At 11:53 AM 24/08/2004 +0300, you wrote:

>I'm using FB 1.03 in Windows 2000
>I have a table (containing about 20-30 records):
>CREATE TABLE FOR_CORRESP (
> NAME VARCHAR(35) CHARACTER SET WIN1252 NOT NULL,
>
> ACCOUNT ACCOUNT NOT NULL,
> BALCODE VARCHAR(3) CHARACTER SET WIN1252,
> COUNTRY VARCHAR(3) CHARACTER SET WIN1252,
> PRIMARY KEY (NAME,ACCOUNT)
>);
>
>When I tried to change it with:
> alter table for_corresp alter name type varchar(70);
>the ibserver.exe started to run with 90% CPU and it took 5 min to stop
>the server.
>
>Is it some server problem

No

>or shouldn't I use ALTER this way?

Next time, you'll probably decide to drop the primary key constraint
first. Or, if you're using keys that are so unstable, you might even
decide to do something creative like surrogating them with artificial keys.
Call it "a learning experience".

Do you always try to express your feelings about slow operations by killing
the server? If so, that might become a learning experience for you some
day, too...

./heLen