Thanks for the excellent info.

allen
--- In firebird-python@yahoogroups.com, David Rushby <davidrushby@...>
wrote:

>
> --- asforza2sell <asforza2sell@...> wrote:
> > when I try to do a "show tables" or a "show table X" command from the
> > execute method in kinterbasd, I get the following error:
> > [...]
> > Should this command work for me?
>
> Firebird implements three classes of SQL (I would call them dialects,
> but dialects are a separate concept in Firebird):
>
> - Procedural SQL (PSQL) is the class of SQL that stored procedures and
> triggers are written in. PSQL itself is only available server-side,
> although some previously PSQL-only features have become available in
> Dynamic SQL recently (see "EXECUTE BLOCK" in the Firebird 2.0 release
> notes).
>
> - Dynamic SQL (DSQL) is the standard client SQL class that's accessible
> via the Firebird network protocol. The Firebird client library
> implements a C API to this protocol, and kinterbasdb is a Python
> interface to that C API, so any SQL you execute directly through
> kinterbasdb is DSQL.
> If you want, you can execute PSQL indirectly from kinterbasdb by
> programmatically defining PSQL entities such as stored procedures (with
> CREATE PROCEDURE, etc.), then executing the PSQL entities via DSQL
> statements. Firebird 2.0's EXECUTE BLOCK implements a sort of "dynamic
> PSQL".
>
> - Embedded SQL (ESQL) is implemented by a precompiler that's designed
> to make writing database client applications in static,
> non-garbage-collected languages (C, Ada, etc.) less torturous. ESQL
> has serious limitations, and is not widely used in new applications or
> modern programming languages.
>
>
> There's also a command-line utility called 'isql', which can be found
> in the 'bin' directory of your Firebird installation. isql is a
> utility, not a separate class of SQL in the same way DSQL, ESQL, and
> PSQL are, but it does implement some "commands" that make command-line
> manipulation of the database easier. The commands, which include "show
> tables" and "show table X", are not an official part of DSQL; they're
> isql extensions. That's why kinterbasdb doesn't recognize them.
>
> There's a general Firebird documentation page here:
>
>

http://www.ibphoenix.com/main.nfs?a=ibphoenix&page=ibp_download_documentation

>
> The isql command line utility is documented in the Interbase 6
> Operations Guide (see page 235 for the "SHOW TABLES" documentation):
> http://www.ibphoenix.com/downloads/60OpGuide.zip
>
> A DSQL reference for Interbase 6.0 (the predecessor of Firebird 1.0) is
> here:
>
>

http://www.ibphoenix.com/main.nfs?a=ibphoenix&s=1139964824:311773&page=ibp_60_sqlref

>
> The Interbase 6 DSQL reference covers all of the basics, and you can
> combine it with the release notes for Firebird 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0, to
> get a complete picture of Firebird's current DSQL.
>
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