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IBProvider - news, releases, manuals

IBProvider releases notes, documentation, code samples, articles

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 23:00:00 +0200

.:: The 6 world-wide Firebird Conference in Bergamo, Italy::.

The 6 world-wide Firebird Conference in Bergamo, Italy

The 6 world-wide Firebird Conference will take place in Bergamo, Italy. Conference will be from thursday september 25 till saturday september 27.

Every day have a special theme with morning session only in italian language and afternoon session in english with best italian and worldwide firebird-world expert!

Important notice: All visitors of the 6 world-wide Firebird Conference can order IBProvider Professional Edition with 20% discount

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 23:00:00 +0200

.:: IBProvider updates are available. Operation with NUMERIC-types and connection pooling were improved. External and temporary tables support in metadata schemes was added. Disabled metadata cache mode performance was increased in 2.5 times.::.

New packages of IBProvider Professional Edition came out

Brief release annotation

IBProvider v3 Release Candidate 3 [build 3.0.0.4963]

NUMERIC-types support was improved.
Disabled metadata cache mode performance was increased in 2.5 times.
Metadata schemes were updated. Among them in schemes TABLE_INFO and TABLES classification of external (EXTERNAL TABLE) and temporary tables (GLOBAL TEMPORARY PRESERVE/DELETE) was added starting from Firebird 2.1 and Interbase 7.5.
Correct processing of active transactions in the connection pool.

New builds of IBProvider v1.9.9.2547 and IBProvider v2.6.3.2547

BLOB-columns metadata description bug was fixed.
Correct processing of active transactions in the connection pool.

IBProvider v3 Release Candidate 3 build 3.0.0.4963

NUMERIC-types support was improved

Correct view of NUMERIC-columns types with zero scale. This feature will not work for Interbase 4.x and Interbase 5.x .
Precisions for NUMERIC-columns were changed to 4,9,18. In previous releases precisions were equal to 5/10/19. Precision depends on base type in which NUMERIC is stored (SHORT, LONG or INT64).
Changes are true for simple columns and columns with arrays.

Backward compatibility

3 initialization properties: n numeric_i2_rules, numeric_i4_rules, numeric_i8_rules for backward compatibility were added. Set these properties in getline on value 3 and you will rollback provider.

Common troubles with NUMERIC and solution

Common troubles with NUMERIC and solutions. Servers Interbase/Firebird/Yaffil implement simplified precision control. For example, they allow storing 32000 value in NUMERIC(4,0). MS SQL Server 2005 checks uploaded data precision. If data precision is not in the allowed range MS SQL will generate the error:

OLE DB provider 'LCPI.IBProvider.3' for linked server 'IBP_TEST_FB21_V3' returned invalid data for column '[IBP_TEST_FB21_V3]...[NUM].N_1_0'

To define behavior of a provider in this case, use properties numeric_i2_rules, numeric_i4_rules, numeric_i8_rules.

Correct processing of active transactions in the connection pool

When using SQL for transactions start ADODB may put connection with active transaction to the connection pool. As a result, when you open connection again pool may return connection with unfinished transaction. In IBP v1, v2, v3 initialization property reset_ds_tr_rule.
Reset to initial state of session settings of the multiple connections was implemented.

Metadata query optimization for disabled metadata cache mode

If you disable metadata cache schema_cache=0 new build of IBProvider use query with parameters with limits considered.

This feature cuts traffic between client and server and increase running speed in 2.5 times with cache disabled if compared to previous versions. schema_cache=1 by default (metadata cache is enabled).

Classification of external and temporary tables

In TABLES, TABLES_INFO metadata schemes in TABLE_TYPE column new tables classifications were added:

EXTERNAL TABLE - all server types and versions supported
GLOBAL TEMPORARY PRESERVE - Interbase 7.5 , Firebird 2.1 or above.
GLOBAL TEMPORARY DELETE - Interbase 7.5, Firebird 2.1 or above.

