Firebird 2.0 Alpha 3 (build no. 11252) is now available for download and testing. Currently only Win32 builds are available, Linux builds will follow shortly.
Read moreFriday, July 22, 2005
Thursday, July 21, 2005
Unofficial VisualCLX Patches news!
| 2005-07-21 |
- ShowModal uses QApplication::enterLoop() again
- TSpeedButton/TBitBtn paints grayed bitmap again
- Memory leak in TWindowsFileIconProvider.AddIcon
- TScrollBar.Track wasn't working anymore in 3rdPary compatible patch
- Faster formular hiding when the application is terminated
- and many more.
- Grids have a gradient in the fixed cells
- GroupBoxes in GroupBoxes no more forget to paint the background
Update: VisualCLX patch 3.9Beta for Delphi 7 only BETA area
Download from Sourceforge (http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=106820&package_id=116130&release_id=341408)
2005-06-24
Update: FastLinuxRTL
- FastAnsiCompareText and FastWideAnsiCompareText returned wrong value for strings with different length.
Misleading Statements Regarding GPL
"It is interesting to see some companies who supported Open Source are backing off. For example one person told them to do inhouse development they need a license .
what Trolltech told you is absolute garbage and they know it. The GPL v 2 specifically allows you to modify and use GPL licensed software in house without licensing it under the GPL. The GPL only kicks in once the software is distributed.
And MySQL is not being entirely upfront either. What is also interesting is that the new database connectors are being released under GPL only. For example if you were doing .NET development you have to release all of your software under GPL. This switch by MySQL stems from the fact that a court in the US deemed connecting to a database using a standard API is not an infraction of the GPL. As MySQL is trying to squeeze developers and admins to buy commercial licenses I switched to Firebird."
Monday, July 18, 2005
The Father of C# (and Delphi) on the Past, Present and Future of Programming
Anders Hejlsberg is not resting on his laurels. He's off solving a new problem: Finding a way to query XML and other data using .Net-based programming languages.
Friday, July 15, 2005
IBReplicator Server for Linux V1.5.13
IBReplicator Server for Linux V1.5.13 has been released and is available for download.
So Long: Borland's Dale Fuller
So Long: Borland's Dale Fuller by Jason Stamper on Computer Business Review, mentions Firebird.
New version of IBUtils announced
Ales Kahnek announced a new version of IBUtils a free InterBase and Firebird schema viewer and editor, and data managment tool that can "You can browse the database tables data, insert, edit or delete records. The table data can be exported to Excel, Word, RTF, HTML, DBF, TXT, CSV, DIFF, Sylk, LaTeX, SQL or Clipboard."
Jaybird (Firebird Class 4 JCA-JDBC Driver) 2.0 Beta 2
Jaybird (Firebird Class 4 JCA-JDBC Driver) 2.0 Beta 2 has been released and is available for download.
Thursday, July 14, 2005
Firebird for the Database Expert
Episode 1 - Indexes
Episode 2 - Page Types
Episode 3 - On Disk Consistency
Episode 4 - OAT, OIT and Sweep
by Ann Harrison...
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
Borland CEO Dale Fuller Resigns
Borland Software Corp. CEO Dale Fuller has resigned amid projections of poorer than expected financial results for the company's second quarter. Although the company would not disclose exactly why Fuller quit, it announced that his role will be filled on an interim basis by Scott Arnold, Borland's chief operating officer and executive vice president.
Read moreFirebird Internals Episode 3 - On Disk Consistency
Ann Harrison published her 3rd expert whitepaper, this time on disk consistency
Read more
Firebird Client 2.0 Alpha 1 for .NET 2.0 Beta 2 - released
Carlos announced the availability of Firebird Client 2.0 Alpha 1 for .NET 2.0 Beta 2, with the following notes: "For now only source and installation packages (for .NET 2.0 Beta 2) are available. Remember that it's an alpha version and it should be used only for testing. Release notes are here.
Europe Parliament Nixes Software Patent Law
The European Parliament overwhelmingly rejected a proposed law Wednesday
to create a single way of patenting software across the European Union,
calling instead for comprehensive rules for granting patents to inventions
in all fields.
Open Source is the Future. Open Source is Now.
Open source databases white paper (firebird, ibphoenix, fyracle mentioned):
pdf download
More papers on the same site http://virtuas.com/opensource.html
Monday, June 20, 2005
kbmMW v. 2.50 Enterprise, ProPlus, Pro and Standard Editions released!
kbmMW v. 2.50 sets the standard for high availability, high performance, high flexibility n-tier frameworks.
It contains the best of breed features for building SOA (service oriented architecture) application servers and clients,
and provides an unprecedented amount of features for supporting EAI (enterprise architecture integration).
Run kbmMW application servers on Win32, Linux and .Net platforms.
Run kbmMW clients on Win32, Linux, Java and .Net platforms.
Use kbmMW's advanced publish/subscribe based messaging framework (The WIB) to build realtime event-oriented application setups
while still having full application server support.
Requiring a 24x7 setup? kbmMW contains a large amount of features to support such setups including advanced
loadbalancing and failover (including clusters, distributed loadbalancing, centralized loadbalancing, teaching and learning
loadbalancers, built in high availability features like detection of stalled requests, Windows Performance Monitor support and much more!)
Requiring a supercomputer like cluster solution? Scale up your processing power by adding more CPU's, more nodes, more servers and let kbmMW automatically handle the cluster for you.
Requiring complex database access? kbmMW bundles support for 35+ database API's on which complex queries can run, and modifications to resultsets (even including complex joins) can be resolved back to the appropriate databases with no coding, all under transactional control.
Requiring all this to work both on the local LAN, on the IntraNet and over the InterNet with the higest possible performance and with all the security options you need? Look no further than kbmMW.
Requiring lots of documentation? kbmMW includes comprehensive helpfiles covering more than 12.000 topics! and more than 350 pages of whitepapers showing step by step how to do!
For more information, please check feature matrix
or contact by e-mail.
Pricing and ordering
kbmMW v. 2.50 ProPlus is a FREE upgrade for kbmMW v.2.0x Commercial license holders!
Delphi to take advantage of multiple threads within the compiler?
