code: public static int getColumnType (Connection conn, String table,
                                       String column)
          throws SQLException
      {
          ResultSet rs = getColumnMetaData(conn, table, column);
          try {
              return rs.getInt("DATA_TYPE");
          } finally {
              rs.close();
          }
      }
docs: Returns the type (as specified in {@link java.sql.Types} for the specified column in the
  specified table.