At 08:01 PM 3/14/2001 +0000, s.beames@... wrote:

>I have two separate groups of users of my client program, who will
>maintain separate sets of records in their own databases, ... A few tables,
>will be identical for both groups... their own 'COMMON' db, it
>appears I'll have to lose the referential integrity constraints I had
>established with the other tables. So, question 1/ Can you have R.I.
>constraints between different databases?

No. Not with Firebird, not now.

>I suppose I could have one large db, with an extra column in some
>tables to identify each group's data, and rely on the logon to
>identify the group, and have an extra parameter in the SELECTs......

You could have two views of the same table and let one group see
through one view and the other through the other. Use view triggers
to maintain the differentiating field.

>I was however considering having the two databases running on two
>separate (currently W95) PC's, to share the load and reduce the db
>sizes.
>Q2/ Which approach is best?

1) Run Linux on your PC's.

2) Unless you're expecting very large databases (multi-gig) and
very heavy usage, the pain of dealing with two databases will
outweigh the gain.


Regards,

Ann
www.ibphoenix.com
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