Hi Erik,

> What do I need to do to deploy Firebird to a client PC ? I know
> about the server deployments, but am just wondering if 'stand-alone'
> database applications as can easily be deployed. Can you have a
> 'client-site server' which is started when the application starts,
> and shuts down when the application finishes ?

On the client machine, run the same installation .exe as for the
server installation, but choose "minimal client" or "client with
tools" instead of server installation. The only thing that is
absolutely necessary is the client API in gds32.dll, which is always
installed (in system32 underneath your Windows dir).

gds32.dll is not really "started" and doesn't act as a server. Like
other dlls, it is loaded into memory when you start your app (or when
your app starts calling functions in the dll).

However, this doesn't give you a standalone database application. In
order to do something useful (like connecting to a database, or
creating one) your app _must_ connect to a server, and it does this
through the API dll.

Also, the database file(s) must always reside on the server
machine. So if you don't install a server locally, you can't create a
local database (you can copy a database from another machine of
course, but you can't connect to it - an Interbase/Firebird server
refuses to connect unless the database is on the server machine).

You can of course make an app that starts the server if it isn't
already started, and shuts it down upon exit - if you have the right
permissions.


Greetings,
Paul Vinkenoog