Other metadata changes

In TABLES_INFO, TABLES schemes "EXTERNAL_FILE" column was added.
In TABLES_OWNER scheme "TABLE_OWNER" column was added.
Ignoring text case for column restriction in "TABLE_CONSTRAINT::CONSTRAINT_TYPE".

New builds of IBProvider v2, v1

IBProvider v1 [1.9.9.2547]
IBProvider v2 [2.6.3.2547]

Some features from IBProvider v3 RC3 are implemented

Ignoring text case for field restriction in "TABLE_CONSTRAINT::CONSTRAINT_TYPE" was added.
Correct interaction with connection pool.

Besides, a bug in BLOB-columns description was fixed

Due to the bug in release 2.6.1 (2.6.2), BLOB-columns were published with wrong flag DBCOLUMNFLAGS_ISFIXEDLENGTH.

Download IBProvider Professional Edition (64/32 bit) [build: 3.0.0.4963]

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 23:00:00 +0200

.:: New IBProvider Release Candidate 3 is available. Support of the integrated Windows authentication (SSPI) for Firebird 2.1, Support of long names and BOOLEAN type in Interbase 7.x and Interbase 2007, etc.::.

New IBProvider Release Candidate 3 is available. (ver: 3.0.0.4773)

Support of the integrated Windows authentication (SSPI) for Firebird 2.1.
Support of the system auth using environment variables: ISC_USER and ISC_PASSWORD.
Feature of enable/disable database triggers for separate connection is available.
Support of long names and BOOLEAN type in Interbase 7.x and Interbase 2007 was added.
Support of arrays was improved. Access to arrays via IBProvider now becomes more robust in comparison with other Firebird database access components.

Support of the Firebird 2.1 integrated Windows authentication (SSPI)

New initialization property Integrated Security allows using integrated Windows auth for Firebird 2.1. If the property will be set, then IBProvider will be ignoring User ID and Password properties.

Integrated Security can be used with FB 2.1 client version or higher.

The property can be set via connection string or in the Data Link editor.

Support of the system autentification using environment variables: ISC_USER and ISC_PASSWORD

User ID and Password initialization properties are defined as not mandatory. IBProvider will use environment variables ISC_USER and ISC_PASSWORD or integrated Windows authentication for Firebird 2.1.

This feature is also implemented in IBProvider v2.

Enable/Disable database triggers

New initialization property enable_db_triggers allows to enable/disable db triggers for separate connection.

Feature is supported only for Firebird client of any version.

Other

Informational property IB Client Level was removed.
Retrieve client version bug was fixed.
Automatic IBProvider core setup algorithms were improved and now it is used information about client version and client type (gds32 or fbclient.dll).
Small fixes were made for 64 bits version. And now it is recommended to update.

Support for long names and BOOLEAN type in Interbase 7.x and Interbase 2007 was added.

BOOLEAN type support was added for simple columns and columns with arrays.
Full Interbase API support was implemented. Long names can be used now (up to 67 symbols).

Configuration requirements:

Interbase client (gds32.dll) for Interbase 7.x version or higher.
Connection to the Interbase 7.x server version or higher.
Database ODS not less than 11.0.

New Interbase features are available only for 32 bits because IB does not have own 64 bits client.

Array's support was improved

IBProvider creates description for text arrays using connection code page and avoid incorrect db server behavior. This feature now is implemented for any server type and version (Interbase, Firebird, Yaffil), not only for FB 2.1.
For better work with arrays from VBScript array_type initialization property was added. It replaces array_vt_type initialization property.

Download IBProvider Professional Edition (64/32 bit)

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 23:00:00 +0200

.:: IBProvider releases have appeared. OCTETS character set support, data type converter release, 64 bits values in metadata schematics.::.

New IBProvider release has appeared

OCTETS character set and binary data support in IBProvider v3 was implemented.
Fixed bug occuring when accessing to VARCHAR columns with large size via MS SQL Linked server .
64 bits values in metadata schematics are now supported.
Data type converter was tested by 43000 unit tests.

