JDBC) result sets or tabular data sources. RowSets support component-based development models like JavaBeans, with a standard set of properties and an event notification mechanism.

RowSets were introduced in JDBC 2.0 through the optional packages. However, the implementation of RowSets was standardized in the JDBC RowSet Implementations Specification (JSR-114), which is available as non-optional package since Java Platform, Standard Edition (Java SE) 5.0. Java SE 6.0 RowSets contain more APIs supporting features like RowId, National Language Charactersets, and so on. The Java SE Javadocs provide information about the standard interfaces and base classes for JDBC RowSet implementations.

The JSR-114 specification includes implementation details for five types of RowSet:

• CachedRowSet

• JdbcRowSet

• WebRowSet

• FilteredRowSet

• JoinRowSet

Oracle JDBC supports all five types of RowSets through the interfaces and classes present in the oracle.jdbc.rowset package. Since Oracle Database 11g Release 1, RowSets support has been added in the server-side drivers. Therefore, starting from Oracle Database 11g Release 1, RowSets support is uniform across all Oracle JDBC driver types. The standard Oracle JDBC Java Archive (JAR) files, for example, ojdbc6.jar and ojdbc7.jar contain the oracle.jdbc.rowset package.

To use the Oracle RowSet implementations, you need to import either the entire oracle.jdbc.rowset package or specific classes and interfaces from the package for the required RowSet type. For client-side usage, you also need to include the standard Oracle JAR files like ojdbc6.jar or ojdbc7.jar in the CLASSPATH environment variable.

This section covers the following topics:

• RowSet Properties

• Events and Event Listeners

• Command Parameters and Command Execution

• About Traversing RowSets

...
rowset.setUrl("jdbc:oracle:oci:@");
rowset.setUsername("HR");
rowset.setPassword("hr");
rowset.setCommand("SELECT employee_id, first_name, last_name, salary FROM employees");
...

 ...
 MyRowSetListener rowsetListener = new MyRowSetListener ();
 // adding a rowset listener
 rowset.addRowSetListener (rowsetListener);
 ...

 public class MyRowSetListener implements RowSetListener
  {
    public void cursorMoved(RowSetEvent event)
    {
      // action on cursor movement
    }
 
    public void rowChanged(RowSetEvent event)
    {
      // action on change of row
    }
 
    public void rowSetChanged(RowSetEvent event)
    {
      // action on changing of rowset
    }
  }// end of class MyRowSetListener

 ...
 rowset.addRowSetListener(new oracle.jdbc.rowset.OracleRowSetListenerAdapter ()
    {
      public void rowSetChanged(RowSetEvent event)
      {
        // your action for rowSetChanged
      }
    }
  );
 ...

 ...
  rowset.setCommand("SELECT first_name, last_name, salary FROM employees WHERE employee_id = ?");
  // setting the employee number input parameter for employee named "Douglas"
  rowset.setInt(1, 199);
  rowset.execute();
  ...

/**
 *  Scrolling forward, and printing the empno in 
 *  the order in which it was fetched.
 */
...
rowset.setCommand("SELECT empno, ename, sal FROM emp");
rowset.execute();
...
// going to the first row of the rowset
rowset.beforeFirst ();
while (rowset.next ())
  System.out.println ("empno: " +rowset.getInt (1));

/**
 *  Scrolling backward, and printing the empno in 
 *  the reverse order as it was fetched.
 */
//going to the last row of the rowset
rowset.afterLast ();
while (rowset.previous ())
  System.out.println ("empno: " +rowset.getInt (1));

...
/**
  * Make rowset updatable
  */
rowset.setReadOnly (false); 
/**
 * Inserting a row in the 5th position of the rowset.
 */
// moving the cursor to the 5th position in the rowset
if (rowset.absolute(5))
{
  rowset.moveToInsertRow ();
  rowset.updateInt (1, 193);
  rowset.updateString (2, "Smith");
  rowset.updateInt (3, 7200);

  // inserting a row in the rowset
  rowset.insertRow ();

  // Synchronizing the data in RowSet with that in the database.
  rowset.acceptChanges ();
}
...

A CachedRowSet is a RowSet in which the rows are cached and the RowSet is disconnected, that is, it does not maintain an active connection to the database. The oracle.jdbc.rowset.OracleCachedRowSet class is the Oracle implementation of CachedRowSet. It can interoperate with the standard reference implementation. The OracleCachedRowSet class in the ojdbc6.jar and ojdbc7.jar files implements the standard JSR-114 interface javax.sql.rowset.CachedRowSet.