Danny Thorpe said:
"I’m also looking at ways to re-architect the compiler itself, perhaps
there is a way we can take advantage of multiple threads within the
compiler, this is something we haven’t pursued in the past."
Read complete interview here.
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
Open Source ready for paying customers
Business Day writes: "Open source has matured from a free-to-use rebellion against costly brand-name programs to a stage where the products are robust and sophisticated enough for serious business use."
Read moreWednesday, May 25, 2005
OSDir: "Oracle under siege"
OSDir writes: "Firebird's oracle mode, nick-named Fyracle, has been quietly building momentum and is perhaps the most developed of the oracle-mode initiatives. About half of its installed base is running the Compiere open source ERP+CRM application and the other half are using it as an Oracle substitute. It looks like the next two years will see a heavily contested battle for Oracle's user base, with both the traditional competitors and the open source community making waves."
Read moreTuesday, May 24, 2005
Microsoft Russia saved by GNU/Linux and OpenOffice.org
PCLinuxOnline writes that a presentation about Shared Source (SSI) by the head of Microsoft Ukraine was almost ruined when the Windows machine (a Tablet PC) linked to the projector developed problems. The solution was to adopt OpenOffice.org 1.1.2 and ALT Linux Compact 2.3 (A Russian distribution), which was already running on the presenter's laptop (an IBM Thinkpad).
Screenshots
Upscene Productions starts supporting Oracle
Upscene Productions, the developer of database developer tools like Database Workbench, LogManager Series (IB/FB/ADS/MSSQL LogManager) and Advanced Data Generator is extending their product line to include support for Oracle in their products.
| "Supporting Oracle always was one of our goals.", says Martijn Tonies, founder of Upscene Productions. "It has been a long road, but finally, Database Workbench can be your single IDE for your major database engines. The same IDE for Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, InterBase and Firebird. What more can you wish for?" |
About "Database Workbench"
Database Workbench is a developer IDE for multiple database engines. It uses a single consistent IDE for your database engines while it's not a generic tool at all. With its modular pricing, you can decide which databases engines you want to have support for.
Besides schema object editting, Database Workbench includes tools for test-data generation, code snippet storage, data transfer and metadata reporting.
Database Workbench has been around for over 4 years and is one of the leading tools for InterBase and Firebird development. Recently, the market share has been slowly expanding to the MySQL and Microsoft SQL Server world. Many customers added new modules to their existing licences because of its cross-database-engine capabilities like Schema Migration and Schema Compare.
About Upscene Productions
Since four years, Upscene Productions is selling it's database tool (Database Workbench) to the public - and with great success. Database Workbench is one of the leading InterBase and Firebird development tools, recently expanded to support other database systems like MySQL and Microsoft SQL Server and today, Oracle.
FastReport 3.14 released!
FastReport 3.14
05/22/2005
+ added FastQueryBuilder (button in SQL editor window)
+ added TfrxOverlay.PrintOnTop property
+ added TfrxDMPCommand component to print ESC-sequences. Use Command property to set sequence: DMPCommand1.Command := '#27#40' (alternate form '1B28')
+ added TfrxReport.OnRunDialogs script event. Use this event to handle report dialogs manually
+ added Description property to all report components
* changed internal datasets behaviour, now they can be added to any report page without using dialogs
* changed internal datasets architecture (common class TfrxCustomDatabase, QBuilder support)
- fixed bug with brush styles
- fixed bug in Report Server with fetch of report from the cache with equal variables
- fixed bug in XML export filter with fkNumber format of the memo
Download...
Postgres imitates Firebird's Fyracle
Start-up EnterpriseDB has created a limited form of Oracle mode for PG. In terms of supported features it seems to be ahead of the Ingres oracle-mode tool, but also roughly where Fyracle was 18 months ago. Don't you love the way Firebird is always miles ahead of the pack?
Read moreRethinking the relational database
Kate Mitchel argues: "The relational database so dominates the thinking of information technology and business professionals that its presumed suitability for essentially all data management tasks is rarely questioned. But it’s time to revisit that conventional wisdom." She is making the case that every RDBMS should have an external table feature like Firebird has. Firebird is again lightyears ahead.
Read moreInformix wants to compete with Firebird
IBM on Friday started selling a version of Informix for the small and medium-size business market. This "Informix Express" runs only on 32-bit Linux or Windows systems with a maximum configuration of two CPUs. The price for a typical 40-user scenario is $5,000 per annum, the same as Oracle SE1 and MySQL. How they expect to compete with Firebird, which is at least as capable and reliable, runs on any H/W, and is free in every sense of the word remains the big question.
Read moreWednesday, May 18, 2005
Unofficial VisualCLX Patches news
Qt3Clx Kylix 0.6 (Preview)
Compiled against Qt 3.3.4
Be warned: This version contains lots of bugs and non-functional code.
qtKylix Generator
Generates the xml and C++ files for the qt3 for Kylix/Delphi libraries.
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Delphi unit to embed Firebird into EXE ver. 1.0
Friday, May 13, 2005
Delphi unit to embed Firebird into EXE
I have developed unit to embed Firebird embedded into EXE, so that you deploy ONLY EXE, nothing else ;)
You can download and play with it.
RAR archive:
download demo
download source
ZIP archive:
download demo
download source
Note that ZIP archive is double the size of RAR ;-)
If you improve it, please send me a copy to fikret.hasovic@gmail.com
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
David I Announces Update 3 for D2005
In the chat with Dale Fuller yesterday, David I said that there will be an Update 3 for Delphi 2005. Cool
From Nick's Delphi Blog
Looking for a robust database system?
Loke Kar Seng writes a long article about Firebird in the tech section of the Malaysia Star. If you need to pitch Firebird to someone, this is a pretty good article to send.
Read moreFirebird 2.0 Alpha 2 on the way
Anyone having pending checkins to the HEAD please either commit today
or defer your commit until the tree is tagged. If anyone knows about
some Alpha 2 release showstopper, please reply here. The tree will be
tagged tomorrow.
Dmitry
Firebird 2 Nightly Snapshot Builds
Daily snapshot builds of the Firebird 2.0 codebase for Windows are now available. These are intended for Firebird developers and experienced beta testers. It is generated automatically, and as such it is untested and comes with no guarantees.
