How to connect to Oracle using Service Name instead of SID

http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/B28359_01/java.111/b31224/urls.htm#BEIDHCBA

Thin-style Service Name Syntax

Thin-style service names are supported only by the JDBC Thin driver. The syntax is:

@//host_name:port_number/service_name

For example:

jdbc:oracle:thin:scott/tiger@//myhost:1521/myservicename

So I would try:

jdbc:oracle:thin:@//oracle.hostserver2.mydomain.ca:1522/ABCD

Also, per Robert Greathouse's answer, you can also specify the TNS name in the JDBC URL as below:

jdbc:oracle:thin:@(DESCRIPTION =(ADDRESS_LIST =(ADDRESS =(PROTOCOL=TCP)(HOST=blah.example.com)(PORT=1521)))(CONNECT_DATA=(SID=BLAHSID)(GLOBAL_NAME=BLAHSID.WORLD)(SERVER=DEDICATED)))

So there are two easy ways to make this work. The solution posted by Bert F works fine if you don't need to supply any other special Oracle-specific connection properties. The format for that is:

jdbc:oracle:thin:@//HOSTNAME:PORT/SERVICENAME

However, if you need to supply other Oracle-specific connection properties then you need to use the long TNSNAMES style. I had to do this recently to enable Oracle shared connections (where the server does its own connection pooling). The TNS format is:

jdbc:oracle:thin:@(description=(address=(host=HOSTNAME)(protocol=tcp)(port=PORT))(connect_data=(service_name=SERVICENAME)(server=SHARED)))

If you're familiar with the Oracle TNSNAMES file format, then this should look familiar to you. If not then just Google it for the details.

You can also specify the TNS name in the JDBC URL as below

jdbc:oracle:thin:@(DESCRIPTION =(ADDRESS_LIST =(ADDRESS =(PROTOCOL=TCP)(HOST=blah.example.com)(PORT=1521)))(CONNECT_DATA=(SID=BLAHSID)(GLOBAL_NAME=BLAHSID.WORLD)(SERVER=DEDICATED)))