>It's not a database to be used the same way as a
> desktop system.

A desktop system?

A desktop system is something you use on an individual PC like MYOB (used in
it's single user setup) or Quicken. It uses the computers filesystem to
store data and the application running in the foreground is in total and
sole control of readin and writing to the data files. You cannot have
another person on another PC simultaneously editing the data of your PC
without serious risk of corruption or loss of control over who has saved the
last piece of information, overwriting the person before them.

On the other hand Firebird/Interbase, MySQL, Oracle, MSSQL etc etc are
RBDMSs which comprise a service running on a PC which co-ordinates the
reading and writing of data which is being requested and posted from
numerous client PCs. The client application does not read/write directly to
the storage file (in this case gdb file), that is the sole task of the
service (running on the "server").

Alan