IBExpert Version 2005.04.24 available!
HKSoftware announce that IBExpert Version 2005.04.24 is available for download.
Poor Boy’s Oracle - Open Source Oracle (and free)
"In the midst of my metamorphosis into a web-standards adherent, I
suddenly got bit (again) by the database bug. This is to blame, the
first really decent book written (in English) on the Firebird database
platform. In my efforts to “fill out the toolbox,” I’ve been searching
for a decent database platform that won’t kill my meager (read:
non-existent) budget." ....
Read more
Friday, April 22, 2005
Interview with FrontRange
Firebird + App on a USB stick
n the Firebird-General there was a very interesting thread about deploying Firebird on a USB stick. It works very well, as you can read in the Read comments section. | |
| Read comments |
SPGen Beta 5.
TECT Software announce the release of Stored Proc Generator (SPGen) Beta 5. SPGen is a freeware utility which automatically creates up to 6 default procedures for any Firebird or InterBase table.
http://www.tectsoft.net/Products/Firebird.aspx
Borland open sources JBuilder!!!
"Borland Software is releasing code from its core JBuilder integrated development environment (IDE) into the Eclipse open source community after a surprise drop in first-quarter sales. The company hopes to offset JBuilder's R&D expenses by putting the suite into Eclipse."
Borland open sources JBuilder By Gavin Clarke on The Register
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
Components4Developers news
kbmMemTable v. 5.00 Release Candidate 1
Now support Delphi 2005 Win32 and .Net
as fully safe code!
kbmMW v. 2.50.00
Apr. 19. 2005 - Release Candidate 1 - All Editions
Loads of new stuff, including:
- support for Delphi 2005 Win32 and .Net as fully safe code!
- Loadbalancing teaching/learning capabilities
- Indy 10 support
- SDAC3 database adapter support
- ODAC v5 database adapter support
- NativeDB database adapter support
- PostgreSQL DAC database adapter support
- Windows Performance Monitor support
- Native Java and C# client support
- Autoinc support for selected databases
- Field value change propogation to originating (client or server) datasets
- Many more statistical measurement points
and much more!
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
FogCreek considers to support Firebird wiithin FogBugz
Joel Spolsky says: "I've been seriously considering Firebird for a
future
release."
See: http://support.fogcreek.com/default.asp?fogbugz.4.1650.3
BTW: FogBugz is a project management system for software teams
(http://www.fogcreek.com/FogBugz)
Friday, April 15, 2005
The unofficial VisualCLX patch 3.8.1
The unofficial VisualCLX patch 3.8.1 is now available for download from
http://unvclx.sf.net It is a bugfix for the 3.8 patch.
At the moment only the 3rd party compatible patches are available. The
Delphi 6, Delphi 7 (incomp) and Kylix 3 (incomp) patches will follow in
some days.
Firebird in Mandriva 10.2 official!
Philippe Makowski wrote on general list:
Not, on the cd's (not enough space :( )
but there is an official rpm in the last offcial distrib
cf :
http://rpms.mandrakeclub.com/rpms/mandrake/official/10.2/i586/media/contrib/firebird-1.5.2.4731-0.2mdk.i586.html
and that before the merge with Connectiva.
Mandriva is new name of Mandrake after they have marged with Connectiva...
VulcanJ production ready
The VulcanJ test ware should be ready for general use now. I ran the sourceforge copy of the test ware last night against our build of Vulcan using S64, Windows XP, MVS, Linux, and R64 (AIX). The test ware worked on all hosts, although not all of the were clean against Vulcan. :) I pushed some corrections this morning, to support FB2.0.
I ran VulcanJ against Firebird 2 on Windows this morning, using the snapshot build, Firebird Version: WI-T2.0.0.10711 Firebird 2.0 Alpha 1. It almost ran clean. There was a problem with CHECK constraints (4 tests) that was reported here earlier and that Dimitry was going to address. The only other problem is an issue where an extra null seems to be appended to error messages when using Jaybird (that I also see with Vulcan, but not FB1.5). I haven't been able to reproduce this problem outside of the Java environment. So, I had 5 failure/errors in total with the FB2.0/Windows.
I have added Adriano's request to include SET NAMES ASCII in some of the ISQL tests for internationalization reasons, and corrected the binary/ASCII problems from the initial push. And fixed Adriano's comment that output directories were not created properly when they did not exist. Thanks, Adriano!!!
I discussed privately with Pavel where to put the test ware, and for the time being, it will stay at firebird/VulcanJ in the source tree where it was initially pushed. Not ideal, but ok for now. Pavel is welcome to move it to where he sees fit later.
Please let me know your experience with the test ware, and if you find any problems.
-b
Bill Oliver
Product Specialist, Base SAS
New Firebird's slogan -- a summary
Firebird: The legend continues.
Firebird: Meet the Legend.
Firebird: Pure Power.
Firebird: Empower Yourself.
Firebird: Powerful, Reliable or Easy? Pick any three. (love this one,
but it's better for e-mail signature than general slogan)
Firebird: More than database.
Firebird: Solution that works.
Firebird forever.
Firebird: Plain sailing.
Firebird: What else?
Firebird: Simply clever. (but it's used by Skoda Auto)
Firebird: Inspired database.
Firebird: Just works.
Firebird: Smart technology.
Firebird: Proven solution.
Firebird: A database with vision.
Many slogans listed above could be mixed to make new ones, for example:
Firebird: Inspired Technology.
Firebird: Proven Technology.
Firebird: More than Technology.
Firebird: More than Solution.
etc.
Best regards
--Pavel
Monday, April 11, 2005
OS Car analogy
A bit of humour to lift people's spirit. A OS Car analogy article. Includes Windows, MacOSX, Linux, BeOS and Amiga.
Marketing buzz words for 2005/6
Firebird seems well positioned to take advantage of the marketing buzz words for 2005 and 2006. Hot topics are: OLTP and OLAP in one database (natural for our MGA design); ETL, "extract, transform & load" (easy with external tables) and low need for DBA attention (our hallmark). If marketing checklists are relevant we need to work on our XML features (XML datatype, XQuery).
