Bala Sriram wrote:

> How would the remote servers be informed of
> the DBA's intention to do the RO->RW transition?

Hmm. Here's an idea that's off-the-cuff...

Before the engine accepts any request, it performs the following check:
if the database is read-only, and the "accessing through mapped drive"
condition flag is set, then it re-reads the RO/RW property of the
database. If this property has changed to RW, abort the request and
disconnect immediately, as if the server had done a forced shutdown.

The alternative is that all remote users who are accessing the database
through mapped drives must disconnect voluntarily before the DBA changes
the database from RO to RW. There would be no automatic enforcement of
this, it would depend on the DBA using a PA system or shouting over the
cubicle walls or something. But if the users don't follow instructions,
they might risk inconsistent results.

I guess it's a question of how much effort the IBServer should exercise
to enable people to use it in the "wrong" manner? ;-)

Regards,
Bill Karwin