At 05:21 PM 3/04/2008, you wrote:

>Hello all!
>
>just a quick question on UDF's
>I wanted to implement the RPAD udf function that is integrated in the
>ib_udf library. I created it successfully in my database.

No, you DECLARED it in your database.

> The question
>is once I deploy my application elsewhere (install Firebird with its
>DLL's, and also ship the database file with the RPAD UDF function
>already in it) do I need to re-install the RPAD function, or is it
>already in the database file that I ship with the application?

Declaring the UDF in your database *makes it available* for use with that database. The declaration is part of the metadata of that database. You must make sure that the same version of the UDF library is available at the new server.

>Basically, the question is: these functions are part of the engine? or
>the database? Thanking in advance!

The functions are an external component of the database server component of the engine. They are not part of the database. In a database, you would usually declare only those functions that you want to use. If the function library is not available to server engine, exceptions will be thrown when a client application or a PSQL module tries to invoke the function.

./heLen