> Is this particular to firebird?

In this case it is particular to Firebird.

> Using Mysql I am able to create and drop any database. What I do in Mysql
> is connect, omitting the databasename and then issuing the create-
> database statement.

Should also work in Firebird, but I did not manage to get it running with
the wire protocol. There is Firebird API call isc_execute_immediate, created
exactly for this purpose, but it does not work for me... In theory should
for in case of native/local/embedded mode, but it is not visible through the
JDBC, at least not yet.

> Why wouldn't jdbc be able to do that for firebird?

Open issue :)

> I will see if I can find it. If it works, that's ok with me, even though
> it's not as portable as through jdbc.

> Are you saying the port is not optional with firebird?

It is. Default value is 3050.

Roman