OCTETS codepage and binary data support was implemented in IBProvider v. 3.0.0.4117

The driver correctly detects and transfers binary data stored in CHAR and VARCHAR columns with OCTETS codepage.
Selection and editing of binary data via ADODB library is now supported.

ActiveX component for working with binary data was released

New ActiveX component LCPI.IBP.Samples.BinaryVector provides simpler binary data work. Source codes are available in "Samples\oledb\sample_com_object" folder. 32 bits and 64 bits compilation has supported.

Fixed bug occuring when accessing to VARCHAR columns with large size via MS SQL Linked Server

Issues with data access to VARCHAR columns with size greater than 4000 via Linked Server were resolved.

64 bits values in metadata schematics are now supported

Data type for metadata columns was changed from UInt32 to UInt64:

COLUMNS::ORDINAL_POSITION
COLUMNS::CHARACTER_MAXIMUM_LENGTH
COLUMNS::CHARACTER_OCTET_LENGTH
PROCEDURE_COLUMNS::ORDINAL_POSITION
PROCEDURE_COLUMNS::CHARACTER_MAXIMUM_LENGTH
PROCEDURE_COLUMNS::CHARACTER_OCTET_LENGTH
PROCEDURE_PARAMETERS::CHARACTER_MAXIMUM_LENGTH
PROCEDURE_PARAMETERS::CHARACTER_OCTET_LENGTH
PROVIDER_TYPES::COLUMN_SIZE
PRIMARY_KEYS::ORDINAL
FOREIGN_KEYS::ORDINAL
KEY_COLUMN_USAGE::ORDINAL_POSITION
INDEXES::ORDINAL_POSITION

Data type for columns in IColumnsRowset was changed from UInt32 to UInt64:

DBCOLUMN_NUMBER
DBCOLUMN_COLUMNSIZE

Read about advantages of 64 bits in the article 10 reasons to upgrade Interbase and Firebird to 64 bits .

Data Type Converter

We have finished developing a new data type converter.

The advantages of the new converter are::

Multi-platform compatibility

The new converter does not use Windows API and OS information for type conversion. All operations are performed in IBProvider core.
Converter now uses memory copy and deallocation operations for VARIANT types in order to avoid problems with unsupported OLE DB types VT_I1, VT_UI2, VT_UI4, VT_I8, VT_UI8 in older Windows versions (9x, NT4, 2000).

Max support for OLE DB types

Support for value types, VARIANT type, arrays, and binary data types has been implemented.

Optimization

New converter has less internal method calls and less memory allocation.

Reliability

More than 43 000 unit tests were coded to test the new converter.

Data type converter and its tests source codes are now available

Converter source codes are located in "lib\ole_lib\oledb\variant" folder.
Converter tests are located in "TestCode\lib\ole_lib\oledb\variant\test_cvt" folder.
Other IBProvider tests are located in "TestCode\ActiveX\IBP" folder.

Download IBProvider Professional Edition (64/32 bit) .

Sun, 11 May 2008 23:00:00 +0200

.:: IBProvider releases have appeared. New implementation of the data types converter.::.

IBProvider releases have appeared. New implementation of the data types converter.

New implementation of the data type's converter is available for all IBProvider versions:

IBProvider v.1.9.6.2491
IBProvider v.2.6.0.2491
IBProvider v.3.0.0.4047

In current releases we remove the most old source code of our OLE DB Provider. The first implementation of the type converter was coded at January 2000. The main update reasons are more simple architecture and faster features implementation.

General improvements

Test system was improved and found bugs were fixed. More than 15 000 tests coded.
Stricter control over the type conversion process.
Rounding for numeric conversion.
Support of the FILETIME OLEDB-type.
IConvertType::CanConvert implementation was improved.
OLEDB-types storage was optimized.

