> -----Original Message-----
> From: firebird-support@yahoogroups.com
> [mailto:firebird-support@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of
> mahendra.nepali@...
> Sent: Friday, October 28, 2005 5:07 AM
> To: firebird-support@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [firebird-support] External Files Query
> Importance: High
>
> Hi,
>

<snip>

> used by another process. On investigating further I figured
> out that once I read from the external table the file is
> locked by firebird and is not released unless I restart the
> database server. This is checked by firing a select statement
> on the external table and then trying to modify the file
> externally. It doesn't allow. Please let me know if there is
> any solution to this problem. I am looking for any firebird
> statements that can used to release the file from linking
> with table after a select is done.

I've found that dropping the external table, committing any open
transactions and disconnecting from the database server will free up
external files. There is no need to shutdown and restart the database
engine as long as there are no other connections to the database.