----- Original Message -----
From: "Blas Rodriguez Somoza" <blas@...>
>
> > At 03:42 PM 11/5/2002 -0500, Rick Fincher wrote:
> >
> >
> > >JayBird is also what is called a JCA driver. JCA stands for J2EE
> > >Connectivity Architecture. JCA is a specification that defines how
> > >databases are connected to Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) servers.
> >
> > So far, so good.
> >
> This is not the definition of JCA. Please read the begining of the
Connector chapter in J2EE tutorial
> The other chapters in this book are intended for business application
developers, but this chapter is for advanced users such as
> system integrators and tools developers. The examples in this chapter
demonstrate the J2EE Connector architecture by accessing
> relational databases. However, this technology is not a substitute for the
JDBC API. Business application developers should continue
> to use the JDBC API to access relational databases.
>
> The J2EE Connector architecture enables J2EE components such as enterprise
beans to interact with enterprise information systems
> (EISs). EIS software includes various types of systems: enterprise
resource planning (ERP), mainframe transaction processing, and
> non-relational databases, among others. The J2EE Connector architecture
simplifies the integration of diverse EISs. Each EIS
> requires just one implementation of the J2EE Connector architecture.
Because an implementation adheres to the J2EE Connector
> Specification, it is portable across all compliant J2EE servers.

Thanks for the clarification Blas. This is from the JSR:
2.1 What is Connector architecture?

The Connector architecture defines a standard architecture for connecting
the Java 2 platform Enterprise Edition to heterogeneous enterprise
information systems, such as ERP, mainframe transaction processing and
database systems. The architecture defines a set of scalable, secure, and
transactional mechanisms that describe the integration of enterprise
information systems to an application server and enterprise applications.
This architecture enables an enterprise information system (EIS) vendor to
provide a standard connector for its EIS - the connector is plugged in to an
application server and provides connectivity between the EIS, application
server and enterprise application. An application server vendor extends its
system once to support this connector architecture and is then assured of a
seamless connectivity to multiple EISes. Likewise, an EIS vendor provides
one standard connector and it has the capability to plug in to any
application server that supports the connector architecture.