At 03:27 PM 31/05/2004 +0000, you wrote:

>Thanks for the reply Martijn, but I need some more specifics.
>
>You stated:
> >It doesn't. When you connect, you tell the server where to
> >find your database file.
>
>connect with what? how? Is there another admin tool I need to be
>using?
>
>I'm running FB 1.5 as a service on winxp-pro. What tool do I use to
>specify where the DB files are located?
>
>What command line tool would another user use, to bring my db I sent
>them online? and how?

As Martijn explained "bringing a database online" isn't what you want.


If you installed Firebird server with the defaults, then the server is
running. A server can provide services for multiple databases. Any
database has to be on a hard disk that the server physically controls, i.e.
not a share or whatever.

You also have a client, named fbclient.dll. You invoke this by calling its
functions with specific parameter structures. Interface layers encapsulate
these functions generally for your application programs, using layers that
are compatible with the host language you use for your applications. For
example, EMS Manager users an interface layer named FIBPlus (I think!).
That happens to be a Delphi implementation, but there are many others -
other Delphi options, java, ODBC, PHP, Python, IBPP...etc.

The thing you have to know about is the connection string. For TCP/IP to a
Windows-based server, it has the form
servername:D:\absolute\path\to\databasefile.fdb

If you are connecting from the same machine where the server is, the
servername is localhost. "D" is the drive designator of the drive or
partition where the database is (NOT a mapped drive or
redirection). You'll also need a username and password - try SYSDBA and
masterkey.

A tool like like IBManager is just an application program that uses the
client. The command-line tools actually have their "client" compiled in,
but it's the same API they use.

"fdb" and "gdb" are just file extension conventions for a database
file: "gdb" for InterBase, "fdb" for Firebird. File extensions can be
anything, including non-existent.

Grab the Quick Start Guide from www.ibphoenix.com. It's out-of-date for
v.1.5 but most of the connecting stuff still applies (with some name and
default location changes).

I won't attempt to answer your other questions about deployment at this
point. You need to get your head around the basics first. There's a
sample database in the installation. To connect to it, the connection path is
localhost:c:\Program Files\Firebird\Firebird_1_5\examples\employee.fdb

/heLen