Java SE (Java Platform, Standard Edition)

I can create applets with textfields, buttons, and etc. The thing I like about Java is its very rich set of high quality components in comparison to, say, FlashMX :). The problem I see is that I can't seem to find any docs or tutorials that show very explicitly how to get data from a database such as Access and display it a JTable on an applet WITHOUT having to resort to JDBC. I don't have access to that type of technology. It's either PHP or ASP.

Is this even possible with an applet? Ie: Read from a database and write to a database using just asp or php?

Thanks to all in advance who answers. I like Java, really, but...