In the following code, an OracleCachedRowSet object is created and the connection URL, user name, password, and the SQL query for the RowSet object is set as properties. The RowSet object is populated using the execute method. After the execute method has been processed, the RowSet object can be used as a java.sql.ResultSet object to retrieve, scroll, insert, delete, or update data.

...
RowSet rowset = new OracleCachedRowSet();
rowset.setUrl("jdbc:oracle:oci:@");
rowset.setUsername("HR");
rowset.setPassword("hr");
rowset.setCommand("SELECT employee_id, first_name, last_name, salary FROM employees");
rowset.execute();
while (rowset.next ())
{
  System.out.println("employee_id: " +rowset.getInt (1));
  System.out.println("first_name: " +rowset.getString (2));
  System.out.println("last_name: " +rowset.getString (3));
  System.out.println("sal: "   +rowset.getInt (4));
}
...

To populate a CachedRowSet object with a query, complete the following steps:

1. Instantiate OracleCachedRowSet.

2. Set the Url, which is the connection URL, Username, Password, and Command, which is the query string, properties for the RowSet object. You can also set the connection type, but it is optional.

3. Call the execute method to populate the CachedRowSet object. Calling execute runs the query set as a property on this RowSet.

    OracleCachedRowSet rowset = new OracleCachedRowSet ();
    rowset.setUrl ("jdbc:oracle:oci:@");
    rowset.setUsername ("HR");
    rowset.setPassword ("hr");
    rowset.setCommand ("SELECT employee_id, first_name, last_name, salary FROM employees");
    rowset.execute ();
    

A CachedRowSet object can be populated with an existing ResultSet object, using the populate method. To do so, complete the following steps:

1. Instantiate OracleCachedRowSet.

2. Pass the already available ResultSet object to the populate method to populate the RowSet object.

    // Executing a query to get the ResultSet object.
    ResultSet rset = pstmt.executeQuery ();
    
    OracleCachedRowSet rowset = new OracleCachedRowSet ();
    // the obtained ResultSet object is passed to the populate method
    // to populate the data in the rowset object.
    rowset.populate (rset);
    

In the preceding example, a ResultSet object is obtained by running a query and the retrieved ResultSet object is passed to the populate method of the CachedRowSet object to populate the contents of the result set into the CachedRowSet.

The following code illustrates how an OracleCachedRowSet object is serialized to a file and then retrieved:

// writing the serialized OracleCachedRowSet object
{
  FileOutputStream fileOutputStream = new FileOutputStream("emp_tab.dmp");
  ObjectOutputStream ostream = new ObjectOutputStream(fileOutputStream);
  ostream.writeObject(rowset);
  ostream.close();
  fileOutputStream.close();
}

// reading the serialized OracleCachedRowSet object
{
  FileInputStream fileInputStream = new FileInputStream("emp_tab.dmp");
  ObjectInputStream istream = new ObjectInputStream(fileInputStream);
  RowSet rowset1 = (RowSet) istream.readObject();
  istream.close();
  fileInputStream.close();
}

In the preceding code, a FileOutputStream object is opened for an emp_tab.dmp file, and the populated OracleCachedRowSet object is written to the file using ObjectOutputStream. The serialized OracleCachedRowSet object is retrieved using the FileInputStream and ObjectInputStream objects.

OracleCachedRowSet takes care of the serialization of non-serializable form of data like InputStream, OutputStream, binary large objects (BLOBs), and character large objects (CLOBs). OracleCachedRowSets also implements metadata of its own, which could be obtained without any extra server round-trip. The following code illustrates how you can obtain metadata for the RowSet:

...
ResultSetMetaData metaData = rowset.getMetaData();
int maxCol = metaData.getColumnCount();
for (int i = 1; i <= maxCol; ++i)
   System.out.println("Column (" + i +") " + metaData.getColumnName(i));
...

Because the OracleCachedRowSet class is serializable, it can be passed across a network or between Java Virtual Machines (JVMs), as done in Remote Method Invocation (RMI). Once the OracleCachedRowSet class is populated, it can move around any JVM, or any environment that does not have JDBC drivers. Committing the data in the RowSet requires the presence of JDBC drivers.

The complete process of retrieving the data and populating it in the OracleCachedRowSet class is performed on the server and the populated RowSet is passed on to the client using suitable architectures like RMI or Enterprise Java Beans (EJB). The client would be able to perform all the operations like retrieving, scrolling, inserting, updating, and deleting on the RowSet without any connection to the database. Whenever data is committed to the database, the acceptChanges method is called, which synchronizes the data in the RowSet to that in the database. This method makes use of JDBC drivers, which require the JVM environment to contain JDBC implementation. This architecture would be suitable for systems involving a Thin client like a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA).

