keeping Connection alive

Hi,

I'm using a PostgreSQL as backend for a Java application, which may idle for quite a while (i.e. hours) and now and then issue a query on the backend.

The problem is the following exception I get when connection is apparently broken:

-- snip --
org.postgresql.util.PSQLException: An I/O error occured while sending to the backend.
-- snip --

What is best practice to prevent the connection from breaking, i.e. keeping the Conection alive?

I'm using an instance of PGPoolingDataSource and would expect to retrieve a _valid_ Connection when calling DataSource.getConnection() (which I don't get). I even did call PGPoolingDataSource.setTcpKeepAlive(true) - same result.

My first approach was to use a scheduled task and regularly check the Connection for validity ("ping") - unfortunately Connection.isValid(int timeout) has not been implemented yet.

My current workaround is a scheduled task issueing a "SELECT 1" on a regularly basis. Which I feel is not the best solution, though.

I read of using a connection pool like dbcp, which I'd like to avoid: I don't need connection pooling at all, just need to have a valid Connection even after hours of no-operation (a reconnect is ok, so no performance issue here).

So, what's the best practice using the postgresql jdbc driver?

I'm using PostgreSQL 8.3.8 and postgresql-8.4-701.jdbc4.jar for JDBC.

Thanks alot!

Best regards,
Andreas