HP Intelligent Management Center Standard Software Platform - Manual (Page 740)

JDBC data sources
Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) is a Java API developed by Sun
Microsystems that acts as an interface between a developer's Java code
and a database. JDBC provides a mechanism for the developer to use to
connect to a specified database, request information about the database,
and then select information from it.
JDBC is similar to Microsoft's Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) and is
fast becoming the standard for database-independent connectivity between
Java applications and SQL-based databases.
JDBC shares many of the advantages of ODBC, but it has a unique
advantage in its ability to provide platform-independent access to any
database that has a JDBC driver available to it.
Note:
The Crystal Reports JDBC driver requires version 1.4 of the JDK. You can
download the correct version of J2SE at
http://java.sun.com/j2se .
JNDI
The Java Naming and Directory Interface (JNDI) provides an interface that
you can use to seamlessly connect to diverse naming and directory services
within your company. Most importantly for reporting purposes, JNDI contains
a repository for holding JDBC connection strings; when you provide these
predefined connection strings through JNDI, your users will not be called on
to provide connection URLs and class names when connecting to a data
source.
JNDI can also be used to employ the more advanced connection-pooling
type connections to a database. In either case, JNDI returns a valid
connection to your database.
Note:
Check the Platforms.txt file in the Crystal Reports product distribution
for a list of supported JNDI servers.
740 Crystal Reports 2008 SP3 User's Guide
Accessing Data Sources 26
JDBC data sources