After populating the CachedRowSet object, it can be used as a ResultSet object or any other object, which can be passed over the network using RMI or any other suitable architecture.

Some of the other key-features of CachedRowSet are the following:

• Cloning a RowSet

• Creating a copy of a RowSet

• Creating a shared copy of a RowSet

A JdbcRowSet is a RowSet that wraps around a ResultSet object. It is a connected RowSet that provides JDBC interfaces in the form of a JavaBean interface. The Oracle implementation of JdbcRowSet is oracle.jdbc.rowset.OracleJDBCRowSet. The OracleJDBCRowSet class in ojdbc6.jar and ojdbc7.jar implements the standard JSR-114 interface javax.sql.rowset.JdbcRowSet.

Table 18-1 shows how the JdbcRowSet interface differs from CachedRowSet interface.

JdbcRowSet is a connected RowSet, which has a live connection to the database and all the calls on the JdbcRowSet are percolated to the mapping call in the JDBC connection, statement, or result set. A CachedRowSet does not have any connection to the database open.

JdbcRowSet requires the presence of JDBC drivers unlike a CachedRowSet, which does not require JDBC drivers during manipulation. However, both JdbcRowSet and CachedRowSet require JDBC drivers during population of the RowSet and while committing the changes of the RowSet.

The following code illustrates how a JdbcRowSet is used:

...
RowSet rowset = new OracleJDBCRowSet();
rowset.setUrl("java:oracle:oci:@");
rowset.setUsername("HR");
rowset.setPassword("hr");
rowset.setCommand("SELECT empno, ename, sal FROM emp");
rowset.execute();
while (rowset.next())
{
  System.out.println("empno: " + rowset.getInt(1));
  System.out.println("ename: " + rowset.getString(2));
  System.out.println("sal: " + rowset.getInt(3));
}
...

In the preceding example, the connection URL, user name, password, and SQL query are set as properties of the RowSet object, the SQL query is processed using the execute method, and the rows are retrieved and printed by traversing through the data populated in the RowSet object.

A WebRowSet is an extension to CachedRowSet. It represents a set of fetched rows or tabular data that can be passed between tiers and components in a way such that no active connections with the data source need to be maintained. The WebRowSet interface provides support for the production and consumption of result sets and their synchronization with the data source, both in Extensible Markup Language (XML) format and in disconnected fashion. This allows result sets to be shipped across tiers and over Internet protocols.

The Oracle implementation of WebRowSet is oracle.jdbc.rowset.OracleWebRowSet. This class, which is in the ojdbc6.jar and ojdbc7.jar files, implements the standard JSR-114 interface javax.sql.rowset.WebRowSet. This class also extends the oracle.jdbc.rowset.OracleCachedRowSet class. Besides the methods available in OracleCachedRowSet, the OracleWebRowSet class provides the following methods:

• public OracleWebRowSet() throws SQLException
  

  This is the constructor for creating an OracleWebRowSet object, which is initialized with the default values for an OracleCachedRowSet object, a default OracleWebRowSetXmlReader, and a default OracleWebRowSetXmlWriter.

• public void writeXml(java.io.Writer writer) throws SQLException
  public void writeXml(java.io.OutputStream ostream) throws SQLException
  

  These methods write the OracleWebRowSet object to the supplied Writer or OutputStream object in the XML format that conforms to the JSR-114 XML schema. In addition to the RowSet data, the properties and metadata of the RowSet are written.

• public void writeXml(ResultSet rset, java.io.Writer writer) throws SQLException
  public void writeXml(ResultSet rset, java.io.OutputStream ostream) throws SQLException
  

  These methods create an OracleWebRowSet object, populate it with the data in the given ResultSet object, and write it to the supplied Writer or OutputStream object in the XML format that conforms to the JSR-114 XML schema.

• public void readXml(java.io.Reader reader) throws SQLException
  public void readXml(java.io.InputStream istream) throws SQLException
  

  These methods read the OracleWebRowSet object in the XML format according to its JSR-114 XML schema, using the supplied Reader or InsputStream object.

The Oracle WebRowSet implementation supports Java API for XML Processing (JAXP) 1.2. Both Simple API for XML (SAX) 2.0 and Document Object Model (DOM) JAXP-conforming XML parsers are supported. It follows the current JSR-114 W3C XML schema for WebRowSet.

Applications that use the readXml(...) methods should set one of the following two standard JAXP system properties before calling the methods:

• javax.xml.parsers.SAXParserFactory

  This property is for a SAX parser.

• javax.xml.parsers.DocumentBuilderFactory

  This property is for a DOM parser.

