Hi,

We work in .NET and C# and we often import and export Excel or CSV data.
It would be really good to be able to select from and insert (append)
directly into an external CSV file or Excel file.

I am aware of the currently supported external table feature, but the
format is rather difficult to use, especially for non-char data nd for
char data in encoding with variable length characters (e.g. UTF8). I
have written a tool to create such files (with UTF8 strings), but it's a
free standing app and I need to prepare the file first, then use the
tools generated DDL to create the external table within Firebird, before
I can actually access the data from SQL.

I know new FB verions has support for plugins and as far as I understand
even a separate engine could be plugged in, right? (I may be wrong here,
haven't read up on it properly...)

Anyway, would it be possible to write some kind of plugin to FB 3 to
allow it to select from or insert into either CSV or Excel files or
both? I would code the actual plugin myself, of course. I'm just asking
if it's worth investigating (not waste time if it's a known dead end).

If it is indeed possible, I'd appreaciate some pointer how to get
started: relevant docs or some sample code, or whatever.

If I'm successful I'd be happy to open source it, but if I am to write
it, it will be C#/.NET (too much effort for me otherwise).

Thanks,
Kjell



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