You can use aliases instead of the full path to the primary database file. Aliases are defined in the databases.conf file in the following format:

  |alias = filepath

If you create a database on a remote server, you need to specify the remote server specification. The remote server specification depends on the protocol being used. If you use the TCP/IP protocol to create a database, the primary file specification should look like this:

  |host[/{port|service}]:{filepath | db_alias}

If you use the Named Pipes protocol to create a database on a Windows server, the primary file specification should look like this:

  |\\host\{filepath | db_alias}

Firebird also has a unified URL-like syntax for the remote server specification. In this syntax, the first part specifies the name of the protocol, then a host name or IP address, port number, and path of the primary database file, or an alias.

The following values can be specified as the protocol:

inet

TCP/IP (first tries to connect using the IPv6 protocol, if it fails, then IPv4)

inet4

TCP/IP v4

inet6

TCP/IP v6

wnet

NetBEUI or Named Pipes Protocol

xnet

local protocol (does not include a host, port and service name)

  |<protocol>://[host[:{port | service}]/]{filepath | db_alias}

USER and PASSWORD

Clauses for specifying the username and the password, respectively, of an existing user in the security database (security4.fdb or whatever is configured in the SecurityDatabase configuration). You do not have to specify the username and password if the ISC_USER and ISC_PASSWORD environment variables are set. The user specified in the process of creating the database will be its owner. This will be important when considering database and object privileges.

ROLE

The ROLE clause specifies the name of the role (usually RDB$ADMIN), which will be taken into account when creating the database. The role must be assigned to the user in the applicable security database.

PAGE_SIZE

Clause for specifying the database page size. This size will be set for the primary file and all secondary files of the database. If you specify the database page size less than 4,096, it will be automatically rounded up to 4,096. Other values not equal to either 4,096, 8,192, 16,384 or 32,768 will be changed to the closest smaller supported value. If the database page size is not specified, it is set to the default value of 8,192.

ⓘ

Bigger Isn’t Always Better.

Larger page sizes can fit more records on a single page, have wider indexes, and more indexes, but they will also waste more space for blobs (compare the wasted space of a 3KB blob on page size 4096 with one on 32768: +/- 1KB vs +/- 29KB), and increase memory consumption of the page cache.

LENGTH

Clause specifying the maximum size of the primary or secondary database file, in pages. When a database is created, its primary and secondary files will occupy the minimum number of pages necessary to store the system data, regardless of the value specified in the LENGTH clause. The LENGTH value does not affect the size of the only (or last, in a multi-file database) file. The file will keep increasing its size automatically when necessary.

SET NAMES

Clause specifying the character set of the connection available after the database is successfully created. The character set NONE is used by default. Notice that the character set should be enclosed in a pair of apostrophes (single quotes).

DEFAULT CHARACTER SET

Clause specifying the default character set for creating data structures of string data types. Character sets are used for CHAR, VARCHAR and BLOB SUB_TYPE TEXT data types. The character set NONE is used by default. It is also possible to specify the default COLLATION for the default character set, making that collation sequence the default for the default character set. The default will be used for the entire database except where an alternative character set, with or without a specified collation, is used explicitly for a field, domain, variable, cast expression, etc.

STARTING AT

Clause that specifies the database page number at which the next secondary database file should start. When the previous file is completely filled with data according to the specified page number, the system will start adding new data to the next database file.

DIFFERENCE FILE

Clause specifying the path and name for the file delta that stores any mutations to the database file after it has been switched to the copy-safe mode by the ALTER DATABASE BEGIN BACKUP statement. For the detailed description of this clause, see ALTER DATABASE.

Databases are created in Dialect 3 by default. For the database to be created in SQL dialect 1, you will need to execute the statement SET SQL DIALECT 1 from script or the client application, e.g. in isql, before the CREATE DATABASE statement.

The CREATE DATABASE statement can be executed by:

• Administrators

• Users with the CREATE DATABASE privilege

1. Creating a database in Windows, located on disk D with a page size of 4,096. The owner of the database will be the user wizard. The database will be in Dialect , and will use WIN1251 as its default character set.

     |SET SQL DIALECT 1;
     |CREATE DATABASE 'D:\test.fdb'
     |USER 'wizard' PASSWORD 'player'
     |PAGE_SIZE = 4096 DEFAULT CHARACTER SET WIN1251;
   

2. Creating a database in the Linux operating system with a page size of 8,192 (default). The owner of the database will be the user wizard. The database will be in Dialect 3 and will use UTF8 as its default character set, with UNICODE_CI_AI as the default collation.

