Jim,

> 2. Definition of external tables. The existing mechanism requires

a

> Firebird table definition that maps the physical record. This

is

> inappropriate for relation sources, which probably want to be
> defined in terms of a SQL "select" statement. The external
> definitions, however, pretty much need to be replicated in the
> Firebird system tables if any tools are going to work.

I'm not sure that I agree with the last part of this ("The external
definitions, however, pretty much need to be replicated...") or at the
very least suspect that this could open a whole can of worms...

But let me start with a simple question.

Are you suggesting that there would be persisted entries in the
RDB$Fields table (and the like) for the external tables?


Sean