Get Max Binary Literal Length Using DatabaseMetaData in Java

In this article, we will learn about the getMaxBinaryLiteralLength() method of the DatabaseMetaData interface in JDBC. 

getMaxBinaryLiteralLength() method

The getMaxBinaryLiteralLength() method of the DatabaseMetaData interface is used to find out the maximum number of characters (hex) that the underlying database allows for a binary literal.

• This method returns an integer value, representing the maximum length of a binary literal. If this value is 0 it indicates that there is no limit or, the limit is unknown.

Steps to get the DatabaseMetaData object

The following are the steps to get the DatabaseMetaData object ?

• Step 1: Make sure your database is up and running: Ensure that your database server is running and accessible before proceeding with the connection setup.
  

• Step 2: Register the Driver: Register the driver using the registerDriver() method of the DriverManager class. Pass an object of the driver class corresponding to the underlying database.
  

DriverManager.registerDriver(new com.mysql.jdbc.Driver());

• Step 3: Get the Connection Object: Use the getConnection() method of the DriverManager class to get the connection object. Pass the URL of the database, and the username and password of a user in the database as string variables.
  

String url = "jdbc:mysql://localhost/mydatabase";

Connection con = DriverManager.getConnection(url, "root", "password");

System.out.println("Connection established......");

• Step 4: Get the DatabaseMetaData Object: Get the DatabaseMetaData object with respect to the current connection using the getMetaData() method of the Connection interface.
  

DatabaseMetaData metaData = con.getMetaData();

• Step 5: Get the Maximum Length of Binary Literal: Retrieve the maximum length of the binary literal allowed by the database using the getMaxBinaryLiteralLength() method of the DatabaseMetaData object.
  

int maxLength = metaData.getMaxBinaryLiteralLength();

System.out.println("Maximum length of the binary literal supported: "+maxLength);

Example

The following JDBC example connects to the MySQL database, and retrieves and prints the maximum length of the binary literal allowed by it.

import java.sql.Connection;
import java.sql.DatabaseMetaData;
import java.sql.DriverManager;
import java.sql.SQLException;
public class DatabaseMetadata_getMaxBinaryLiteralLength {
	public static void main(String args[]) throws SQLException {
//Registering the Driver
		DriverManager.registerDriver(new com.mysql.jdbc.Driver());
//Getting the connection
		String url = "jdbc:mysql://localhost/mydatabase";
		Connection con = DriverManager.getConnection(url, "root", "password");
		System.out.println("Connection established......");
//Retrieving the DatabaseMetaData object
		DatabaseMetaData metaData = con.getMetaData();
//Retrieving the maximum length of the binary literal supported
		int maxLength = metaData.getMaxBinaryLiteralLength();
		System.out.println("Maximum length of the binary literal supported: "+maxLength);
	}
}

Output

Connection established......
Maximum number length of the binary literal supported: 16777208