The following code illustrates the use of OracleWebRowSet for both writing and reading in XML format:

import java.sql.*;
import java.io.*;
import oracle.jdbc.rowset.*;

...
String url = "jdbc:oracle:oci8:@";

Connection conn = DriverManager.getConnection(url,"HR","hr");
Statement stmt = conn.createStatement();
ResultSet rset = stmt.executeQuery("select * from employees");

// Create an OracleWebRowSet object and populate it with the ResultSet object
OracleWebRowSet wset = new OracleWebRowSet();
wset.populate(rset);

try
{
  // Create a java.io.Writer object
  FileWriter out = new FileWriter("xml.out");
  
  // Now generate the XML and write it out
  wset.writeXml(out);
}
catch (IOException exc)
{
  System.out.println("Couldn't construct a FileWriter");
}
System.out.println("XML output file generated.");

// Create a new OracleWebRowSet for reading from XML input
OracleWebRowSet wset2 = new OracleWebRowSet();

// Use Oracle JAXP SAX parser
System.setProperty("javax.xml.parsers.SAXParserFactory","oracle.xml.jaxp.JXSAXParserFactory");

try
{
  // Use the preceding output file as input
  FileReader fr = new FileReader("xml.out");
  
  // Now read XML stream from the FileReader
  wset2.readXml(fr);
}
catch (IOException exc)
{
  System.out.println("Couldn't construct a FileReader");
}
...

A FilteredRowSet is an extension to WebRowSet that provides programmatic support for filtering its content. This enables you to avoid the overhead of supplying a query and the processing involved. The Oracle implementation of FilteredRowSet is oracle.jdbc.rowset.OracleFilteredRowSet. The OracleFilteredRowSet class in the ojdbc7.jar files implements the standard JSR-114 interface javax.sql.rowset.FilteredRowSet.

The OracleFilteredRowSet class defines the following new methods:

• public Predicate getFilter();
  

  This method returns a Predicate object that defines the filtering criteria active on the OracleFilteredRowSet object.

• public void setFilter(Predicate p) throws SQLException;
  

  This method takes a Predicate object as a parameter. The Predicate object defines the filtering criteria to be applied on the OracleFilteredRowSet object. The methods throws a SQLException exception.

The predicate set on an OracleFilteredRowSet object defines a filtering criteria that is applied to all the rows in the object to obtain the set of visible rows. The predicate also defines the criteria for inserting, deleting, and modifying rows. The set filtering criteria acts as a gating mechanism for all views and updates to the OracleFilteredRowSet object. Any attempt to update the OracleFilteredRowSet object, which violates the filtering criteria, throws a SQLException exception.

The filtering criteria set on an OracleFilteredRowSet object can be modified by applying a new Predicate object. The new criteria is immediately applied on the object, and all further views and updates must adhere to this new criteria. A new filtering criteria can be applied only if there are no reference to the OracleFilteredRowSet object.

Rows that fall outside of the filtering criteria set on the object cannot be modified until the filtering criteria is removed or a new filtering criteria is applied. Also, only the rows that fall within the bounds of the filtering criteria will be synchronized with the data source, if an attempt is made to persist the object.

The following code example illustrates the use of OracleFilteredRowSet. Assume a table, test_table, with two NUMBER columns, col1 and col2. The code retrieves those rows from the table that have value of col1 between 50 and 100 and value of col2 between 100 and 200.

The predicate defining the filtering criteria is as follows:

public class PredicateImpl implements Predicate
{
  private int low[];
  private int high[];
  private int columnIndexes[];
  
  public PredicateImpl(int[] lo, int[] hi, int[] indexes)
  {
    low = lo;
    high = hi;
    columnIndexes = indexes;
  }
  
  public boolean evaluate(RowSet rs)
  {
    boolean result = true;
    for (int i = 0; i < columnIndexes.length; i++)
    {
      int columnValue = rs.getInt(columnIndexes[i]);
      if (columnValue < low[i] || columnValue > high[i])
        result = false;
    }
    return result;
  }

// the other two evaluate(...) methods simply return true

}

The predicate defined in the preceding code is used for filtering content in an OracleFilteredRowSet object, as follows:

...
OracleFilteredRowSet ofrs = new OracleFilteredRowSet();
int low[] = {50, 100};
int high[] = {100, 200};
int indexes[] = {1, 2};
ofrs.setCommand("select col1, col2 from test_table");

// set other properties on ofrs like usr/pwd ...
...
ofrs.execute();
ofrs.setPredicate(new PredicateImpl(low, high, indexes));

// this will only get rows with col1 in (50,100) and col2 in (100,200)
while (ofrs.next()) {...}
...

