Hi,

I don't know whether this is the right place for these questions, but at the
moment I am sinking in confusion over the respective roles,
interdependencies, versions and support for the products I have listed in
the subject header.

My starting point is that I have no knowledge or experience of any of these
(or other) Borland/Inprise products. I am seeking to learn how to use
JBuilder to develop web-enabled java applications which will interact with a
database. The logical choice seems to be InterBase, as it is another
Borland product complimenting JBuilder.

I have installed a copy of the full working version of JBuilder2
Professional, from a magazine cover CD.
(Note: I looked at downloading JBuilder3.5, but saw that the free Foundation
version has no database support in its features list - which means that it
is of no use to me, since I want to use database i/o in just about
everything I develop)

I am running the software on a Pentium III 550 MHz CPU, with 256 MB RAM
under Win98 SE.

The documentation in JBuilder2 informs me that I need InterBase Server in
order to connect to a database.

I have found an upgrade to this on the web, but I can't find a full install
version - on either the web or on the JBuilder2 CD. (Note, the CD contains
JBuilder2 and InterBase Server v5.1.1)

I tried to install IB Server5.1.1 from the CD, but could not progress past
the licence key screen - the licensing details which were provided for the
JBuilder2 pack are not valid for the IB Server package ?!?!? (Needless to
say, the magazine company have ignored my repeated requests for the correct
licence key for their IB Server freebie)

So I have downloaded and installed
http://inprise-heva.www.conxion.com/InterBase_WI-V6.0-server.ZIP .
But there is also another download called "InterClient" which is available
from http://inprise-heva.www.conxion.com/IC160001WinJRE12.exe
Moving around the Inprise/Borland site I find that I "should" have the
InterClient as well as the InterBase Server. Confusingly, the InterClient
product also has a feature called "InterServer" !!!


To my surprise, Borland/Inprise support (in the UK) don't know much about
these products, and also don't know whether or not they still support
InterBase. Their issue being that the InterBase V6 is "open source", so
therefore it's no longer Borland's proprietary product to support.
Instead, I was given the www.interbase2000.org web site as a point of
contact for assistance.


Q1. My first question is what are the respective roles/functions served by
"InterBase Server" and "InterClient" ?
Q2. Next, is the "InterServer" part of "InterClient" the same as, or
anything to do with "InterBase Server" ? Also, should I start it? Do I
need it? Etc...
Q3. Is a PC with Pentium III 550 MHz CPU, & 256 MB RAM, running under Win98
SE ok for these products?
Q4. Who *does* support InterBase V6 (for installation, usability and
technical questions) ???


At the moment, I have installed only "InterBase Server".

This brings me to yet another Borland product. In addition, looking at the
JBuilder2 help text, for information on connecting to a database, another
Borland product is mentioned: "Borland Database Engine". I can find no
trace of this product on the CD, and on the web there is only an upgrade
program (ftp://ftpc.inprise.com/pub/bde/devsupport/updates/bde511en.exe ).

So more questions:-

Q5. What is "Borland Database Engine"? How does it fit in with JBuilder2,
InterBase Server, InterClient and InterServer?
Q6. Do I need it to access typical databases (MS-Access, IBM-DB2, ODBC
compatible etc.)?
Q7. If yes (to Q6), where/how do I get it?


Finally, having installed InterBase Server, I thought I would look at the
sample databases provided: e.g. employee.gdb.

This is where I have found nothing works anyway !!!
When I register the local server, I have to use the user id SYSDBA with the
password "masterkey". Once done, I then register the database. This is
where nothing seems to work.

Q8. Why is the user SYSDBA with password "masterkey"? (Also how do I
change password? Change user to register the database?)

Q9. When I attempt to register a database with a user id and password, I
get an error: "Error connecting to the requested database" with detail of
"DPB Constant (0) is unknown" (now that really is a meaningful and helpful
diagnostic !!) What is the fix for this error?

Q10. When I attempt to register a database, in addition to the user id and
password, I am also asked for the "Role" - what is this? - how is it
sed? - what values are allowed?

Q11. When I attempt to connect to *any* database I also get the error in Q9
above. How to I resolve this instance of the error?




Any and all help on some or all of these questions will be most appreciated.

But, PLEASE, remember that I have *no* prior knowledge of any of these
products, and I also don't have any experience of Windows/visual environment
programming tools in general - all my IT experience has been in a non-PC
environment. So, if you tell me to do something, you need to tell me
exactly how to do it as well.


Thanks in advance,

Richard




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