     |CREATE DATABASE '/home/firebird/test.fdb'
     |USER 'wizard' PASSWORD 'player'
     |DEFAULT CHARACTER SET UTF8 COLLATION UNICODE_CI_AI;
   

3. Creating a database on the remote server baseserver with the path specified in the alias test that has been defined previously in the file databases.conf. The TCP/IP protocol is used. The owner of the database will be the user wizard. The database will be in Dialect 3 and will use UTF8 as its default character set.

     |CREATE DATABASE 'baseserver:test'
     |USER 'wizard' PASSWORD 'player'
     |DEFAULT CHARACTER SET UTF8;
   

4. Creating a database in Dialect 3 with UTF8 as its default character set. The primary file will contain up to 10,000 pages with a page size of 8,192. As soon as the primary file has reached the maximum number of pages, Firebird will start allocating pages to the secondary file test.fdb2. If that file is filled up to its maximum as well, test.fdb3 becomes the recipient of all new page allocations. As the last file, it has no page limit imposed on it by Firebird. New allocations will continue for as long as the file system allows it or until the storage device runs out of free space. If a LENGTH parameter were supplied for this last file, it would be ignored.

     |SET SQL DIALECT 3;
     |CREATE DATABASE 'baseserver:D:\test.fdb'
     |USER 'wizard' PASSWORD 'player'
     |PAGE_SIZE = 8192
     |DEFAULT CHARACTER SET UTF8
     |FILE 'D:\test.fdb2'
     |STARTING AT PAGE 10001
     |FILE 'D:\test.fdb3'
     |STARTING AT PAGE 20001;
   

5. Creating a database in Dialect 3 with UTF8 as its default character set. The primary file will contain up to 10,000 pages with a page size of 8,192. As far as file size and the use of secondary files are concerned, this database will behave exactly like the one in the previous example.

     |SET SQL DIALECT 3;
     |CREATE DATABASE 'baseserver:D:\test.fdb'
     |USER 'wizard' PASSWORD 'player'
     |PAGE_SIZE = 8192
     |LENGTH 10000 PAGES
     |DEFAULT CHARACTER SET UTF8
     |FILE 'D:\test.fdb2'
     |FILE 'D:\test.fdb3'
     |STARTING AT PAGE 20001;
   

See alsoSection 5.1.2, “ALTER DATABASE”, Section 5.1.3, “DROP DATABASE”

The ALTER DATABASE statement can be executed by:

• Administrators

• Users with the ALTER DATABASE privilege

ADD (FILE)

Adds secondary files to the database. It is necessary to specify the full path to the file and the name of the secondary file. The description for the secondary file is similar to the one given for the CREATE DATABASE statement.

ADD DIFFERENCE FILE

Specifies the path and name of the delta file that stores any mutations to the database whenever it is switched to the copy-safe mode. This clause does not actually add any file. It just overrides the default name and path of the .delta file. To change the existing settings, you should delete the previously specified description of the .delta file using the DROP DIFFERENCE FILE clause before specifying the new description of the delta file. If the path and name of the .delta file are not overridden, the file will have the same path and name as the database, but with the .delta file extension.

⚠

Caution

If only a file name is specified, the .delta file will be created in the current directory of the server. On Windows, this will be the system directory — a very unwise location to store volatile user files and contrary to Windows file system rules.

DROP DIFFERENCE FILE

Deletes the description (path and name) of the .delta file specified previously in the ADD DIFFERENCE FILE clause. The file is not actually deleted. DROP DIFFERENCE FILE deletes the path and name of the .delta file from the database header. Next time the database is switched to the copy-safe mode, the default values will be used (i.e. the same path and name as those of the database, but with the .delta extension).

BEGIN BACKUP

Switches the database to the copy-safe mode. ALTER DATABASE with this clause freezes the main database file, making it possible to back it up safely using file system tools, even if users are connected and performing operations with data. Until the backup state of the database is reverted to NORMAL, all changes made to the database will be written to the .delta (difference) file.

☝

Important

Despite its syntax, a statement with the BEGIN BACKUP clause does not start a backup process but just creates the conditions for doing a task that requires the database file to be read-only temporarily.

END BACKUP

Switches the database from the copy-safe mode to the normal mode. A statement with this clause merges the .delta file with the main database file and restores the normal operation of the database. Once the END BACKUP process starts, the conditions no longer exist for creating safe backups by means of file system tools.

🛑

Warning

Use of BEGIN BACKUP and END BACKUP and copying the database files with filesystem tools, is not safe with multi-file databases! Use this method only on single-file databases.

