Converting a database CLOB into a String

I've seen code that converts database CLOBs to String by using CharacterStreams and BufferedReaders to read CLOBs in a loop until the CLOB is fully read. A simpler way is using the getSubString() method of the Clob object. While knowing the length or size of the CLOB, you can read the whole CLOB into a String like this:

DataSource ds = ...
Connection c = null;
PreparedStatement s = null;
ResultSet r = null;

try {
  c = ds.getConnection();
  s = c.prepareStatement("SELECT clobColumn FROM someTable");
  r = s.executeQuery();

  while (r.next()) {
    Clob clob = r.getClob(1);

    if (clob != null) {

      if ((int) clob.length() > 0) {
        String s = clob.getSubString(1, (int) clob.length());
        // Do something with string.
      }
    }
   }
} catch (SQLException e) {
  // Handle exception.
} finally {
  // Close Connection, PreparedStatement, and ResultSet.
}

Beware if the data in the CLOB is really large (larger than Integer.MAX_VALUE). In that case, you'll still need a streaming method.