A DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEM :
The J2SE 5 API says that DatabaseMetadata.getColumns() should order by "TABLE_SCHEM, TABLE_NAME, and ORDINAL_POSITION." This conflicts with the equivalent ODBC function, SQLColumns, which orders by "TABLE_CAT, TABLE_SCHEM, TABLE_NAME, and ORDINAL_POSITION." The ODBC ordering makes more sense in terms of the hierarchy of database objects.


URL OF FAULTY DOCUMENTATION :
http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/docs/api/java/sql/DatabaseMetaData.html#getColumns(java.lang.String,%20java.lang.String,%20java.lang.String,%20java.lang.String)