> I was wondering if it was possible to do a backup of a Firebird
> database and create a backup which can be connected to without
> requiring a restore?

A "backed up database" is not a database. You _have_ to restore
it to make it into a database.

> I am currently able to do a backup using the services components (in
> Delphi 7), but (of course) I can't use the created backup file.
>
> The reason I want to do this is because I really want to do a backup
> but delete a whole bunch of records prior to getting my final backup
> file. Do the deletion on the backup but keep them in the existing
> database being used by the application.
>
> Any help or tips would be appreciated.

With regards,

Martijn Tonies
Database Workbench - developer tool for InterBase, Firebird, MySQL & MS SQL
Server
Upscene Productions
http://www.upscene.com