Gemini/DBAccess/GettingStarted

Getting Started with Gemini DBAccess

Gemini DBAccess provides a way for a database to be accessed through JDBC in a modular environment like OSGi.

Required Bundles
----------------

To run Gemini DBAccess in OSGi you will need to have the following:

1. OSGi Framework

You may use Plugin Development Environment (PDE) in Eclipse, which will give you access to the Equinox
OSGi framework, or you may execute outside of PDE and use any OSGi framework you choose, such as Felix.

2. Database and JDBC driver

You should have installed and started your database server. DBAccess bundles do not start databases or servers.
It is assumed that such servers are already running. If the driver is not already OSGi-ready then you may need
to create a bundle. If the drivers have been packaged with DBAccess then you will not need additional copies.

Note: The JDBC drivers for the Derby embedded database are shipped with Gemini DBAccess.

3. OSGi Enterprise API bundle

Some of the OSGi Enterprise APIs are used by DBAccess so the osgi.enterprise bundle must be resident. It normally
includes both the source and the class files so it can be used for both execution and debugging. It can be obtained
here: http://www.osgi.org/Download/Release4V42

Note: This bundle is shipped with Gemini DBAccess.

4. The Gemini DBAccess bundles

There are typically two bundles for each supported database. The first bundle is the JDBC driver bundle
and includes the JDBC driver code. If a driver is already OSGi-ready then it should be bundlized
appropriately. If the driver is not already in an appropriate OSGi bundle then DBAccess will either provide
one, or explain how to create one, depending upon whether the driver JARs may be distributed or not.

The second bundle is a DBAccess bundle that contains all of the logic to implement and register the
DataSourceFactory service as specified by the OSGi JDBC specification.

For example, the following bundles provide support for the Derby client/server database:

1. org.apache.derby - the derby JDBC driver jars
2. org.eclipse.gemini.dbaccess.derby - the Gemini supporting classes for Derby

Note: These bundles are shipped with Gemini DBAccess.

Installation
------------

If running in PDE then import the various bundles (the framework will already be there) as plug-ins
into your workspace. If you are not using PDE, but are using the framework directly then follow the
documentation of the framework for installing the bundles.

Configuration
-------------

Gemini DBAccess does not require any special environment configuration.