JDBC's java.sql.Driver.getPropertyInfo method allows a generic GUI tool to determine the properties for which it should prompt a user in order to get enough information to connect to a database. Depending on the values the user has supplied so far, additional values might become necessary. It might be necessary to iterate though several calls to getPropertyInfo.
If no more properties are necessary, the call returns an array of zero length.
In a Derby system, do not use the method against an instance of org.apache.derby.jdbc.EmbeddedDriver. Instead, request the JDBC driver from the driver manager:
java.sql.DriverManager.getDriver(
"jdbc:derby:").getPropertyInfo(URL, Prop)
In a Derby system, the properties returned in the DriverPropertyInfo object are connection URL attributes, including a list of booted databases in a system (the databaseName attribute).
Databases in a system are not automatically booted until you connect with them. You can configure your system to retain the former behavior, in which case the steps described in this section will continue to work. See "derby.system.bootAll" in Tuning Derby.
getPropertyInfo requires a connection URL and a Properties object as parameters. Typically, what you pass are values that you will use in a future call to java.sql.DriverManager.getConnection when you actually connect to the database.
A call to getPropertyInfo with parameters that contain sufficient information to connect successfully returns an array of zero length. (Receiving this zero-length array does not guarantee that the getConnection call will succeed, because something else could go wrong.)
Repeat calls to getPropertyInfo until it returns a zero-length array or none of the properties remaining are desired.