I am totally new to Firebird -- sorry if my questions are basic.

My objective is to be able to create an application using c# in VS2008 Express Edition which contains an embedded database thus making the app totally independent of Access, SqlServer, etc. In short, I want the local machine to run the app without installing any except the app and of course the .Net stuff -- .Net 3.5 for example.

I have downloaded Firebird-2.1.3.18185-0_Win32_embed & unzipped. Following the instructions on pg 18 regarding embedded server deployment, I copied fbembed.dll, firebird.msg, ib_util.dll and all the icu*.dlls into the root directory of my VS2008 project.

Now, I assume I need to add a reference in the project to fbembed.dll, but here is where I am stuck. I attempt to add the reference - using the Browse tab , see the dll listed, but when I attmept to add, I get a message saying:

"a reference to ../../fbembed.dll could not be added. Please make sure that the file is accessible, and that it is a valid assembly or COM component. "

BTW, I did check the properties of all the FIrebird dlls in the project root directory & made sure these are 'unblocked'.

I did google the error message & see where some have solved the problem, albeit for a different dll, by registering the dll. I have NOT tried this since there was no mention in the Firebird instructions.

Sorry for the long post, but I would rather give as many details as possible now instead of having multiple posts/answers to get to the same place.

Any help will be much appreciated. TIA, Joe