Paul,

P> I have some software written by a 3rd party that is cross platform and
P> provides this function. However I haven't had chance to look at it
P> properly and thoroughly test it. On first sight it looks as if it
P> will do the trick, and the author is prepared to open source it.

I'd say that a "real" bulk loader would need changes to the engine, for
performance reasons. There are tools already that use the API, look
here:

http://fbexport.sourceforge.net/

Ciao
--
Nando Dessena