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The embedded server is a fully functional server linked as a Dynamic Link Library (fbembed.dll). It has exactly the same features as the usual server and exports the standard Firebird API entrypoints.
The Firebird registry entries are ignored. The root directory of the embedded server is the directory of its binary file (library).
Client access can be only via the local protocol, i.e. NOT a TCP/IP connection string that includes the server name "localhost" or IP address 127.0.0.1.
The embedded server supports only the IPServer "local connect" to a database file path without a server name. The client must have exclusive access to the database file.
The embedded server acts as a true local server for a single client accessing databases on a local machine. It can also act as a remote gateway that redirects all network calls to other hosts, just as the regular client library (fbclient.dll) does.
The security database (namely security.fdb) is not used in the embedded server and hence is not required. Any user is able to attach to any database. Since both the server and the client run in the same address space, the security becomes just an agreement between both sides which can be easily compromised.
But note that SQL privileges are still checked.
You may run any number of applications with the embedded server without any
conflicts. Having IB/FB server running
is not a problem either.
But you should be aware that you cannot access single database from a number of the embedded servers simultaneously, because they have SuperServer architecture and hence exclusively lock attached databases.
Just copy fbembed.dll into the directory with your application. Then rename it to either fbclient.dll or gds32.dll depending on your database connectivity software. Then start your application and it will use the embedded server as a client library and will be able to access local datasases. You should also copy firebird.msg and firebird.conf (if necessary) to the same directory.
If external libraries are required for your application, then you should have them separately. Most probably, it will be INTL support (fbintl.dll) or UDF libraries. To be able to use them, you should place them into the directory tree which emulates the Firebird server one, i.e. has subdirectories like /intl or /udf:
| c:\my_app\app.exe | Your application |
| c:\my_app\gds32.dll | The renamed fbembed.dll |
| c:\my_app\ib_util.dll | From the Firebird Embedded Server package |
| c:\my_app\firebird.conf | From the Firebird Embedded Server package |
| c:\my_app\firebird.msg | From the Firebird Embedded Server package |
| c:\my_app\intl\fbintl.dll | From the Firebird Embedded Server package |
| c:\my_app\udf\fbudf.dll | From the Firebird Embedded Server package |
If you want to place the Firebird files (excluding the renamed fbembed.dll) in another directory, you need to modify your firebird.conf and set RootDirectory to the Firebird directory tree. Example:
c:\my_app\app.exe
c:\my_app\gds32.dll
c:\my_app\ib_util.dll
c:\my_app\firebird.conf
d:\fb\firebird.msg
d:\fb\intl\fbintl.dll
d:\fb\udf\fbudf.dll
firebird.conf:
RootDirectory = d:\fb
For a minimum installation you need to have these files in the directory of your application:
| c:\myapp\app.exe | Your application |
| c:\myapp\fbembed.dll | fbembed.dll from the Firebird Embedded Server package (Depending on how clever your application is, you can/should rename this to fbclient.dll, gds32.dll or just leave it as fbembed.dll) |
| c:\myapp\mydb.fdb | Your database file (can be in any other directory on a local drive though) |
| c:\myapp\intl\fbintl.dll | The fbintl.dll file from the Firebird Embedded Server package. Note that this file must reside in a subdirectory called intl |
When your application uses User Defined Functions (UDFs) you will have to include them as shown above in chapter 3.
Stefan Heymann, 2005-04-05
This HTML page is derived work from the official documentation
(README_embedded.txt)
The HTML code and modifications by me are licensed under (choose your favorite):
GPL, LGPL, CC, IDPL, GFDL, BSD, (did I forget one?)