From: "delphigurusam" <shunt@...>

> Environment
> Windows;FB SS 1.5.2 4731;Delphi;ADO;UDL's (no DSN's defined on server)
>
> I am rewriting a FoxPro app in Delphi/ADO/Firebird. The current
> Foxpro app and all tables are located in a shared folder on the
> "server" in a peer-to-peer network. One of the perceived benefits of
> the current Foxpro app is that the user can copy the corporation
> folder (the original install folder) to a home PC or a small
> peer-to-peer offsite network, install a Foxpro runtime pkg and be up
> and running. Yes, this is a multi-user app and "sometimes" the corp
> data gets over-written when someone copies the folder back to the corp
> folder to update it.
>
> MS Windows default location for UDL's is "C:\Program Files\Common
> Files\System\Ole DB\Data Links", a protected dir on the FB server. I
> also have read the many recommendations on this site that FB DB's NOT
> be located in a shared folder, however, my company wants to place the
> new Delphi app.exe, it's UDL's, and the DB's in a single shared folder
> at the root of drive C, so our users will continue to have the ability
> to copy this folder to home PCs and offsite networks.
> QUESTION: Can we do this? If so, what's the best way to implement this?

No, you shouldn't do this. Very bad, very, very bad. Normal users have no
need nor should they ever have direct access to the database on the server.

IMO, you should install the firebird embedded client file to the user
machines instead of the "normal" client DLL. Then, the program should make a
backup of the database and restore it onto the users machine for working off
line. A boolean switch in the program can let you choose between using the
network database or the local one.

HTH
Woody (TMW)