Choosing a method to run the Derby tools and startup utilities

There are several ways that you can run the Derby tools and startup utilities.

The method that you choose to run the tools and utilities determines the environment variables that you set for Derby.

  1. Choose the method that you want to use. The methods are listed in the following table.
    Table 1. Methods of running the Derby tools and utilities
    Method When to Use Requirements
    Run the tools using the command shell scripts that are provided with Derby. Use this method when you want to run the tools with the least amount of typing and have installed the full bin distribution of Derby.
    • Set the DERBY_HOME environment variable
    • Include the location of the java executable file (usually JAVA_HOME\bin) in the PATH environment variable
    • Include the DERBY_HOME\bin directory in the PATH environment variable
    Run the tools using the derbyrun.jar archive file. Use this method when:
    • You have only the Derby jar files available (see Libraries provided by Derby), and do not have the full bin distribution of Derby
    • You do not want to use the scripts that are provided with Derby
    • Set the DERBY_HOME environment variable
    • Include the location of the java executable file (usually JAVA_HOME\bin) in the PATH environment variable

    The derbyrun.jar file must be in the same folder as the other Derby .jar files.

    For more information, see Syntax for the derbyrun.jar file.

    Run the tools using the complete java syntax, or use Derby in a Java program. Use this method when:
    • You do not have the derbyrun.jar file or the Derby scripts installed
    • You want to learn the full syntax of each command and understand the details of setting up the execution environment
    • You are developing application programs with Derby
    • Set the DERBY_HOME environment variable
    • Include the location of the java executable file (usually JAVA_HOME\bin) in the PATH environment variable
    • You must know the full package name for the Java class that supports the tool
    • The CLASSPATH environment variable must be set to include the required JAR files

    For details on setting the CLASSPATH, see Manually setting the CLASSPATH environment variable.

  2. Based on the requirements of the method that you chose to run the tools, follow the instructions to set the environment variables.