A Connection's database is able to provide information describing:
This information is obtained with the getMetaData method of a connection. See DatabaseMetaData object.
If a DatabaseMetaData method indicates that a given feature is supported.
For example, if a JDBC API implementation supports the RowSet interface, it must also implement the RowSetMetaData interface.
http://java.sun.com/javase/6/docs/technotes/guides/jdbc/getstart/SimpleSelect.doc.html