SQL Server 2005's Type 4 JDBC driver provides database connectivity from a Java application. Though the driver class and connection URL are a bit different in this version, connectivity is a snap.

You could just implement a corresponding Java type that implements the SQLData interface and then tell the connection object the new SQL-Java type mapping via the Connection.setTypeMap() method.

Windows 7 includes an ODBC manager that lets you connect from your desktop to a SQL server. You create a data source name (DSN) to save database setup information, so you can open a connection to ...