When I use the AS400JDBCDatabaseMetadata.getColumns(), the columns arrive in alphabetical order not in physical order. Is there a way other than SELECT * FROM... to get the physical order ?

Unfortunately, if you look at the Toolbox documentation for AS400JDBCDatabaseMetaData.getColumns(), you'll see this statement:

"The following column in the description is not currently supported:

ORDINAL_POSITION"

I'm not aware of an alternative at this time. Obviously it is critical to read the driver documentation for (un)supported features.