Frequently Asked Questions

This page contains a list of Frequently Asked Questions for InterBase Data Access Components.

If you have encounter a question with using IBDAC, please browse through this list first. If this page does not answer your question, refer to the Getting Support topic in IBDAC help

1. I am having a problem installing IBDAC or compiling IBDAC-based projects...
   

   You may be having a compatibility issue that shows up in one or more of the following forms:

   • Get a "Setup has detected already installed DAC packages which are incompatible with current version" message during IBDAC installation.
   • Get a "Procedure entry point ... not found in ... " message when starting IDE.
   • Get a "Unit ... was compiled with a different version of ..." message on compilation.

   You can have such problems if you installed incompatible IBDAC, SDAC, ODAC or MyDAC versions. All these products use common base packages. The easiest way to avoid the problem is to uninstall all installed DAC products and then download from our site and install the last builds.

2. What software should be installed on a client computer for IBDAC-based applications to work?
   

   The minimal configuration of client installation includes the following steps:

   • Copy the client file gds32.dll to the folder available for executable unit of your program. For example, to the folder with your executable file, or to the Windows system folder. For more information, see description of the LoadLibrary function and the environment variable PATH.
   • Add the "gds_db 3050/tcp" line to the services file in the %WinDir%\system32\drivers\etc directory.
     For Firebird version 1.0.0.338 and higher, both client and server use port 3050 by default. So, you do not need to modify the services file. You can also specify port number for the Firebird client in connection string - server/3050:c:\dir\data.gdb
   • Copy file InterBase.msg (or firebird.msg for Firebird) to the folder available for executable unit of your program. File must belong to the same version as InterBase or Firebird.

1. Am I entitled to distribute applications written with IBDAC?
   

   If you have purchased a full version of IBDAC, you are entitled to distribute pre-compiled programs created with its use. You are not entitled to propagate any components inherited from IBDAC or using IBDAC source code. For more information see the License.rtf file in your IBDAC installation directory.

2. Can I create components using IBDAC?
   

   You can create your own components that are inherited from IBDAC or that use the IBDAC source code. You are entitled to sell and distribute compiled application executables that use such components, but not their source code and not the components themselves.

3. What licensing changes can I expect with IBDAC 2.00?
   

   The basic IBDAC license agreement will remain the same. With IBDAC 2.00, the IBDAC Edition Matrix will be reorganized and a new IBDAC Subscription Program will be introduced.

4. What do the IBDAC 2.00 Edition Levels correspond to?
   

   IBDAC 2.00 will come in three editions: Trial, Professional, and Professional with Sources.

   When you upgrade to the new version, your edition level will be automatically updated using the following Edition Correspondence Table.

   
   

   Edition Correspondence Table for Upgrading to IBDAC 2.00

   Old Edition Level	New Edition Level
   IBDAC Standard Edition	IBDAC Professional Edition
   IBDAC Professional Edition	IBDAC Professional Edition with Sources
   IBDAC Trial Edition	IBDAC Trial Edition

   
   

   The feature list for each edition can be found in the IBDAC documentation and on the IBDAC website.

5. I have a registered version of IBDAC. Will I need to pay to upgrade to future versions?
   

   After IBDAC 2.00, all upgrades to future versions are free to users with an active IBDAC Subscription.

   Users that have a registration for versions of IBDAC prior to IBDAC 2.00 will have to first upgrade to IBDAC 2.00 to jump in on the Subscription program.

6. What are the benefits of the IBDAC Subscription Program?
   

   The IBDAC Subscription Program is an annual maintenance and support service for IBDAC users.

   Users with a valid IBDAC Subscription get the following benefits:

   • Access to new versions of IBDAC when they are released
   • Access to all IBDAC updates and bug fixes
   • Product support through the IBDAC Priority Support program
   • Notification of new product versions

   Priority Support is an advanced product support program which offers you expedited individual assistance with IBDAC-related questions from the IBDAC developers themselves. Priority Support is carried out over email and has a two business day response policy.

   The IBDAC Subscription Program is available for registered users of IBDAC 2.00 and higher.

7. Can I use my version of IBDAC after my Subscription expires?
   

   Yes, you can. IBDAC version licenses are perpetual.

8. I want a IBDAC Subscription! How can I get one?
   

   An annual IBDAC Subscription is included when ordering or upgrading to any registered (non-Trial) edition of IBDAC 2.00 or higher.

   You can renew your IBDAC Subscription on the IBDAC Ordering Page. For more information, please contact [email protected].

9. Does this mean that if I upgrade to IBDAC 2 from IBDAC 1, I'll get an annual IBDAC Subscription for free?
   

   Yes.

10. How do I upgrade to IBDAC 2.00?
    

    To upgrade to IBDAC 2.00, you can get a Version Update from the IBDAC Ordering Page. For more information, please contact [email protected].

1. How productive is IBDAC?
   

   IBDAC uses low-level protocol to access the database server. This allows IBDAC to achieve high performance. From time to time we compare IBDAC with other products, and IBDAC always takes first place. For more information refer to online test results.

2. Why does the Locate function work so slowly the first time I use it?
   

   Locate is performed on the client. So if you had set FetchAll to False when opening your dataset, cached only some of the rows on the client, and then invoked Locate, IBDAC will have to fetch all the remaining rows from the server before performing the operation. On subsequent calls, Locate should work much faster.

   If the Locate method keeps working slowly on subsequent calls or you are working with FetchAll=True, try the following. Perform local sorting by a field that is used in the Locate method. Just assign corresponding field name to the IndexFieldNames property.

1. How can I enable syntax highlighting in IBDAC component editors at design time?
   

   To enable syntax highlighting for IBDAC, you should download and install the freeware SynEdit component set.

