How do I declare a String array in a Java SQL declareParameter call?

Question

Simplified for illustrative purposes:

String[] filter = {"foo", "bar"};
String sql = "SELECT * FROM table WHERE column IN ?";
declareParameter(new SqlParameter(Types.ARRAY));

This doesn't work when I execute it (I get a java.sql.SQLException: [Microsoft][SQLServer 2000 Driver for JDBC]Invalid parameter binding(s). exception.

Answer 1

JDBC doesn't support this kind of query officially and SQL Server doesn't either as far as I know. This topic has been discussed on SO many times and several workarounds have been proposed:

• What is the best approach using JDBC for parameterizing an IN clause?
• PreparedStatement IN clause alternatives?
• pass variable from java to SQL IN clause
• Trouble with PreparedStatement that uses union of selects query and IN CLAUSE

You can probably find many more as it is indeed a very relevant yet still open topic.

Answer 2

I am not sure about MS SQL Server. But such a code wouldn't work on oracle DB. In oracle, we cannot pass a java array to an IN clause. The way to work around that limitation is to construct a PL/SQL function that converts a list of strings into a table, something like stringToTable. Then pass a concatenated string as a parameter.

Again, this answer is applicable for Oracle DB; It might not work on MS SQL server.