> To be honest the easiest / fastest way is to distribute the actual fdb
> file (since you are talking about embedded you are only talking about
> win32 so endian is not an issue). While you could write a script to
> create the database, connect to it and fill it with data, save the
> user 5 minutes by doing it for them. If file size is an issue (eg
> internet distribution), you could use gbak and your installer would
> compress the fbk file quite well. Of course you would then need to
> include gbak, so it really depends on how much data you have in your
> "empty database" which way you go there.

It isn't really that big of a file. There are a couple of tables that
are to be loaded at setup, but there are very few rows.

> I use nullsoft NSIS (the guys that wrote winamp before AOL broke it)
> and it serves me well. Partly because I am cheap ;), partly because it
> can use LZMA compression which means my installer which includes
> Firebird (superserver), the database and the application is still
> smaller (by a few MB) than the zip file of the application alone. The
> new GUI also looks much nicer, more like msi.

Thanks for the tip. I hadn't checked that installer out.

> If you are using embedded, you do not have to worry about breaking
> some other apps Firebird installation.

Yes. That is my worry. Even though probably my main target clients
don't usually use Firebird, I'm a bit uneasy about screwing an
existing configuration on a client's machine.

Thanks for your input. You've been very helpful.