SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- DataDirect Technologies, Inc., an industry leader in connectivity components for data and applications, today announced the general availability of Connect JDBC 2.2, the industry's first complete suite of Type 4 JDBC(TM) (Java Database Connectivity) drivers for all major databases. DataDirect Connect(R) JDBC 2.2 includes three key new features, including a new Type 4 JDBC technology-based driver for Oracle, the industry's first Java Transaction API-based (JTA) Type 4 driver for SQL Server and vast performance enhancements. Connect JDBC 2.2 is designed to help customers build more competitive Java(TM) 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE(TM)) applications, with greater scalability, functionality and performance across their enterprise databases. "Once again, DataDirect Technologies has proven its market-leadership in data connectivity by providing customers with a single vendor for JDBC drivers across all major databases," said Evan McDonnell, vice president of Product Management, DataDirect Technologies. "With Connect JDBC 2.2, our world-class development team has improved our SQL Server driver performance by up to 20 percent and delivered the industry's first and only Type 4 JDBC driver with JTA support for SQL Server, a feature that other driver vendors have claimed was impossible to develop. Moreover, with this release, we're the first and only JDBC vendor to have J2EE 1.3 certified drivers. Connect JDBC 2.2 clearly demonstrates that we are the leading vendor of connectivity components and customers can trust that our technology will be cutting edge." The true value of Connect JDBC 2.2 has already been realized by several DataDirect Technologies customers and partners, including Sun, IBM, Oracle, webMethods, Macromedia, SAP, ThinAirApps, SeeBeyond and Microsoft. "We've partnered with DataDirect Technologies for many years on the development of JDBC technology, and we're always impressed with their technical advances in the connectivity market," said Vijay Sarathy, J2EE Enterprise Integration Manager, Sun Microsystems, Inc. "As a J2EE Licensee, DataDirect Technologies has had the opportunity to certify their JDBC technology-based drivers to the 1.3 version of the J2EE specification, placing them on the cutting edge of JDBC and J2EE technology. DataDirect's latest Connect JDBC release is a huge step forward for the Java community, providing the industry's first Type 4 JDBC technology-enabled drivers with distributed transaction capabilities across SQL Server databases. Ultimately, Connect JDBC 2.2 will enable customers to develop sophisticated J2EE technology-based applications with advanced functionality and consistent performance across their heterogeneous platforms and databases." "We're excited about DataDirect Technologies' Connect JDBC 2.2 product, which includes a new Type 4 JDBC driver for Oracle," said Evan Simeone, senior product manager at ThinAirApps. "As a leader in connecting wireless devices to enterprise data and applications, ThinAirApps relies on partners such as DataDirect Technologies to enhance our offering with the most reliable and comprehensive database connectivity available. With this latest Connect JDBC release, DataDirect Technologies truly offers the widest breadth and depth of JDBC connectivity on the market, enabling us to have greater support for our customer's needs and ultimately drive the growth of our business." Connect JDBC 2.2 includes a new Type 4 JDBC driver for Oracle, delivering Pure Java technology access to Oracle 8i and 9i databases without the use of Net8. With the addition of this driver, Connect JDBC 2.2 offers the industry's most complete suite of Type 4 JDBC drivers, with connectivity to Oracle, DB2, Informix, SQL Server and Sybase. Additionally, Connect JDBC 2.2 offers the industry's first and only Type 4 JDBC driver with JTA/JTS distributed transaction support for SQL Server - a highly-advanced, yet critical JDBC technology feature that enables data-intensive applications to perform multiple simultaneous, real-time transactions across multiple data stores. Connect JDBC 2.2 highlights include: -- J2EE 1.3 certification of three drivers - Oracle, SQL Server, and Sybase -- JTA/JTS distributed transaction support across SQL Server, Sybase, Oracle and Informix -- Type 4 JDBC driver for Oracle 8i and 9i, delivering direct access to Oracle databases without Net8 -- Performance improvements across all databases, with gains of up to 20% across SQL Server -- Internationalization features for global deployments; includes Unicode support, double and multi-byte character sets and Japanese localization -- BLOB and CLOB data type support, allowing organizations to retrieve and update large items like images, just as if they were standard data types -- Two industry-tested performance enhancement and debugging utilities - JDBC Test and JDBC Spy Connect JDBC 2.2 supports the latest Sun JDBC specification and the J2EE platform. Connect JDBC enables organizations to improve time to market, enhance application capabilities, accelerate testing and deployment across broader environments and simplify on-going support. Connect JDBC 2.2 is immediately available for purchase and evaluation by visiting www.datadirect-technologies.com