3.1 Requirements

A compliant SyncProvider implementation that is fully pluggable into the SyncFactory must extend and implement all abstract methods in the SyncProvider class. In addition, an implementation must determine the grade, locking and updatable view capabilities defined in the SyncProvider class definition. One or more of the SyncProvider description criteria must be supported. It is expected that vendor implementations will offer a range of grade, locking, and updatable view capabilities.

Furthermore, the SyncProvider naming convention must be followed as detailed in the SyncProvider class description.

3.2 Grades

JSR 114 defines a set of grades to describe the quality of synchronization a SyncProvider object can offer a disconnected RowSet object. These grades are listed from the lowest quality of service to the highest.

• GRADE_NONE - No synchronization with the originating data source is provided. A SyncProvider implementation returning this grade will simply attempt to write any data that has changed in the RowSet object to the underlying data source, overwriting whatever is there. No attempt is made to compare original values with current values to see if there is a conflict. The RIXMLProvider is implemented with this grade.
• GRADE_CHECK_MODIFIED_AT_COMMIT - A low grade of optimistic synchronization. A SyncProvider implementation returning this grade will check for conflicts in rows that have changed between the last synchronization and the current synchronization under way. Any changes in the originating data source that have been modified will not be reflected in the disconnected RowSet object. If there are no conflicts, changes in the RowSet object will be written to the data source. If there are conflicts, no changes are written. The RIOptimisticProvider implementation uses this grade.
• GRADE_CHECK_ALL_AT_COMMIT - A high grade of optimistic synchronization. A SyncProvider implementation returning this grade will check all rows, including rows that have not changed in the disconnected RowSet object. In this way, any changes to rows in the underlying data source will be reflected in the disconnected RowSet object when the synchronization finishes successfully.
• GRADE_LOCK_WHEN_MODIFIED - A pessimistic grade of synchronization. SyncProvider implementations returning this grade will lock the row in the originating data source that corresponds to the row being changed in the RowSet object to reduce the possibility of other processes modifying the same data in the data source.
• GRADE_LOCK_WHEN_LOADED - A higher pessimistic synchronization grade. A SyncProvider implementation returning this grade will lock the entire view and/or table affected by the original query used to populate a RowSet object.

3.3 Locks

JSR 114 defines a set of constants that specify whether any locks have been placed on a RowSet object's underlying data source and, if so, on which constructs the locks are placed. These locks will remain on the data source while the RowSet object is disconnected from the data source.

These constants should be considered complementary to the grade constants. The default setting for the majority of grade settings requires that no data source locks remain when a RowSet object is disconnected from its data source. The grades GRADE_LOCK_WHEN_MODIFIED and GRADE_LOCK_WHEN_LOADED allow a disconnected RowSet object to have a fine-grained control over the degree of locking.

• DATASOURCE_NO_LOCK - No locks remain on the originating data source. This is the default lock setting for all SyncProvider implementations unless otherwise directed by a RowSet object.
• DATASOURCE_ROW_LOCK - A lock is placed on the rows that are touched by the original SQL query used to populate the RowSet object.
• DATASOURCE_TABLE_LOCK - A lock is placed on all tables that are touched by the query that was used to populate the RowSet object.
• DATASOURCE_DB_LOCK A lock is placed on the entire data source that is used by the RowSet object.

3.4 Updatable Views

A RowSet object may be populated with data from an SQL VIEW. The following constants indicate whether a SyncProvider object can update data in the table or tables from which the VIEW was derived.

• UPDATABLE_VIEW_SYNC Indicates that a SyncProvider implementation supports synchronization to the table or tables from which the SQL VIEW used to populate a a RowSet object is derived.
• NONUPDATABLE_VIEW_SYNC Indicates that a SyncProvider implementation does not support synchronization to the table or tables from which the SQL VIEW used to populate a RowSet object is derived.

3.5 Usage of SyncProvider Grading and Locking

In the example below, the reference CachedRowSetImpl implementation reconfigures its current SyncProvider object by calling the setSyncProvider method.

CachedRowSetImpl crs = new CachedRowSetImpl();
    crs.setSyncProvider("com.foo.bar.HASyncProvider");

SyncProvider sync = crs.getSyncProvider();

    switch (sync.getProviderGrade()) {
    case: SyncProvider.GRADE_CHECK_ALL_AT_COMMIT
         //A high grade of optimistic synchronization
    break;
    case: SyncProvider.GRADE_CHECK_MODIFIED_AT_COMMIT 
         //A low grade of optimistic synchronization 
    break;
    case: SyncProvider.GRADE_LOCK_WHEN_LOADED 
         // A pessimistic synchronization grade 
    break;
    case: SyncProvider.GRADE_LOCK_WHEN_MODIFIED 
         // A pessimistic synchronization grade 
    break;
    case: SyncProvider.GRADE_NONE 
      // No synchronization with the originating data source provided
    break;
    }
          
    switch (sync.getDataSourcLock() {
      case: SyncProvider.DATASOURCE_DB_LOCK
       // A lock is placed on the entire datasource that is used by the
       // RowSet object 
       break;

      case: SyncProvider.DATASOURCE_NO_LOCK
       // No locks remain on the  originating data source.
      break;

      case: SyncProvider.DATASOURCE_ROW_LOCK
       // A lock is placed on the rows that are  touched by the original 
       // SQL statement used to populate
       // the RowSet object that is using the SyncProvider
       break;

      case: DATASOURCE_TABLE_LOCK
       // A lock is placed on  all tables that are touched by the original 
       // SQL statement used to populated
       // the RowSet object that is using the SyncProvider
       break;

Enumeration e = SyncFactory.getRegisteredProviders();

4.0 Resolving Synchronization Conflicts

A SyncResolver object, which is a special kind of CachedRowSet object or a JdbcRowSet object that has implemented the SyncResolver interface, examines the conflicts row by row. It is a duplicate of the RowSet object being synchronized except that it contains only the data from the data source this is causing a conflict. All of the other column values are set to null. To navigate from one conflict value to another, a SyncResolver object provides the methods nextConflict and previousConflict.

The SyncResolver interface also provides methods for doing the following:

• finding out whether the conflict involved an update, a delete, or an insert
• getting the value in the data source that caused the conflict
• setting the value that should be in the data source if it needs to be changed or setting the value that should be in the RowSet object if it needs to be changed

When the CachedRowSet method acceptChanges is called, it delegates to the RowSet object's SyncProvider object. How the writer provided by that SyncProvider object is implemented determines what level (grade) of checking for conflicts will be done. After all checking for conflicts is completed and one or more conflicts has been found, the method acceptChanges throws a SyncProviderException object. The application can catch the exception and use it to obtain a SyncResolver object.

The application can then use SyncResolver methods to get information about each conflict and decide what to do. If the application logic or the user decides that a value in the RowSet object should be the one to persist, the application or user can overwrite the data source value with it.

The comment for the SyncResolver interface has more detail.

5.0 Related Specifications

• JNDI 1.3
• Java Logging APIs

• System properties
• Resource Files
• DataSource for JDBC Connections