- 2.1 Windows Client Software
- 2.2 macOS Client Software
- 2.3 Linux Client Software
- 6.1 Samples
Supported Versions
The FireDAC native driver supports the Firebird server and the embedded editions version 1.5 and later. It does not officially support Jaffil.
To connect to InterBase, use the FireDAC InterBase driver.
Client Software
Windows Client Software
FireDAC requires the following x86 or x64 client software to be installed on the workstation:
- The FBCLIENT.DLL library to connect to the Firebird server. You can take it from a server (download) installation Bin folder.
- The FBEMBED.DLL library to work with the database using the Firebird Embedded server (details).
Note: It is critical to use the appropriate DLL for the DBMS client library. Do not use GDS32.DLL with Firebird or FBCLIENT.DLL with InterBase.
You can put the required files in:
- a folder listed in your PATH environment variable (for example, \SYSTEM32)
- your application EXE folder
Alternatively you may put the required files in any other folder, and specify their path in FDDrivers.ini:
[FB] VendorLib=\fbclient.dll
If the Firebird client library has not been installed properly, an exception is raised when you try to connect:
[FireDAC][Phys][FB]-314. Cannot load vendor library [fbclient.dll]. The specified module could not be found. Check [fbclient.dll], which is located in one of the PATH directories or in the application EXE directory.
macOS Client Software
- the libfbclient.dylib x86 client library to connect to the Firebird server. You can take it from a server (download) installation /Library/Frameworks/Firebird.framework/Libraries folder.
Linux Client Software
FireDAC requires the Firebird client library. To install it:
-
On Ubuntu Server 16.04 LTS, run:
sudo apt-get install libfbclient2 sudo ln -s /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libfbclient.so.2 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libfbclient.so
sudo yum install firebird-libfbclient sudo ln -s /usr/lib64/libfbclient.so.2 /usr/lib64/libfbclient.so
Driver Linkage
To link the driver:
- Drop the TFDPhysFBDriverLink and TFDConnection components from the Tool Palette
- or include the FireDAC.Phys.FB unit in the uses clause.
Connection Definition Parameters
To connect to the Firebird DBMS, most applications require that you specify the DriverID, Protocol, Server, Database, User_Name, Password, and CharacterSet connection definition parameters (see Defining Connection (FireDAC) for details).
The database name to attach. The value can be:
- database file path.
- full database path, including server address.
For an embedded database, a path can include path variables.
Controls authentication mode:
- Yes -- use Windows authentication.
- No -- use DBMS authentication. It is the default value.
For details, see the doc\README.trusted_authentication.txt.
Controls the extended description of the query result sets:
- True -- FireDAC is getting column domain names additional to the other column attributes. If a column belongs to a domain with a name such as %BOOL%, it is described as dtBoolean. Also, if a table has an INSERT trigger that reads a single sequence and assigns its value to a single column, then this column is described as an auto-incrementing one. Setting this option to True slightly slows down a dataset opening.
- False -- FireDAC uses the restricted information about the query columns. It is the default value.
The TCP/IP port on which the Interbase server is listening. By default, it is equal to 3050. When it is differrent, then you should set the "Port" parameter to the required value.
The protocol used to connect to the DB server. This parameter can take one of the following values:
- Local -- connects to a locally running server, to an embedded server, or to a server using an alias.
- NetBEUI -- connects using the Microsoft NetBIOS protocol.
- SPX -- connects using the Novel SPX protocol.
- TCPIP -- connects using the TCP/IP protocol.
If the Protocol parameter is specified, FireDAC builds full database paths, using the appropriate Protocol format and Server and Database parameter values.
Specifies how to open a database. The following modes are supported:
- Open -- opens an existing database file specified in the Database parameter. If the specified database does not exist, the application throws an exception. It is the default value.
- Create -- creates a new database. If the specified database exists, the application throws an exception.
- OpenOrCreate -- opens an existing database or creates a new database if the specified database does not exist.
Controls the deletion of an existing database:
- Yes -- drop the database file specified in the Database parameter, immediately after disconnecting from the server.
- No -- do not drop. It is the default value.
Use Cases
- Connect to a database running on a remote server via TCP/IP protocol:
DriverID=FB Database=C:\fb\ADDEMO_FB21.FDB Protocol=TCPIP Server=FBSrv User_Name=sysdba Password=masterkey CharacterSet=win1252 ExtendedMetadata=True
- Connect to a database running on a remote server via TCP/IP protocol:
DriverID=FB Database=FBSrv:C:\fb\ADDEMO_FB21.FDB User_Name=sysdba Password=masterkey CharacterSet=utf8
- Connect to a local database:
DriverID=FB Database=C:\fb\ADDEMO_FB21.FDB User_Name=sysdba Password=masterkey CharacterSet=win1251
- Connect to a Firebird Embedded database:
Drop the TFDPhysFBDriverLink component to the form and set its VendorLib to
DriverID=FB Database=C:\fb\ADDEMO_FB21.FDB User_Name=sysdba CharacterSet=utf8
See Also
- Common Connection Parameters
- FAQs
- How to configure FireDAC Drivers
- How to manage FireDAC Connection Definitions
- Tutorial: Using FireDAC from a Multi-Device Application on Desktop Platforms
Samples
- FireDAC Firebird sample
