# Specifying attributes in a properties object

Instead of specifying attributes on the connection URL, you can specify attributes as properties in a `Properties` object that you pass as a second argument to the `DriverManager.getConnection` method.

For example, to set the user name and password:

    Properties p = new Properties();

    p.setProperty("user", "sa");
    p.setProperty("password", "manager");
    p.setProperty("create", "true");

    Connection conn = DriverManager.getConnection(
        "jdbc:derby:mynewDB", p);

Note: If you specify any attributes both on the connection URL and in a Properties object, the attributes on the connection URL override the attributes in the Properties object.
Parent topic: Working with the database connection URL attributes
Related tasks
Creating and accessing a database
Related reference
Using the databaseName attribute