2. How can I determine which version of IBDAC I am using?
   

   You can determine your IBDAC version number in several ways:

   • During installation of IBDAC, consult the IBDAC Installer screen.
   • After installation, see the history.html file in your IBDAC installation directiory.
   • At design-time, select InterBase | About IBDAC from the main menu of your IDE.
   • At run-time, check the value of the IbdacVersion and DACVersion constants.
3. How can I stop the cursor from changing to an hour glass during query execution?
   

   Just set the DBAccess.ChangeCursor variable to False anywhere in your program. The cursor will stop changing after this command is executed.

4. How can I execute a query saved in the SQLInsert, SQLUpdate, SQLDelete, or SQLRefresh properties of a IBDAC dataset?
   

   The values of these properties are templates for query statements, and they cannot be manually executed. Usually there is no need to fill these properties because the text of the query is generated automatically.

   In special cases, you can set these properties to perform more complicated processing during a query. These properties are automatically processed by IBDAC during the execution of the Post, Delete, or RefreshRecord methods, and are used to construct the query to the server. Their values can contain parameters with names of fields in the underlying data source, which will be later replaced by appropriate data values.

   For example, you can use the SQLInsert template to insert a row into a query instance as follows.

   1. Fill the SQLInsert property with the parametrized query template you want to use.
   2. Call Insert.
   3. Initialize field values of the row to insert.
   4. Call Post.

   The value of the SQLInsert property will then be used by IBDAC to perform the last step.

   Setting these properties is optional and allows you to automatically execute additional SQL statements, add calls to stored procedures and functions, check input parameters, and/or store comments during query execution. If these properties are not set, the IBDAC dataset object will generate the query itself using the appropriate insert, update, delete, or refresh record syntax.

5. Some questions about the visual part of IBDAC
   

   The following questions usually arise from the same problem:

   • I set the Debug property to True but nothing happens!
   • While executing a query, the screen cursor does not change to an hour-glass.
   • Even if I have LoginPromp set to True, the connect dialog does not appear.

   To fix this problem, you should add the IbDacVcl (for Windows) or IbDacClx (for Linux) unit to the uses clause of your project.

1. I would like to develop an application that works with InterBase Server. Which should I use - IBDAC or dbExpress?
   

   dbExpress technology serves for providing a more or less uniform way to access different servers (SQL Server, MySQL, Oracle and so on). It is based on drivers that include server-specific features. Like any universal tool, in many specialized cases dbExpress providers lose some functionality. For example, the dbExpress design-time is quite poor and cannot be expanded.

   IBDAC is a specialized set of components to access InterBase server with advanced design-time and component interface similar to BDE.

   We tried to implement maximal InterBase support in IBDAC. dbExpress technology puts severe restrictions. For example, Unicode fields cannot be passed from the driver to dbExpress.

   In some cases dbExpress is slower because data undergoes additional conversion to correspond to dbExpress standards.

   To summarise, if it is important for you to be able to quickly adapt your application to a database server other than InterBase, it is probably better to use dbExpress. In other cases, especially when migrating from BDE or ADO, you should use IBDAC.

2. Why use IBDAC instead of standard InterBase Express components?
   

   There are many reasons why IBDAC is better than IBExpress. Some of them are enumerated here. For more information refer to IBDAC features list.

   • Reliable user support - we help to solve common issues quickly using e-mail or dedicated forum.
   • IBDAC is being constantly improved and enhanced, so you can be sure that the product is always up-to-date with the latest InterBase data access technology advances.
   • Better support for BLOBs, Arrays and other advanced features of the databases.
   • Automatic generation of SQL UPDATE, INSERT, DELETE, LOCK statements, so that you do not need to care about routine tasks.
   • Ability to lock records automatically, which helps you build stable multiuser applications more easily.
   • Unicode and national charsets support in all IBDAC components
   • IBDAC shares the same troubleproof engine with the other famous DAC products - ODAC, MyDAC, and SDAC. So if you have worked with one of them, it will be easier for you to switch to another one if you ever need to integrate support for another database server in your application.
3. Are the IBDAC connection components thread-safe?
   

   Yes, IBDAC is thread-safe but there is a restriction. The same TIBCConnection object cannot be used in several threads. So if you have a multithreaded application, you should have a TIBCConnection object for each thread that uses IBDAC.

4. Behaviour of my application has changed when I upgraded IBDAC. How can I restore the old behaviour with the new version?
   

   We always try to keep IBDAC compatible with previous versions, but sometimes we have to change behaviour of IBDAC in order to enhance its functionality, or avoid bugs. If either of changes is undesirable for your application, and you want to save the old behaviour, please refer to the "Compatibility with previous versions" topic in IBDAC help. This topic describes such changes, and how to revert to the old IBDAC behaviour.

5. When editing a DataSet, I get an exception with the message 'Update failed. Found %d records.' or 'Refresh failed. Found %d records.'
   

   This error occurs when the database server is unable to determine which record to modify or delete. In other words, there are either more than one record or no records that suit the UPDATE criteria. Such situation can happen when you omit the unique field in a SELECT statement (TCustomDADataSet.SQL) or when another user modifies the table simultaneously. This exception can be suppressed. Refer to TCustomDADataSet.Options topic in IBDAC help for more information.

6. I cannot use INT64 fields as key fields in master-detail relationship.
   

   Fields of this type are represented in Delphi by TLargeIntField objects. In some versions of Delphi, you cannot access these fields through the Value property (see the protected method TLargeintField.SetVarValue in the DB unit for details). To avoid this problem, you can change the field type to INT, which is usually sufficient for key fields. Alternatively, you can avoid using Value.

7. Can IBDAC and BDE functions be used side-by-side in a single application?
   

   Yes. There is no problem with using both IBDAC and BDE functions in the same application.