At 01:00 PM 31/03/2004 +0000, you wrote:

>My Windows application is single-user, so I started out using the
>embedded version. However, I have an "admin" program and a "user"
>program that both need to have the database open at the same time
>(both admin and user programs run on the same machine). So I had to
>abandon the embedded version and use the Superserver instead. Now I
>need to know if TCP/IP is required with the client on the same
>machine as the server with two programs running at the same time.

TCP/IP local loopback is what you need. Make sure you have this entry in
your HOSTS file:

127.0.0.1 localhost

Then use a TCP/IP-style connection for both of your applications:

localhost:d:\path\to\data\YourDb.fdb

You don't need a NIC on the system to use local loopback.

>I'm led to believe from the docs that TCP/IP is NOT required because
>of the CreateInternalWindow setting in firebird.conf. From the docs:
>
>"CreateInternalWindow - The "Windows local" protocol uses a
>hidden window for inter-process communication between the local
>client and the server."
>
>What's this "Windows local protocol"? Does it use SendMessage or
>something and therefore TCP/IP isn't required with client and server
>on the same machine.

It uses an internal engine called IPServer, for a single local
connection. The client and the server share the same piece of
inter-process communication (IPC) memory to emulate a network
connection. Multiple connections can be dicey.

IPServer is a kludge and it's being replaced in the Fb 2 development.

/hb