Read moreAll Firebird related products from TECT Software are freeware now!
TECT Software Ltd announces that all Firebird related products from TECT Software are available immediately under a freeware license. Products included are:
- Firebird/Interbase Backup Manager
- Firebird Helm Interface (FBHelm)
- Firebird/Interbase Stored Procedure Generator
- Firebird/Interbase Server Properties
Friday, April 08, 2005
ibpp - progress
"You know I always try to keep myself informed of your progress and issues so that I can pick up new needs for IBPP.
Unfortunately march 2005 has been quite badly exceptional for me (mainly health issues & work overload issues).
You heard quite nothing from me for some weeks and it will still be the case for 1 or 2 weeks (roughly until around April 20).
Though I'm back, reading news from this list and considering to complete some old unfinished work in IBPP "soon".
You should expect a new IBPP "stable" beta late this month or at least early in May (because beginning of May I'll be free from a work-charge and that should give me 10 hours free a week.
I wanted to tell you that the Blob interface received enhancements some weeks ago (this is checked in the HEAD of IBPP CVS, though I still do not recommend you to depend on the HEAD branch for the time being). You'll find the ability to directly read or write a blob to/from a std::string through the Statement::Get/Set methods, essentially short-circuiting completely the need to use a Blob temporary variable for simple use cases.
This feature at least is already heavily used in our private builds at TIP Group inside release commercial software. So I expect the beta of this next IBPP iteration will be very short.
There is also a Row concept, that, I expect, could be used to implement sort of client-side caching of rows when retrieving a dataset. But more on this later.
And the IBPP::Exception now inherits from std::exception allowing a better integration with standard compliants developments. (Look at the ibpp.h from CVS HEAD if you want to see the structure of this and not take wrong paths in between).
See you soon here, "
--
Olivier Mascia
SHA1 is now broken, should FB 2.0 still use it?
Bug Submitted By: Simon McKenna (hypersi)
Summary: SHA1 is now broken, should FB 2.0 use it?
Initial Comment:
>From README.sha1.txt:
"New hashing algorithm, selected for firebird 2.0, is
SHA-1"
However, some clever Chinese researchers have made
brute force attack on SHA-1 far more attractive:
http://www.schneier.com/crypto-gram-0503.html#1
I'm sure you fine folks already know this, but a
headsup just in case :)
peace
si
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Comment By: Sean Leyne (seanleyne)
Date: 2005-04-04 12:36
While the SHA-1 algorithm has been cracked, and a
algorithm is now available to make the attack more possible.
The most important aspect of the article is:
"...On the software side, the main comparable is a 264
keysearch done by distributed.net that finished in 2002. One
article put it this way: "Over the course of the competition,
some 331,252 users participated by allowing their unused
processor cycles to be used for key discovery. After 1,757
days (4.81 years), a participant in Japan discovered the
winning key." Moore's Law means that today the calculation
would have taken one quarter the time -- or have required one
quarter the number of computers -- so today a 269
computation would take eight times as long, or require eight
times the computers."
This means that it would take **32 years or 2.4 million
computers** to find a matching SHA-1 hash!
Further the article continues:
"For the average Internet user, this news is not a cause for
panic. No one is going to be breaking digital signatures or
reading encrypted messages anytime soon. The electronic
world is no less secure after these announcements than it
was before."
Accordingly, there is nothing in the article which will affect
Firebird security and its use of SHA-1 for the foresable future.
Finally, there has already been much discussion of a new
feature to enable a plug-in security architecture which would
allow for users to implement their own security
tools/algorithms (SHA-224, SHA-256, SHA-384, or SHA-
512). The implementation of the new security approach is
being discussed as a v3.0 feature.
VulcanJ, a Firebird regression test suite
We have developed a test suite which we run nightly to verify Vulcan functionality. This test suite, called VulcanJ, has over 800 tests that are a combination of ISQL tests and Java (JDBC) tests. There have been several cases where nightly runs of the test ware uncovered problems that would have been missed otherwise. We also run the tests before committing changes to our internal source code management system. I have now run the test ware against FB2.0, and would like to make it available to the community at large.
The test ware is based on Junit and Ant. VulcanJ will generate a HTML report which immediately shows where a problem is occurring. In the case of the ISQL tests, the HTML report also shows the comparison between the faulty run and the original benchmark run. Running the tests against FB2.0 generated 2 problems, one of which Pavel has entered a bug track on, and the other, which I posted here this week as a Vulcan problem, also shown up in FB2.0. VulcanJ also includes Java tests that are based on the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and customized for firebird-specific queries.
I have sent advance copies of the test ware to Roman and Pavel, and they have encouraged me to push my code to a new CVS module. I hope to push this test ware to a sourceforge next week (at firebird/VulcanJ), but if you want advance review I can send you a zip immediately. Detailed doc and usage instructions are included in the kit. There is a little bit of work left to do, to make sure I remove company-specific references in the source, but then I should be ready to push.
-b
Bill Oliver
Product Specialist, Base SAS
New version php4-interbase in Debian
I prepared a new version of php4-interbase. Gregorz, are you in a
position to sponsor an upload?
People on pkg-firebird-general might want to rush in
for the fun early to help testing.
Here is the changelog.
* New upstream release
* Acknowledging NMU. (Closes: #294000)
* Bump php4-dev build-dep to (4:4.3.10-10) to ensure
building without zts
* Remove the -zts phpapi. Urgency high as this
is release critical.(Closes: #301329)
* Updated copyright file to incorporate newer
version of the license
* Incorporated Czech translation (Closes: #274066)
The packages can be found here:
http://www.cd-uitleen.nl/debian/
Cheers,
Remco
FIBS 1.0.1 Firebird-Interbase Backup Scheduler
FIBS is a lightweight, solid and fast scheduler so as to meet most backup-tasks-needs. It uses firebird/interbase command line tool "gbak.exe" to backup safetly and mirrors it to any other disc or computer for extra protection against backup-disc crash. FIBS can create PKZip compatible compressed backup files, if user wants to. One of the noticable feature of FIBS is that it has multi-threaded architecture. Every backup process (including zipping) is executed in a separate thread. That is, there is no serialisation of backup process including zipping. Surely this means that high grade concurrency has been given to users to make them free to set lots of backup tasks just the same time.