A JoinRowSet is an extension to WebRowSet that consists of related data from different RowSets. There is no standard way to establish a SQL JOIN between disconnected RowSets without connecting to the data source. A JoinRowSet addresses this issue. The Oracle implementation of JoinRowSet is the oracle.jdbc.rowset.OracleJoinRowSet class. This class, which is in the ojdbc7.jar files, implements the standard JSR-114 interface javax.sql.rowset.JoinRowSet.

Any number of RowSet objects, which implement the Joinable interface, can be added to a JoinRowSet object, provided they can be related in a SQL JOIN. All five types of RowSet support the Joinable interface. The Joinable interface provides methods for specifying the columns based on which the JOIN will be performed, that is, the match columns.

A match column can be specified in the following ways:

• Using the setMatchColumn method

  This method is defined in the Joinable interface. It is the only method that can be used to set the match column before a RowSet object is added to a JoinRowSet object. This method can also be used to reset the match column at any time.

• Using the addRowSet method

  This is an overloaded method in JoinRowSet. Four of the five implementations of this method take a match column as a parameter. These four methods can be used to set or reset a match column at the time a RowSet object is being added to a JoinRowSet object.

In addition to the inherited methods, OracleJoinRowSet provides the following methods:

• public void addRowSet(Joinable joinable) throws SQLException;
  public void addRowSet(RowSet rowSet, int i) throws SQLException;
  public void addRowSet(RowSet rowSet, String s) throws SQLException;
  public void addRowSet(RowSet arowSet[], int an[]) throws SQLException;
  public void addRowSet(RowSet arowSet[], String as[]) throws SQLException;
  

  These methods are used to add a RowSet object to the OracleJoinRowSet object. You can pass one or more RowSet objects to be added to the OracleJoinRowSet object. You can also pass names or indexes of one or more columns, which need to be set as match column.

• public Collection getRowSets() throws SQLException;
  

  This method retrieves the RowSet objects added to the OracleJoinRowSet object. The method returns a java.util.Collection object that contains the RowSet objects.

• public String[] getRowSetNames() throws SQLException;
  

  This method returns a String array containing the names of the RowSet objects that are added to the OracleJoinRowSet object.

• public boolean supportsCrossJoin();
  public boolean supportsFullJoin();
  public boolean supportsInnerJoin();
  public boolean supportsLeftOuterJoin();
  public boolean supportsRightOuterJoin();
  

  These methods return a boolean value indicating whether the OracleJoinRowSet object supports the corresponding JOIN type.

• public void setJoinType(int i) throws SQLException;
  

  This method is used to set the JOIN type on the OracleJoinRowSet object. It takes an integer constant as defined in the javax.sql.rowset.JoinRowSet interface that specifies the JOIN type.

• public int getJoinType() throws SQLException;
  

  This method returns an integer value that indicates the JOIN type set on the OracleJoinRowSet object. This method throws a SQLException exception.

• public CachedRowSet toCachedRowSet() throws SQLException;
  

  This method creates a CachedRowSet object containing the data in the OracleJoinRowSet object.

• public String getWhereClause() throws SQLException;
  

  This method returns a String containing the SQL-like description of the WHERE clause used in the OracleJoinRowSet object. This methods throws a SQLException exception.

The following code illustrates how OracleJoinRowSet is used to perform an inner join on two RowSets, whose data come from two different tables. The resulting RowSet contains data as if they were the result of an inner join on these two tables. Assume that there are two tables, an Order table with two NUMBER columns Order_id and Person_id, and a Person table with a NUMBER column Person_id and a VARCHAR2 column Name.

...
// RowSet holding data from table Order
OracleCachedRowSet ocrsOrder = new OracleCachedRowSet();
...
ocrsOrder.setCommand("select order_id, person_id from order");
...
// Join on person_id column
ocrsOrder.setMatchColumn(2);
ocrsOrder.execute();

// Creating the JoinRowSet
OracleJoinRowSet ojrs = new OracleJoinRowSet();
ojrs.addRowSet(ocrsOrder);

// RowSet holding data from table Person
OracleCachedRowSet ocrsPerson = new OracleCachedRowSet();
...
ocrsPerson.setCommand("select person_id, name from person");
...
// do not set match column on this RowSet using setMatchColumn().
//use addRowSet() to set match column
ocrsPerson.execute();

// Join on person_id column, in another way
ojrs.addRowSet(ocrsPerson, 1);

// now we can go the JoinRowSet as usual
ojrs.beforeFirst();
while (ojrs.next())
System.out.println("order id = " + ojrs.getInt(1) + ", " + "person id = " +
ojrs.getInt(2) + ", " + "person's name = " + ojrs.getString(3));
...