Date conversion improvements

Embedded string to date converter.
Supported date formats are:
- YYYY-MM-DD
- DD.MM.YYYY
Supported time formats are:
- HH:MM
- HH:MM:SS
- HH:MM:SS.FRACTION
Correct conversion for 2 digits year presentation.

Data Type converter source codes are available as a part of the IBProvider Professional Edition. See lib/ole_lib/oledb/oledb_variant.h file and classes: DBVARIANT, basic_dbvariant.

Test system for type converter is available in TestCode/lib/ole_lib/oledb/variant/test_cvt folder.

ODBC Escape Sequences Parser

Algorithm for avoiding Year 2000 problem has small bug fixes.

Download IBProvider Professional Edition (64/32 bit) .

Sun, 06 Apr 2008 23:00:00 +0200

.:: New IBProvider v3 for 64 bits operational systems.::.

New IBProvider v3.0 RC2 [build 3997] for 64 bits operational systems

IBProvider v3, as well as C++ library for working with OLE DB providers now can be used as a part of 64 bits applications.

A component set of IBProvider Professional Edition is divided into two editions:

IBProvider Professional Edition for 32 bits - a standard version allowing to create only 32 bits applications.
IBProvider Professional Edition for 64/32 bits - a component package allowing to develop 32 as well as 64 bits applications.

IBProvider Professional Edition 64/32 bits component set

The edition includes 3 IBProvider versions for 32 bits and a new IBProvider v3 version for 64 bits.

The editions price:

A new IBProvider Professional Edition for 64/32 bits component set - 219 .
A standard IBProvider Professional Edition for 32 bits edition - 150 .

You may read about the advantages of 64 bits in the article 10 reasons to upgrade Interbase è Firebird application to 64 bits .

Download IBProvider Professional Edition (64/32 bit) .

A gift to our clients

For registered clients who bought the IBProvider license after the 7 of April, 2007, 64 bits IBProvider version will be free of charge. IBProvider Professional Edition

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 22:00:00 +0100

.:: New build No 3965 of IBProvider v 3.0 RC2 has appeared.::.

New build No 3965 of IBProvider v.3.0 RC2 has appeared

Support of date and time formats was improved

Validation for date parts and for date ranges has added
Check for the conversion between ISC and OLE DB date formats has implemented
Date range for ISC format was extended:

01.03.0000 [isc code: -678881]

27.5.5881469 [isc code: 2147483647]

Firebird

01.01.0001

Firebird

31.12.9999

Date algorithms are implemented as stand along and do not depend on the fbclient.dll/gds32.dll version

Behavior of the Rollback command has changed

If Rollback command executing and transaction state is inactive then error No active transaction will be raised. This is the default behavior.

For the backward compatibility 2 properties has added:

tr_abort_flags initialization property
Session Transaction Abort Flags session property

Other changes

Small bugs were fixed in OLE DB errors processing code

New IBProvider v 3.0 can be downloaded as a path of the IBProvider Professional Edition .

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 22:00:00 +0100

.:: New IBProvider releases have appeared. Visual Studio 2008 support and DTC support were improved, known bugs were fixed and Firebird/Interbase compatibility was enhanced.::.

New IBProvider releases have appeared. Visual Studio 2008 support and DTC support were improved, known bugs were fixed and Firebird/Interbase compatibility was enhanced.

IBProvider v3 RC2 [build 3.0.0.3861]:

Implemented support of Server Explorer for Visual Studio 2008.
New WIN1258 code page was added.
Loading CHAR-arrays bug was fixed.
Errors handling implementation for Ole DB properties was strongly conformed to OLE DB standard.

IBProvider v1, v2

The bug concerning dynamic memory heap was fixed.

Firebird 2.x compatibility was improved

Firebird 2 and Firebird 2.1

Text arrays' support was improved. Known FB server bugs were fixed on the IBProvider level.