It's been solved some potential scheduling problem with version 1.0.1.
[ED is free as in free beer :postcardware
Scroll down to awards]
 | |||
New Backup in 3 sentences
Leyne, Sean on firebird-support
"Additionally, v2.0 includes a new backup tool (currently named NBackup)
which will allow you to:
- take a direct OS copy of a live/online database
- make an image copy of a live/online database
- create incremental database backups"
Debian:Request an adopter for the php4-interbase package
Remco Seesink wrote
"I sent an RFA (request for adoption). In Debian terms that means I don't
have enought time available to do proper maintaining, but haven't given
up on the package yet (which would be orphaning). This is important
because holding on to a package while not maintaining it proper will
hurt users. But I still want to see this package make it into sarge in
good shape and I will do my best for that.
This means that a anyone is now free to take over maintainership of the
package. If you are not a Debian Developer it could be done through
finding a sponsor who is a Debian Developer and can check your package.
That is how I do it."
FireRuby 0.2.1
Announcing the release of version 0.2.1 of the FireRuby library. FireRuby is
a Ruby language extension that interfaces to the Firebird open source RDBMS.
No new functionality has been added for this release but a number of bug
fixes have been made. Please consult the README file for a list of the
changes.
The FireRuby project is currently hosted on the Ruby Forge site and can be
accessed at...
http://rubyforge.org/projects/fireruby/
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
VisualCLX patches version 3.8
- VCL application window (don't forget to set the application's title)
- OnEnter/OnExit patch rewritten
- OnActivate/OnDeactivate patch rewritten
- Formular bound patch rewritten
- and many more.
| Version 3.8 (2005-03-26) | Download (http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=106820&package_id=116132) k3patches.3.8.tgz | 3rd party compatible | |
| Download (http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=106820&package_id=116132) k3patches.3.8.tar.bz2 | 3rd party compatible | ||
| Interface incompatible | Download (http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=106820&package_id=116132) k3patchesnc.3.8.tgz | breaks interfaces | |
| Download (http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=106820&package_id=116132) k3patchesnc.3.8.tar.bz2 | breaks interfaces |
Download Delphi 7
| Version 3.8 (2005-03-26) | Download (http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=106820&package_id=116130) d7clxpatch.3.8.zip | 3rd party compatible | |
| Interface incompatible | Download (http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=106820&package_id=116130) d7clxpatchnc.3.8.zip | breaks interfaces |
Download CrossKylix
| Version 3.8 (2005-03-26) | Download (http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=106820&package_id=135196) ckclxpatches.3.8.zip | 3rd party compatible |
Download Delphi 6
| Version 3.8 (2005-03-26) | Download (http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=106820&package_id=116131) d6clxpatch.3.8.zip | breaks interfaces |
If you are looking for a Delphi 6 patch that is 3rd party compatible you should have a look at Interface Compatible Unofficial CLX Patches for Delphi 6 (http://www.wpkrenn.net/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Willi/Delphi6CLX)
Donations (http://unvclx.sourceforge.net/donating.html)
Monday, March 28, 2005
TECT Softwares Stored Procedure Generator (SPGen)
TECT Softwares Stored Procedure Generator (SPGen)
has been designed to create standard procedures for most tables.
Currently SPGen makes no modifications to any database, instead it
creates a script which you can execute against your database.
Pricing:
SPGen is currently in beta and each build is time limited (it will expire after a specified period of time), cost for this product is yet to be determined, however like all our products we will offer the following discounts to Firebird Foundation members, when the product is released:
* Voting Membership - 100% discount.
* Associate Membership - 75% discount.
Beta Test Participation
Beta participation is open to everyone, to get involved simply download a copy of SPGen, all bug reports or feature requests can be submitted directly using our online helpdesk or join our mail list at Yahoo.
Sunday, March 27, 2005
VCS 2.40 RC4 server setup released
JVCS team announces the third of the JVCS 2.40 server ports. RC4 introduces support for Oracle10, Firebird characterset configuration possibility, server banner configuration possibility for service ports and a few bug fixes.
For download please navigate to the files section on Sourceforge.
Friday, March 25, 2005
Fyracle 0.8.6 released
Fyracle 0.8.6 released
======================
Changes:
- rewritten error handling
- several fixes and enhancements to the built-in functions
- oracle style '' equals NULL, and NULL equals '' now supported
(only when connected in oracle-mode, of course)
- auto-casting of strings to numerals (i.e. 1 '2') now supported
(only when connected in oracle-mode, of course)
- further fixes to handling of scaled integers
- handling of "insert into ... select ..." fixed
Version 0.8.6 contains fixes for all errors that have been
reported to the Fyracle newsgroup.
Download:
The new runtime installers can be downloaded from:
http://www.fyracle.org/downloads
The developer kit can be downloaded via:
http://www.janus-software.com/fb_buy.html
Upgrade:
The recommended upgrade procedure is to first
uninstall any previous versions of Fyracle and only
then to install the new 0.8.6 release. Remember
to save your configuration files (firebird.conf
and aliases.conf) if you changed them!
The uninstaller has a start menu entry on Windows
and can be found at the top of the install
directory on Linux and Windows.
Compiere:
The current Compiere demo is still 2.5.1g The last
upgrade to these files was on Feb 1st. A port of
Compiere 2.5.2 is underway.
JVCL 3.00 is out!
JVCL 3.00 is out. It is available at SourceForge. We encourage users of JVCL 2.10 to migrate to it as this is the stable release for JVCL 3. Should any bug still be present, please report them in Mantis after having registered a user name.
Thursday, March 24, 2005
FlameRobin Unofficial 0.2.4 binaries are out
24.03.2005 -Just like previous releases, packages contain only the binaries and
needed files. No ReadMEs, Installers, Release Notes, Manual, etc. This
is for those who wish to taste the current CVS version without
having to compile everything.
Features:
-a lot of fixes and enhancement of SQL Editor
-many new configuration options (most even work :)
-logging to files works
Known bugs:
- if SELECT statement does not fetch all rows, and you press "Show plan", the error message pops-up. It it (seems) harmless, so you can keep working.
