> The behavior may be different for classic and superserver. I suspect
> the Modified
> Date increases each time a client disconnects in classic, but only
> when all connections
> end and the file is closed in SuperServer.

Makes sense.

> Shutting down restricts access to the database, but doesn't necessarily
> close the file.

That is the one I don't like...

I want to "know" that the database is no longer being used/closed so that I can do this:

1. backup the db
2. restore the db to a new location and verify errorlevel 0
3. if errorlevel 0 move the old production db to "hold" directory' and move my newly restored db to the production directory (so that my aliases.conf can find it again)

I am assuming that I will need to kill the Firebird service to force the close of the database so that I can move it to the "hold" directory and then move my newly restored db to the "production" directory.

I like running off of the newly restored db due to the clean-up and optimization and if there is a problem... I will know it in less than 24 hours... Does this make sense?

Thanks,
-Raymond