// returns the value of first row first column
	 public int testQuery(String query) throws SQLException {

	        Statement stmt = this._connection.createStatement();
	        ResultSet rs = stmt.executeQuery(query);

	 		int value = 0;

	        if ( rs.next() ) {
			    value = rs.getInt(1);
			}

	        return value;
	 }// end testQuery