Download: http://www.flamerobin.org/test/0.2.4/
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Open Source Databases: A brief look at the Berkeley DB, Derby, Firebird, Ingres, MySQL and PostgreSQL DBMS'
So which are the Open Source databases? Most readers have probably heard of MySQL. Its byline is The World's most popular Open Source database after all. There is also PostgreSQL (The World's Most Advanced Open Source Database), as well as Firebird (The Relational Database for the New Millenium). However, there are others too. BerkeleyDB, although not directly comparable, deserves a mention, while Computer Associates recently released Ingres, and IBM did the same to Cloudscape (under the name Derby).
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
SQLServer 2005 delayed again
Microsoft has delayed the release date for SQL Server 2005 by about 6 months, perhaps acting on reports of poor high-end performance. A new release of the development tools was delayed as well. Those waiting may use the time to switch to Firebird instead.
Firebird 2.00 Alpha 01
Firebird 2.00 Alpha 01
21 March 2005
The Firebird Project is pleased to announce the release today of the first Firebird 2.0 public Alpha kits for immediate download and testing.
This version of Firebird 2 is an alpha version, meant for field testing only and not for use in production.
All changes and new features are subject to further change and/or
withdrawal in subsequent alpha and beta releases, leading up to final
release. Do not assume that databases created by or upgraded to the on-disk
structure of this alpha will be upwardly compatible with subsequent test
builds/releases.
Bugs, problems, etc. can be posted to the Field Test bug tracker or
to the Firebird Development List.
This release contains a large number of new features, including
derived tables, support for Execute Block, increased table sizes,
new improved index code (the 252-byte index length limit is no longer
applicable), expression indices, numerous optimiser improvements,
enhanced security features, support for on-line incremental backups
along with numerous other improvements and bug fixes. Please read
the Release Notes for more details.
The following builds are currently available, with others to follow soon:
Win32
21-Mar-2005 Windows Installer for Superserver and Classic (3.0 Mb)
21-Mar-2005 Debug build of the above (5.0 Mb)
21-Mar-2005 Embedded Client/Server (zip file, 1.7 Mb)
21-Mar-2005 Debug build of the above (zip file, 3.6 Mb)
21-Mar-2005 Classic and Superserver debug build (zip file, 8.0 Mb)
Linux i686
20-Mar-2005 Linux Classic RPM Installer (2.9 Mb)
20-Mar-2005 Linux Classic, tarball with scripts (2.9 Mb)
20-Mar-2005 Linux Classic debug build, tarball with scripts (18.9 Mb)
Feedback, input and comments re this release will be appreciated, as they will help to speed up the cycle for the full Firebird 2.0 release.
Happy testing!
-- Firebird Project
Monday, March 21, 2005
Praise for Firebird Relational Database
>From: WebHub Technical Support
>Subject: [WebHub-list] off-topic: praise for Firebird Relational Database
>
>"Interbase Deleted, Firebird Installed... Existing Apps Work without Effort"
>
>This is one of those rare stories where software works perfectly, the way
>it should. It's possibly relevant to people on this list so I'll give you
>some details.
>
>I started with a machine running WinNT 4, Interbase (June 2000), 1 WH app
>using a .gdb, 1 other Delphi app using a .gdb. (all on same machine)
>
>I backed up the server. You would have too, if you knew what was planned.
>
>I shut down the apps. I stopped IIS.
>
>I tried to uninstall Interbase but the uninstaller failed, so I stopped
>Interbase in Control Panel > Services, then deleted c:\Program
>Files\Borland\Interbase\*.*.
>
>I found the Firebird 1.5 stable installer here:
>http://www.ibphoenix.com/main.nfs?a=ibphoenix&page=ibp_download_15 ,
>specifically
>
> 25th Dec 2004
>
> Windows Setup and Installer For Classic and SuperServer V1.5.2 (.exe) (2.7mb)
> which leads to
>
>http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/firebird/Firebird-1.5.2.4731-Win32.exe
>
>I ran the installer. Of course I forgot whether I was supposed to choose
>Classic or SuperServer. I found this page
>http://www.firebirdsql.org/manual/qsg15-classic-or-super.html and decided
>on Superserver. NOTE SUPERSERVER IS THE DEFAULT RADIO BUTTON CHOICE. I
>find it easy to remember "use the defaults" ... hint.
>
>I used all the defaults for installation, aside from the folder location
>(used d: ... not c: ...).
>
>The install finished with no errors. I checked Services and Firebird was
>running. So far so good.
>
>I tested the WH app, it worked, no complaints. (Thanks to the TurboPress
>developers for that part.)
>
>I rebooted the machine, it restarted everything including the WebHub App
>and the Delphi app, and BOTH WORKED without any reconfiguration of any sort.
>
>I was so pleased I had to tell you. Best of luck to anyone who tries this
>at home.
>
>Cheers,
>Ann
>
Saturday, March 19, 2005
Delphi.NET Running on .NET Compact Frameworks
From Seppy's investigations so far, it's looking very likely that all of the Delphi for .NET language support will work in CF without major modification. He's got the core RTL up and running and is working on fleshing out the rough spots. Using the Delphi language to build WinForms apps on CF is a sure thing.
Read more @
Delphi Compiler Core
Friday, March 18, 2005
Firebird 2 alpha release notes NEW LINK
I hope some of the international language test group coordinators are watching this and can update their links to the Alpha release notes. The link is now
http://xrl.us/fgnj
In case anyone reading this is on the translator team for release notes, please contact me if you are ready to receive the source.
regards
Helen
Improving Query Performance through Index Selectivity
The Firebird query optimizer uses index "selectivity" or "statistics" for selecting the most effective query execution plan.
Read more
Wednesday, March 16, 2005
Paul Pimblott on JediVCS...
I am a newcomer to JEDI VSC, but have used both sourcesave and more recently
CVS. So far, JEDI is superior in all aspects....
I do have a coupe of questions:
1. I have a project checked in which comprises several folders. When I use
the Source Distribution option, the zip file is not created unless I exclude
the sub folders. Any ideas anyone?
