D.15. RDB$FORMATS

RDB$FORMATS stores information about changes in tables. Each time any metadata change to a table is committed, it gets a new format number. When the format number of any table reaches 255, or any view 32,000, the entire database becomes inoperable. To return to normal, the database must be backed up with the gbak utility and restored from that backup copy.

Column NameData TypeDescription

RDB$RELATION_ID

SMALLINT

Table or view identifier

RDB$FORMAT

SMALLINT

Table format identifier — maximum 255 for tables, 32,000 for views. The critical time comes when this number approaches 255 for any table or 32,000 for any view

RDB$DESCRIPTOR

BLOB FORMAT

Stores column names and data attributes as BLOB, as they were at the time the format record was created