At 01:51 AM 28/02/2005 +0000, you wrote:

>Hello All,
> I am a long time programmer, but not a database programmer. I am
>using Firebird and have had good success acquiring data with standard
>SELECT queries in .NET using the ODBC drivers and the .NET provider.

Why both? It sounds as though you are in urgent need of the
firebird-net-provider list wisdom. :-)

>But I wanted to really manage Firebird databases so I bought "The
>Firebird Book" (Great Book!!) and "Mastering SQL".

Good. That's the database and the query language taken care of.

>But am at a
>complete loss as to how to implement the SQL code inside a RAD
>environment.

*Which* RAD environment? Just about everything that Firebird interfaces is
"a RAD environment" of some sort. I guess you could say it goes from IBPP
at one end - tidy C++ wrappers around all the API functions - to the far
extreme - IB Objects in Delphi or C++Builder envronments, with everything
itchy well hidden from you.

>Should I be storing the code as stored procedures and
>calling those,

When the choice is between passing a lot of data across the wire, looping
through it on the client, and then stuffing it all back across the wire,
then executable SPs are a brilliant alternative. (I wouldn't live without
'em!) But some people get carried away and write SPs for every last
thing. Now that is what I call "daft".

>implementing the code directly using something like a
>CommandBuilder,

I don't know "a CommandBuilder"...there are products around that dumb down
the interface between the end user and the database and let you do
relatively simple stuff...if efficient programming is your aim, I'd suggest
leaving those for the birds. Au contraire, it's worth the investment of
your personal R & D time to get fully in touch with the capabilities of the
engine and to experiment with development tools till you find something
that satisfies you.

>or something else??? I am not looking for anyone to
>give me a tutorial, just a swift nudge in the right direction, so I am
>not spinning my wheels. Any links to examples of implementing SQL
>code this way (or a good book on the topic), would be greatly appreciated.

There are too many to enumerate here in the support list. Pay a visit to
the Downloads>Contributed section at www.ibphoenix.com. The links to the
various language interface selections are all there. Also check out the
list forums - around the community there are lists for just about every
interface (although poor old non.NET VB is a hungry cousin...VB seems to
have trouble wetting its toes outside the Microsoft wading pool). If
you're a .NET chap, the net provider list will be a good place to be. It
also has its own devel section on the main Firebird website, at
http://www.firebirdsql.org/index.php?op=devel&sub=netprovider - links for
docs and examples at the top of the green sidemenui.

./hb