On 9/02/2004 17:00 GMT+1, develop111 wrote:

> 1- Can I access a Firebird server from a client computer that have
> IB 6 client files installed, or I also have to instal Firebird
> client on this computer ? (What I'm looking for is an easy migration
> to Firebird).

FB 1.0x : go ahead.
FB 1.5 : You would better update the client files.

> 2- If not, can I only replace the file "gds32.dll" on the client
> computer ?

FB 1.0x : no need to do so, but you could.
FB 1.5 : Yes. But gds32.dll is not provided with Firebird 1.5 Windows
builds. It is created by the tool 'instclient.exe' by cloning and
version patching fbclient.dll, which is the client library of Firebird
1.5. You you might do is ship instclient.exe and fbclient.dll to some
temp directory, then run 'instclient install gds32 -force' to have it
forcibly install the new gds32.dll to the Windows System Directory.

> 3- Is my Delphi programs (using IBX) will be 100% compatible if
> accessing a Firebird database instead of a IB 6.x database ?

FB 1.0 : They should. Bug fixing might change some slight details though.
FB 1.5 : They should. More bug fixing and new functionnalities might
change more slight details though. For instance, some incorrect (or
ambiguous) SQL statements might be refused by FB 1.5 while they were
accepted by FB 1.0x and IB 6.0 with possible erroneous results.

> 4- My Delphi program uses IBX (InterBase Admin components) to access
> an IB server then do tasks such as backup, restore, etc. Is it will
> continue to work even with Firebird ?

FB 1.0x : Yes.
FB 1.5 : Yes, but you will have to wait for whatever build is available
after RC8 (RC9 or final). A recent fix has been made because IBX does a
stupid version check that made it 'think' our gds32 can't support the
Services API.

> 5- I have my own installation program that install IB in silent
> mode. This program use IBINSTALL.DLL. Is there such a file with
> Firebird to do the same thing ?

FB 1.0x : NO.
FB 1.5 : NO.

But with FB 1.5, you have 3 command-lines tools which you can script
from your install program :

- instreg.exe (any Windows) : to install / remove the registry info
(just a single key)

- instsvc.exe (NT kind Windows only) : to install / remove / start /
stop Firebird as a Windows NT Service with or without the Guardian.

- instclient.exe (any windows) : to install or remove a copy of
fbclient.dll and / or gds32.dll to the Windows system directory, taking
versioning into account and updating Shared-DLL count correctly.

Yours,

--
Best Regards,
Olivier Mascia