Backward compatibility mode

When you tried to attach database which was created in older versions of FB (FB1.5, FB1, FB 0.9.4) to Firebird 2.x you can get an incorrect behavior. Now all known issues were closed.

ODBC escape sequences parser was improved

ODBC function TIMESTAMPADD gets an optional parameter QUARTER.
ODBC function LOCATE was optimized.

See the completed guide to ODBC Escape Sequences.

VIEWS support was improved

Solving problems while using FB/IB views from MS SQL Linked Server.
COLUMNS scheme. Nullable attribute for view columns is now calculated correctly for Firebird 1.5, FB 2.x, Interbase 2007.
Interbase 4 compatibility was improved. Loading VIEWS scheme issue was fixed.

Essential improvement of the DTC support

DTC - Distributed Transaction Coordinator.

DTC applies in:

MS SQL Linked Server uses DTC for synchronization the local transactions with linked server transactions.
The realization of the distributed transaction through the TransactionScope class in .Net Framework

For all IBProvider versions

Control improvement: Now if transaction is connected to DTC, it can not be finished through session methods (Commit or Rollback).
ITransaction::GetTransactionInfo. If the transaction is connected to DTC, the method returns UOW (UnitOfWork) identifier of the distributed transaction.
Two-phase commit was supported.

Two-phase commit (Two-phase transaction)

The Transaction commit has 2 phases:
Preparation phase - all the members of the distributed transaction are interrogated on commit end.

Commit phase - If all the members are ready to commit transaction, the coordinator sends the commit order.

It is guaranteed that all the members of the distributed transaction stay in agreed circumstances.

IBProvider v3

Additional control for commit the transaction connected to DTC through the SQL requests.

Summary

We constantly work to provide our clients with the reliable, functional and general-purpose decision that lets realize any projects on Firebird and Interbase.

The new release is one more possibility to feel the whole power of modern development tools, reduce the expenses and solve tasks in a short period of time.

New releases are available to anyone .

Tue, 25 Dec 2007 22:00:00 +0100

.:: We have changed the IBProvider license agreements and now give discounts.::.

We have changed the IBProvider license agreements and now give discounts.

About the license agreements:

You can purchase IBProvider using 3 license types:

Single Developer license.
Site license to use the software by the unlimited number of developers within a single physical location (building) of an organization.
Enterprise license to use the software by the unlimited number of developers within a single organization all around the world.

About discounts:

We offer volume discounts for the Single Developer license and a 20% discount for the renewal of the one-year subscription for updates. Price list and the license agreements are available on the purchase page.

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 22:00:00 +0100

.:: The second Russian Firebird and Interbase conference will take place in Moscow, November 23, 2007::.

The second Russian Firebird and Interbase conference will take place in Moscow, November 23, 2007

Participators are Firebird Core developers Dmitry Yemanov, Vlad Horsun and Aleksey Pechkov, IBase company Chief Dmitry Kuzmenko, Code Gear product manager Aleksey Kovyazin, Louis Santos from Unimep, and other known developers and Professionals from Firebird and Interbase world.

IBProvider Team will also be on the conference and present IBProvider v3 Release Candidate 2. IBProvider developers: Kovalenko Dmitry, Piminov Roman and Andrew Merkulov will answer as many questions as time permits.

Andrew Merkulov scheduled presentation "IBProvider. A way to modern developer environments".

Draft plan of the presentation:

Creating solutions for Firebird and Interbase on Microsoft SQL Server 2005

SQL Server Management Studio. Distributed queries and the Linked Server technology.
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Business Intelligence for Firebird and Interbase

Integrations Services. Developing ETL processes. Extract, transform and load data. SSIS packages.
Reporting Services. Report development.
Analysis Services. OLAP-cubes.

ODBC Escape sequences.

New IBProvider SQL parser which supports ODBC Escape Sequences will be presented and examples will be shown.

We will offer special reduced price on IBProvider CD Edition for conference attendees. You can register attendees from your company and read details on the official conference homepage [RU].