At 11:31 AM 29/03/2004 +0000, you wrote:

>On moving from Delphi/BDE through to Firebird (1.5), is it advisable to
>first start with the packaged Interbase (I use D5 Pro) which has good
>accompanying (or otherwise available) documentation?

No. The IB with D5 is the *very* buggy v.5.5.

>Are they sufficiently comparable or will it confuse the issue (and me)?

Just treat it like InterBase 6.

>The reason I ask is that there is no manual

Use the IB 6.0 beta manual + Firebird release notes, and you have it all.

>(other than IBPheonix and I
>don't see the reasoning behind using an opensource product but having to
>purchase a manual for it - seems a bit paradoxical

I see - so you think that people should spend months writing free manuals
for you? Even though you don't pay a thing for the software? Who are these
people?

>) for Firebird and
>the IBP "Getting Started Guide" is very much tailored towards there on
>product (as expected - no complaints).

"There (sic) own product?" What product would that be? Actually, the
Quick Start Guide is for Fb. 1.0, awaiting an update. It, plus the Fb 1.5
release notes, should get you going.

>Secondly, where can I find any information on the Firebird "Embedded"
>server - which is my primary development target at this stage?

Release notes. And those ARE free like free beer.

>Lastly, can anyone suggest a good book to take one from beginner to
>intermediate status for multitier systems - e.g. server setup-up,
>nomenclature etc.

Server setup-up - right here, for now; also the Installation Notes
sections of the Releasenotes should help. If you're on Windows, look for
A. Tabakov's recent Howto, in the Files section of this list.

But terminology you can google pretty easily.
http://www.w3schools.com/sql/ is a good place for a SQL beginner to go.
Here's a reasonable glossary site:
http://databases.about.com/library/glossary/blglossary.htm

And *use* the knowledgebase at www.ibphoenix.com. No fees, no
subscriptions, all the beer you can drink.

/hb