Making a safe backup with the gbak utility remains possible at all times, although it is not recommended running gbak while the database is in LOCKED or MERGE state.

SET DEFAULT CHARACTER SET

Changes the default character set of the database. This change does not affect existing data or columns. The new default character set will only be used in subsequent DDL commands.

ENCRYPT WITH

See Encrypting a Database in the Security chapter.

DECRYPT

See Decrypting a Database in the Security chapter.

SET LINGER TO

Sets the linger-delay. The linger-delay applies only to Firebird SuperServer, and is the number of seconds the server keeps a database file (and its caches) open after the last connection to that database was closed. This can help to improve performance at low cost, when the database is opened and closed frequently, by keeping resources warm for the next connection.

ⓘ

Note

This mode can be useful for web applications - without a connection pool - where the connection to the database usually lives for a very short time.

🛑

Warning

The SET LINGER TO and DROP LINGER clauses can be combined in a single statement, but the last clause wins. For example, ALTER DATABASE SET LINGER TO 5 DROP LINGER will set the linger-delay to 0 (no linger), while ALTER DATABASE DROP LINGER SET LINGER to 5 will set the linger-delay to 5 seconds.

DROP LINGER

Drops the linger-delay (sets it to zero). Using DROP LINGER is equivalent to using SET LINGER TO 0.

ⓘ

Note

Dropping LINGER is not an ideal solution for the occasional need to turn it off for some once-only condition where the server needs a forced shutdown. The gfix utility now has the -NoLinger switch, which will close the specified database immediately after the last attachment is gone, regardless of the LINGER setting in the database. The LINGER setting is retained and works normally the next time.

The same one-off override is also available through the Services API, using the tag isc_spb_prp_nolinger, e.g. (in one line):

  |fbsvcmgr host:service_mgr user sysdba password xxx
  |       action_properties dbname employee prp_nolinger

🛑

Warning

The DROP LINGER and SET LINGER TO clauses can be combined in a single statement, but the last clause wins.

SET DEFAULT SQL SECURITY

Specifies the default SQL SECURITY option to apply at runtime for objects without the SQL Security property set. See also SQL Security in chapter Security.

ENABLE PUBLICATION

Enables publication of this database for replication. Replication begins (or continues) with the next transaction started after this transaction commits.

DISABLE PUBLICATION

Enables publication of this database for replication. Replication is disabled immediately after commit.

EXCLUDE …​ FROM PUBLICATION

Excludes tables from publication. If INCLUDE ALL TO PUBLICATION clause is used, then all tables created afterwards will also be replicated, unless overridden explicitly in the CREATE TABLE statement.

INCLUDE …​ TO PUBLICATION

Includes tables to publication. If INCLUDE ALL TO PUBLICATION clause is used, then all tables created afterwards will also be replicated, unless overridden explicitly in the CREATE TABLE statement.

1. Adding a secondary file to the database. As soon as 30000 pages are filled in the previous primary or secondary file, the Firebird engine will start adding data to the secondary file test4.fdb.

     |ALTER DATABASE
     |  ADD FILE 'D:\test4.fdb'
     |    STARTING AT PAGE 30001;
   

2. Specifying the path and name of the delta file:

     |ALTER DATABASE
     |  ADD DIFFERENCE FILE 'D:\test.diff';
   

3. Deleting the description of the delta file:

     |ALTER DATABASE
     |  DROP DIFFERENCE FILE;
   

4. Switching the database to the copy-safe mode:

     |ALTER DATABASE
     |  BEGIN BACKUP;
   

5. Switching the database back from the copy-safe mode to the normal operation mode:

     |ALTER DATABASE
     |  END BACKUP;
   

6. Changing the default character set for a database to WIN1251

     |ALTER DATABASE
     |  SET DEFAULT CHARACTER SET WIN1252;
   

7. Setting a linger-delay of 30 seconds

     |ALTER DATABASE
     |  SET LINGER TO 30;
   

8. Encrypting the database with a plugin called DbCrypt

     |ALTER DATABASE
     |  ENCRYPT WITH DbCrypt;
   

9. Decrypting the database

     |ALTER DATABASE
     |  DECRYPT;
   

See alsoSection 5.1.1, “CREATE DATABASE”, Section 5.1.3, “DROP DATABASE”

The DROP DATABASE statement can be executed by:

• Administrators

• Users with the DROP DATABASE privilege

Deleting the current database

  |DROP DATABASE;

See alsoSection 5.1.1, “CREATE DATABASE”, Section 5.1.2, “ALTER DATABASE”