I am transitioning from FB 1.0.3 to FB 1.5 and have installed IBO
4.3Aa.

FB 1.5 expects client programs to use the client library fbclient.dll
not the older gds32.dll which comes with, for example, FB 1.0.3.

My purpose in this note is to request help in understanding the
relationship of IBO and FB 1.5 over the client library
gds32/fbclient.dll.

As far as I can tell, I may be wrong, IBO offers only awkward support
for using "fbclient.dll". To use fbclient.dll requires either
A. Manually changing IBO files replacing "gds32.dll"
with "fbclient.dll" or
B. making two changes:
B1. a single change in the IB_SESSION511.pas file (change gds32.dll
to fbclient.dll) and
B2. including IB_SESSION511 as the first file in the uses clause of
one's
project. (a note in IB_CONSTANTS.PAS suggests this).

The IB_SESSION511 file establishes a workaround for errors in older
Borland GDS***.DLL files and it is serendipitous that this workaround
is available for the current GDS32/FBCLIENT.DLL dilema.


Ideally, it seems to me, IBO would have an option in TIB_CONNECTION
for the name of the client library to use.

In the FB 1.5 release notes (ver 1.08) the program instclient.exe is
discussed. This discussion seems to me to be tentative and I draw no
conclusions from it. However, after installing FB 1.5.0.4302 server
taking the default options, I observed a GDS32.DLL was installed in
the system32 folder and this GDS32.DLL properties say it is for FB
1.5. Better yet this file allows my application to work with FB 1.5
and IBO 4.3Aa. FBCLIENT.DLL was installed only in ...Firebird_1_5
\bin. (Is that intended? I would have thought it would also be
installed in the system32 folder.)

In my software package I have no client install. Program files are
copied to a client PC from a file server, and the gds32.dll file is
copied to be in the same folder as my main executable file. This
copying is done as needed each time the program is run. By this
method I avoid problems caused by having a single gds32.dll in a
Windows system directory. (Others use this idea. If anyone wants
Delphi code for this copy-and-run send an email to me and I'll give
it to you. It can be modified easily.)

So for my software package a temporary solution to IBO not offering a
clean way to use FBCLIENT.DLL is to use the GDS32.DLL made by the FB
1.5.0.4302 installer.

This is a temporary solution because, according the the FB 1.5
release notes, later FB versions will not handle GDS32.DLL at all.

So here is a simple case that IBO should make a clean way for
applications to use FBCLIENT.DLL.

I'd welcome any comments.

Thanks

Russell Belding