HiT Software, Inc. has announced a new release of its JDBC/DB2 type 4 SQL middleware, which conforms to the Java JDBC 4.1 specification. With this latest release, application developers can take advantage of added support for additional data types, improved security mechanisms and support for IBM DB2 on a wide range of systems and platforms.

"We provide a long list of middleware for application access to all versions of DB2 databases. We support ODBC, OLE DB, .NET and of course JDBC," Carolyn Hughes, director of marketing at HiT Software, tells 5 Minute Briefing. "We try to keep our DB2 drivers updated to the latest technology standards and also to the latest DB2 versions so that application developers can rely on the best productivity out of whichever of these drivers they are using."

HiT JDBC/DB2 4.1 is an enhancement to previous JDBC/DB2 middleware based on the JDBC 3.0 specification. Some of the features built into HiT JDBC/DB2 since the prior release of the product include added support for data encryption, support for XML datatypes and PureXML via SQL or XQuery statements, and additional connection options to allow encrypted user and password.

"It was a natural for us to support 4.1 with the features in that new API," says Hughes. The encryption and user and password controls are necessary, particularly with external data - data traveling outside the firewall, says Hughes. Additionally, XML continues to be significant for customers that are transactioning data in different formats - "and XML has turned out to be an important way to move data back and forth across disparate data types and data formats," Hughes notes.

Fully functional trial versions of HiT Software's middleware for IBM DB2 databases can be downloaded from the HiT Software website at www.hitsw.com.