At 04:58 p.m. 11/03/2014, Peter Faulks wrote:

>> <faulksp@...> wrote:
>>
>> > A usable C API would be a good one to add to the list
>> >
>> > This is the reason I don't use Firebird anymore. I keep coming back
>> for another look every now and again, but it seems actually being able
>> to use the database engine in a meaningful way doesn't seem to have any
>> priority.
>>

On 11/03/2014 2:02 PM, Paul Vinkenoog wrote:

>> Countless people - developers as well as end users - use this database
>> engine "in a meaningful way" on a daily basis.
>>
>> What exactly is your problem? Yes, the C API is ugly (like many C APIs).
>> But it's usable, and you can write your own wrapper around it or use one
>> of the existing connectivity toolsets.
>>
>> Anyway, next time you come back here for another look, maybe you should
>> check out the Firebird 3 Alpha 2 Release Notes, section "Application
>> Programming Interfaces".
>
>You have a strange understanding of the word 'usable'.
>
>postgres, sqlite and even mySqL have usable (useful if you like) C (NB
>'C' not C++) api's. Firebird's is a pile of puss.
>
>Where might I find the release notes? - Are they in the bottom of a
>locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the
>door saying 'Beware of the Leopard' ???

This smells like a loud TROLL but in case this self-styled "C programmer" has trouble with filesystems and web sites, I'll feed him a little bit of information:

Release notes and Language Updates, also Quick Start guides, are in the \doc (or /doc) directory of every Firebird binary kit. The are also available to download or read on-line from the Documentation launch-pad at http://www.firebirdsql.org/en/documentation/

There are links there, too, for downloading the original IB 6.0 beta manuals, including the API guide. The Language updates (cumulative from Fb 1.x forward) piggy-back on the IB LangRef and Data Definition guides. The extensions, bugfixes and security fixes to the API you will find in the release notes. Take note that, for copyright reasons, we can't update these or even use the IB6 docs as a basis for a comprehensive Firebird manual, even though some of us contributed content for them for nothing, back in the day.

You could download the suite of c++ wrappers for the API (IBPP (http://www.ibpp.org/ibpp) and it shouldn't be hard for such a smart guy to decompose the source and figure out how to work those structures in C.


Helen Borrie, Support Consultant, IBPhoenix (Pacific)
Author of "The Firebird Book" and "The Firebird Book Second Edition"
http://www.firebird-books.net
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