Hi:

> First, always Commit between each step. I don't recommend mixing
> database schema changes ALTER/DROP and data changes (UPDATE) in the same
> transaction -- bad form to my mind.

Actually I do. I just didn't list everything.

> How long are you waiting for? It is any longer than your original
> insert? How much?

It never stops. I waited once 20 minutes.

> Your step 5 - the Update - may seem to be a simple statement but the
> engine needs to clean up the older versions of the records (garbage
> collection) which probably explains your "pause".
>
> Next, what version of IB are you using? I would suspect 5.6. With 6.0
> or Firebird, the garbage collection is processed by another thread so
> you would be getting control back sooner -- although the server would
> still be executing (in a low priority thread) in the background.

IB 6 Latest

> By the way, what OS are you running? just curious.

WinNT 4 sp6a AMD 500 all scsi 15 gb total 96 mb ram

Best regards