2. Is there an easy way of indicating which modules have been changed on the
main window?
Wonderful software.....
Thanks
Paul
JEDI.NET 1.0 alpha 1 has been released
JEDI.NET 1.0 alpha 1 has been released and can be downloaded from:
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=111655&package_id=147053&release_id=312857.
Besides a source release (containing all sources for the
assemblies, examples and nunit tests) a binary only release is available as well (build against .NET 1.1 and Delphi 2005 update 1; for non-Delphi 2005 owners the Borland.Delphi assembly can be downloaded from http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/jedidotnet/Borland.Delph_2k5-SP1.zip?download; you'll need to install it into the GAC or put it in the main/bin and main/examples/bin folders).
In addition, two help files are available, one as a .chm file and
one in Help2 format. You can also browse the help on line at http://jedidotnet.sourceforge.net/help/index.html.
IBExpert Version 2005.03.16
IBExpert Version 2005.03.16 FULL is available for download.
Now supports many Firebird 2 features
Increased speed of Script Executive and Table Data Comparer
New IBEBlock commands
FastReport 3.11
FastReport 3.11
03/14/2005
+ added Greek resources
+ added HTML tags support in PDF export
+ added Hebrew, Turkish and Arabic languages in the PDF export filter
+ added property TfrxPDFExport.Background (default = False)
+ added properties TfrxRTFExport.Creator and TfrxPDFExport.Creator
+ improved quality of the PDF export filter
+ password protected reports is now working in client/server mode
(IMPORTANT: Do not use this feature in one time with the server authentification)
+ verbose output of the server errors in the HTML mode
- fixed name of the properties TfrxServerConnection.Proxy and TfrxServerConnection.ProxyPort
(press 'ignore' button on load prompt in yours projects for autofix form components)
- fixed clean of the report cache on TfrxReportServer.Stop method
- fixed background draw in HTML export filter in server mode
- many bug fixes
Download...
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
IBReplicator V2.1.1available
IBReplicator V2.1.1 is available for download. This release fixes a problem where reloading the configuration database can cause unpredictable behaviour for the event listener.
InterBase/Firebird DB Comparer V1.3
EMS announce the availability of V1.3 of their InterBase/Firebird DB Comparer.
Key open-source programming tool due for overhaul
The entire realm of open-source software could get a performance boost if all goes well with a plan to overhaul a crucial programming tool called GCC.
Almost all open-source software is built with GCC, a compiler that converts a program's source code--the commands written by humans in high-level languages such as C--into the binary instructions a computer understands. The forthcoming GCC 4.0 includes a new foundation that will allow that translation to become more sophisticated, said Mark Mitchell, the GCC 4 release manager and "chief sourcerer" of a small company called CodeSourcery.
"The primary purpose of 4.0 was to build an optimization infrastructure that would allow the compiler to generate much better code," Mitchell said.
ASP.NET with Mono's XSP and Apache
The second article in a series of articles about Mono. This article explains how to host and serve ASP.NET Web Applications and Web Services on Linux using XSP and Apache with the help of Mono.
Monday, March 14, 2005
kbmMW v. 2.50.00 All Editions - Beta 4 released!
2.50.00
New stuff
=========
- 4 SKUs introduced: Standard, Pro, ProPlus and Enterprise.
- D2005 Win32 support.
- D2005 dotNet support.
- Indy 10 support
- SDAC 3 database adapter support. (Pro/Pro+/Ent)
- Added Native DB adapter. (Pro/Pro+/Ent)
- PostgreSQLDAC database adapter support. (Pro/Pro+/Ent)
- Loadbalancer teaching/learning added. (Pro+/Ent)
- Server announcement to loadbalancers added. (Pro+/Ent)
- Added support for bracket handling of tablenames/fieldnames. (Pro/Pro+/Ent)
- Removed old ConnectionString editor, and replaced with group
and array capable stringlist editor.
- Added support for statistics via Windows Performance Monitor (Ent)
- Added TkbmMWLocalStats component for local statistics support (Pro/Pro+/Ent)
- Added statistics support on transports and connection pools in
addition to the server and service level stats. (Pro+/Ent)
- Added OnMessageToSpoke event to have very fine runtime control of
message distribution in hub/spoke transports. (Pro+/Ent)
- Added OnMacro event to connection pools. Allow for adding macro (Pro/Pro+/Ent)
functions and other automated
- Added TkbmMWCustomServerThreadPoolTransport from which SAF (Pro+/Ent)
transports inherits.
- Added PoolSize property on messaging transports for control
of how many threads are running to handle request/response scenarios. (Pro+/Ent)
- Added internal transactional support on message queues. (Pro+/Ent)
- Added optional rejection queues on message queues.
- Added required registration of transport info classes.
- Added streaming capabilities to transport info instances.
- Added/updated TkbmMWFileStoreMessageQueue. (Ent)
- Added support for ftLargeInt parameter types.
- Added additional transport stream level security options.
- Added doubly linked list class.
Changes/minor additions
=======================
- Updated transport streams, server and client to provide better check for stream version.
- Transports split up in client part, server part and common part.
- Enhanced TkbmMWStringList to support grouping of strings.
- Updated client code to gracefully handle loadbalancing/failover while operating as a spoke.
- Updated HTTP transport stream format to support HTTP v. 1.1 and
support HTTP proxy basic authentication.
- Updated DBISAM4 adapter to also compile with DBISAM v. 4.09 or newer.
- Changed object streaming to not require definition of static or dynamic variant object type.
- Published ConnectionPool property on all client datasets.
Fixes
=====
- Removed lots of hints and warnings.
- Changed loadbalancer list locking while probing servers to be very shortlived.
- Fixed OnResolve firing twice bug.
- Fixed ADOX field origins bug.
- Fixed OnGarbageCollect event bug.
- Fixed NexusDB v2 NULL handling.
- Fixed statehandling bug.
- Fixed CreateParams.
- Fixed threading bug in ISAPI server side transport.
- Fixed Kylix3 support.
- Fixed Synapse transport bugs related to not raising exceptions when occuring.
This list is not complete. Many more subtle changes and refactorings has happened internally.
