Hello!

I went through this about 6 months ago. I downloaded and tried both
IBExpert and DB Workbench. Both are great tools.

DB Workbench has better object editors in my opinion, but IBExpert is
improving that area with each new release.

If you use multiple DB platforms, DB Workbench can manage several in
one interface. IBExpert only supports FB/IB servers.

DB Workbench works better when connected to a server over the
Internet. IBExpert is PAINFULLY slow in this situation, even after
applying all of the suggestions in their newsgroup.

I get around the problem by working on a local copy of the database
and uploading a backup to the server and doing a restore. You can also
use the metadata and table logging features to create scripts and
execute those on the remote server.

IBExpert has 2 very handy features that DB Workbench does not have: a
built-in report writer and a data logging manager.

The report writer uses the popular FastReport designer. It's easy to
learn and has powerful features.

The logging manager lets you quickly setup logging for table data. It
creates all the triggers and tables needed. All you do is select the
table and compile the changes. You can also choose which fields to
log.

In fairness, I should note that DB Workbench does offer a data logging
tool similar to IBExpert, but the last time I checked, it was an
add-on that must be purchased seperately.

One last note is that of stability. I have had some rounds of AV
errors in IBExpert that I never got using DB Workbench. It appears,
though, the developers of IBExpert are on it as I haven't had any
major problems since the last update.

In spite of the mentioned stability issue, I ended up purchasing
IBExpert. DB Workbench is a highly polished and stable tool, but
feature for feature I felt that IBExpert gave much more bang for the
buck.

Hope this helps,
Kevin Lingofelter

> > We're looking at giving Firebird a try in the office soon and I've
> > been looking over the wealth of tools available for administering a
> > Firebird database. Short of downloading, installing, and trying all
> > of them, it's pretty hard to tell which one is going to meet our
> > needs.
> >