Helen,

Thank you for this explanation. It is much appreciated. It confirms what I
thought.

Bill

>
>>I have a client that is currently running FB 1.5.1 and has hit a
>bug that is
>>fixed in FB 1.5.2. Can I just replace the Firebird.exe or do I need to
>>uninstall FB 1.5.1 and install FB 1.5.2?
>
>A sub-release isn't a patch, it's a complete rebuild of dozens of
>interdependent modules. Any change potentially affects ALL of the
>binaries, not just the server binary. So simply overwriting one binary
>doesn't do the upgrade, it merely throws a cat among the pigeons, leaving
>you with an installation that is neither one thing nor the other.
>
>However, a sub-release also isn't a full release. Specifically, the
>on-disk-structure of databases doesn't change. So, if it's easier for you
>to do an "install-by-overwriting", using the .zip kit with the "folders"
>option, instead of the installer, then that's OK for a sub-release. Just
>remember to make a backup the security database before you begin,
>store it
>*somewhere else* and restore it back over the one that is written when the
>kit is unzipped. Don't restore the security.fbk that gets unzipped into
>the Firebird root directory!!
>
>All this done, of course, while the Firebird service is shut down.
>
>The other strongly recommended thing to do is to give the clients the
>correct version of fbclient.dll and firebird.msg, since sub-releases can
>include fixes or late enhancements that affect them. If your application
>code uses IBX, then make sure that you run the instclient.exe utility to
>generate the IBX-compatible gds32.dll. If you're not using IBX, it's
>generally enough to copy fbclient.dll into the relevant folder and simply
>rename it to gds32.dll.
>
>Need I say that, if you're going to go the "install-by-overwriting" route,
>rather than a clean uninstall and install, that you do a practice run on a
>development machine *first*, and test it!!
>
>./heLen
>
>