At 01:49 PM 17-12-02 +0800, you wrote:

>Hi here i'm using interbase6.0
>i discover there is a alot of ib_sort files in my temp directory.
>i like to know what is this used for??
>anyway to prevent this from happening?

The server engine needs to create intermediate files for many query
operations that involve sorting and ordering sets -- so they need to be there.

When you say you see them "in my temp directory", one assumes that you are
using the database locally. In a network environment, one sees these files
only on the server, i.e. they are not created on client machines.

The question is - are you seeing these files at times when the server is
not running? If so, it's an indication that you are crashing the
server. When the server shuts down normally, it deletes all of the
temporary sort files it has created. Avoiding this problem is simple -
don't crash the server. Shut it down normally. (It will perform its own
normal shutdown on a proper Windows shutdown, as well).

As for IB using the Windows TEMP directory: this is the default when you
don't configure your sort space explicitly. This means you can move sort
space to other disk spaces that are physically connected to the server
machine, and is recommended. Check out the OpGuide.pdf for instructions on
how to do it.

heLen