FirebirdSQL logo

Read Sequence of the Keys

The ODBC function SQLDriverConnect gives priority to the attributes defined in the connection string, only fetching those stored in the DSN, or in a cited FILEDSN, to fill in any gaps.

Connection Examples

Some examples of connection strings for applications that use the ODBC function SQLDriverConnect:

Open("DSN=myDb;")

Here, the function is expected to read everything it needs from the DSN.User name and password are not supplied in the string.If they are not present in the DSN, either

  1. it will use the environment variables ISC_PASSWORD and ISC_USER if they are are set; otherwise

  2. it will prompt the user for the login credentials

Open("DSN=myDb; UID=MCSSITE; PWD=mcssite;")

The function should have what it needs to make this connection, provided the user name and password are authenticated by the server.

Open("DSN=myDb; UID=MCSSITE; PWD=mcssite; DBNAME=172.17.2.10:/usr/local/db/myDb.fdb;")

Open("DSN=myDb; UID=MCSSITE; PWD=mcssite; DBNAME=myserver:/usr/local/db/myDb.fdb;")

The DBNAME key points to the server IP address in the first example, with the path to the database file in the POSIX format.The second example is making the same connection, using the server’s host name instead of the IP address.

Three examples including the DRIVER attribute in the string:

Open("DRIVER=Firebird/InterBase(r) driver; DBNAME=172.17.2.10:/usr/local/db/myDb.fdb;")

Open("DRIVER=Firebird/InterBase(r) driver; UID=MCSSITE; PWD=mcssite; DBNAME=172.17.2.10:/usr/local/db/myDb.fdb;")

Open("DRIVER=Firebird/InterBase(r) driver; UID=MCSSITE; PWD=mcssite; DBNAME=dummy;")

In the last example, a local connection using a database alias in place of the database file path.Of course, the alias must be present in aliases.conf in the root directory of the Firebird server (or, for Firebird 3 and up, in databases.conf).

Using the server IP address and specifying an alternative port, with the target database on a POSIX server;and the same using the server’s host name instead:

172.17.2.10/3051:/usr/local/db/myDb.fdb

myserver/3051:/usr/local/db/myDb.fdb

Using the server IP address, with the target database on a Windows server;and the same using the server’s host name instead:

172.17.2.10:c:\db\myDb.fdb

myserver:c:\db\myDb.fdb

Using the server IP address and specifying an alternative port, with the target database on a Windows server;and the same using the server’s host name instead:

172.17.2.10/3051:c:\db\myDb.fdb

myserver/3051:c:\db\myDb.fdb

Using TCP/IP local loopback, using the local loopback IP address on a POSIX server;and the same using the local loopback host name localhost:

127.0.0.1:/usr/local/db/myDb.fdb

localhost:/usr/local/db/myDb.fdb

The same things on a Windows server:

127.0.0.1:c:\db\myDb.fdb

localhost:c:\db\myDb.fdb

DBNAME for Embedded Connections

The DBNAME value for embedded connections and for the “Windows Local” (XNET) style of connection uses just the file path or alias, without host name, IP address or any port number.

Note

From Firebird 3 on, the way we conceptualise non-network connections on all platforms is more unified than for the earlier versions.However, from the point of view of the ODBC/JDBC driver, the expression of the DBNAME value has not changed, regardless of the platform on which we are making our embedded connection.

Local connection on a Windows server using first the file path and next an alias:

DBNAME=C:\db\myDb.fdb

DBNAME=C:dummy

On a POSIX server:

DBNAME=/usr/local/db/myDb.fdb

DBNAME=dummy

DBNAME Using Aliases

It is strongly recommended to define and use aliases to simplify life for you and your users.It makes your DBNAME values completely neutral to the filesystem and so much less cumbersome.In our last pairs of examples, the same alias was used on both Windows and POSIX.The one on the Windows server would be defined thus:

dummy = C:\db\myDb.fdb

while, on the Linux server, it would be defined thus:

dummy = /usr/local/db/myDb.fdb