Opening Firebird Databases

Firebird database files usually have .fdb extension. You can open them by several ways:

1. Opening through FD interface. Select FD interface, click Firebird, then fill all needed database parameters. Consult with your database administrator on how to choose correct parameters.

   Firebird database connection parameters:

   (required parameters are highlighted)

   Parameter	Description	Value example
   Vendor library	Firebird client library	C:\Program Files (x86)\Firebird\Firebird_2_5\bin\fbclient.dll
   Server	Server address to connect to	localhost
   Port	The server's listening port	3050
   Database	Database path	c:\MyDb\prod.fdb
   OS authentication	Specify whether to use OS authentication instead of the db authentication	No
   Protocol	Protocol used to connect to the server. Possible values: Local NetBEUI SPX TCPIP	TCPIP
   Charset	Character set to use	UTF8
   User name	Database user name	SYSDBA
   Password	Database user password	********
   SQL command separator	Command separator in multi-command SQL scripts	^

2. Opening through Interbase interface. Select Interbase interface and fill all needed database parameters. This way is not recommended for opening Firebird databases of the latest versions.
3. Opening through connection string. Select ADO interface, then choose Connection string option and write a connection string. This way is very flexible and allows to specify many additional parameters in the connection string and override standard Database Tour connection behavior. It is recommended for advanced users. Here are basic connection strings (more examples and details can be found in the Internet):

   DRIVER=Firebird/InterBase(r) driver;Uid=myUsername;Pwd=myPassword;DBNAME=HostNameOrIPAddr:C:\Databases\My_db.fdb;   (IBPhoenix Open Source ODBC Driver must be installed)

4. Opening through ODBC DSN. Create (if it does not exist yet) an ODBC DSN of the corresponding type using Windows ODBC Data Source Administrator, and point it to the database. Then:

   - Select FD interface, click ODBC, then point the Data source parameter to the ODBC DSN by selecting it from the drop-down list.

   or

   - Select ADO or BDE interface, then choose ODBC data source option and then select the needed ODBC DSN from the drop-down list.

5. Opening by specifying file name. Select ADO or BDE interface, then choose File option and then specify the file name.

Notes

1. Firebird client must be installed. The bit-version of it (32 or 64) must match the bit-version of the application.
2. When choosing the ODBC option, please make sure the corresponding ODBC driver installed and the bit-version of it matches the bit-version of the application (32 or 64).

Hints

• Each Database Tour edition has both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. You can install both and use them depending on what type of database you need to work with.
• You can invoke the ODBC Data Source Administrator directly from Database Tour when it was launched in administrator mode. In Connect / Open Data Source window, switch to ADO, then click ODBC Sources... button.

See also

• Examples of ADO Connection Strings
• Opening Interbase Databases