--- In firebird-support@yahoogroups.com, Robert martin <rob@c...> wrote:

> Hi
>
> We have two versions of our app, and old BDE / Dbase version and the

new

> FB version. We want out service pack to not install if FB is not
> installed. What is the easiest / best way to check if FB is

installed

> (in Windows) ?

Hello Rob,

The easiest way is to try to connect to your database and catch the
exception :)

There are a number of options though.

If your program is the only connection to the database, then my advise
would be to forget whether Firebird is installed and just use the
embedded engine. Simple, no fuss, no breaking anyone elses
installation, no being broken by anyone elses installation, and faster
than SS and CS.

If you do need to install SS or CS, then there is a registry key
created by the installer that you might want to check to get the path
etc.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Firebird Project

Adam