Is it possible to specify connection/query timeout for the Oracle database queries? Either on Oracle side or in Oracle's JDBC driver (10.2.0.4)? So, that Java client just got an error back after, let's say, 2 minutes instead of waiting until Oracle finishes executing the query?
If you are executing the query in the context of a transaction, the transaction timeout value of the JTA transaction monitor will be the determinant to query timeout. The configuration for this depends from one application server to another.
At an individual query level (in the absence of a JTA transaction monitor), the setQueryTimeout method can be used to set the timeout on the execution of a Statement/PreparedStatement/CallableStatement object.
Update
setQueryTimeout is not to be relied on, although it works (atleast from a J2SE client). It works via the JDBC driver performing a full round-trip to the Oracle database server. Then, it is upto the database to halt execution of the query. Don't rely on it for time critical applications.