--
best regards
Kim Madsen
Saturday, March 12, 2005
Delphi 2005 Update 2 is available for download
Well over 200 bugs have been fixed in this free update for Delphi 2005. Download it now!
Friday, March 11, 2005
Unicode SynEdit
Features of actual version
- Unicode support for Windows&Linux without depending on any additional library or component package.
- Added new unit
SynUnicodethat contains Unicode versions of often used string-functions.
It's TWideStrings & TWideStringsList-classes were taken from JCL, adapted and cleansed to be cross-plattform and less code-bloating. - Optional symbiosis with often used libraries like JclUnicode or TntUnicode-controls through compiler directives. (see SynEdit.inc)
JclUnicode can be interesting if you want advanced features that are Windows-dependent but adds 140KB to exe-size.
TntUnicode-controls provide Unicode-property-editors at design-time at no cost but must be installed(= available), so it is not used by default. - Support of Unicode on Win9X.
- All Highlighters were translated. (They use now collision free hashing)
- All additional SynEdit components are unicode-enabled.
- Storing files as UTF-8, UTF-16 or Ansi.
Known Issues
- Wide glyphs (usually double of latin glyphs) like in Chinese don't render correctly.
- This is not really a SynEdit issue: The TeX-Exporter doesn't support Unicode as LaTeX2e doesn't support it either.
There are many half-backed solutions but none offers real Unicode support. LaTeX 3 is said to support this (whenever it is released). Note: RTF and HTML exporters fully support Unicode.
What's new?
- All Demos were ported to work with UniSynEdit.
- SynGen now creates highlighters compatible with UniSynEdit and was enhanced to support collision free hashing and better FuncXXX naming (now is derived from the keyword instead of the key).
- All fixes from ANSI version were applied.
- All other fixes for Unicode SynEdit are included as well, for details see CVS log.
- Some fixes to SynGen
Delphi Language Progression
In non-tech, we are having an interesting discussion about the evolution of the Delphi language. Someone there is arguing that Delphi isn't evolving fast enough for him -- that's cool, to each his own -- but he's also arguing that it isn't really evolving at all, and that C++ is evolving faster. Now that is ridiculous. As part of the discussion, we've made a list of the language innovations, additions, and evolutions since the TurboPascal days. Here's the list so far:
implements
Inline methods
Class vars
Class constructors
properties
exceptions
interfaces
dynamic arrays
large strings
Records with Methods
Nested Class
Attributes
Multi-cast Events
Boxing
Strings
for...in
Class Methods
operator overloading
class helpers
virtual constructors
Compiler directive variables
(Items from here down were added after the orignal post)
Packages
Method Overloading
Default Parameters
Unicode Identifiers
threadvar
RTTI on interfaces
Default parameters.
64-bit integer type.
32-bit unsigned integer type.
Did I miss anything?
Anyone have a similar list for C\C++? I think it would be a much shorter list.
Thanks to the folks in non-tech who have helped make this list longer than it was.
Read comments on Nick's Blog
DUnit 9.2.0 released!
DUnit automates unit testing of Delphi code. The target audience for DUnit is developers who are both writing the code to be tested and the unit tests for that code, an approach advocated by Extreme Programming. Dunit is based on the product JUnit.
Download
Fulltext Search for Firebird SQL (CodeProject Article)
Fulltext Search for Firebird SQL article on Code Project
(spoted on dotnetfirebird.org)
"In this article, we will talk about searching the data in a Firebird database using DotLucene full-text search engine. We will focus on storing the index directly in the database"
http://www.codeproject.com/useritems/FulltextFirebird.asp
Thursday, March 10, 2005
Delphi Configuration Manager Version 2 is now available!
Here is a list including some of the changes made:
- Modification of Component Packages, Assemblies and Experts to be setup with particular configuration. [ adding assemblies is not supported and will be coming in an update ]
- Import / Export of configurations in REG format.
- [Bug] Fix to bug where running a Delphi config causes DCM to wait until Delphi has been closed (this is already fixed)
- [Bug] Issue with spaces in configuration names (fixed)
- [Major] Copy current IDE settings to the new configuration (allowing certain keys to be confirmed prior to copying).
- Check for new versions being available.
- Keep registry settings under one key. Thanks to Ralf for the tip.
- Tighten up the naming of new configurations
- InstallAware used for the installation. A special thanks to Sinan for answering my questions. It's a breeze to use and with the new version just released, it's well worth a look!
- [Bug] Configuration Launcher now works properly.
- Implement Configuration Cloning. [ feature also available in IDE Addin ]
- Add Upgrade support for users of previous version. (Version 1.6 only supported for upgrades).
- Added options dialog for Delphi Configuration Manager. [ more options will come in an update ]
- Added an options dialog for Configurations that allows you to modify some options for your IDE that aren't surfaced in the IDE user interface. [ more options will come in an update ]
- Further improvements made to enhance the Large Font users experience.
- [Bugs] Couple of bugs address around the installation of the IDE AddIn.
- Improve error handling when reading from the XML data files.
- Only display installed Delphi versions in the Version drop down on the Add Config dialog.
- Don't allow the user to exit the Add Config dialog without either filling out all fields appropriately, or selecting cancel.
- Created a Help File*
To download the latest version click here.
IDC reports new DB market statistics
IDC reports that the market for relational databases grew 12% to $15 billion in 2004. Oracle holds 41%, DB2 holds 30% and SQLServer holds 13% (measuring by value). The report says that Oracle, IBM, and Microsoft are looking for new ways to compete in the market for small and midsize business and departmental systems, one of the fastest-growing areas of the database market. Hey, that is our market too...
Read more
Tuesday, March 08, 2005
Firebird 2.0 Call for Testers on IBPhoenix
My translation to Bosnian language, together with some other translations, appeared on IBPhoenix...
There are links to Russian, Bosnian, French, Br-Portuguese
Friday, March 04, 2005
Choosing the right open-source DB
eWeek's pundits discuss which open source database to choose. About Firebird they say: "Sizzling transactional performance, ease of installation, enterprise-class features (triggers, views, stored procedures)." But also: "No enterprise-level support, but very good, knowledgeable community support." You can listen to a 1 hour session discussing these slides via this link.
Read more
--- Firebird 2.0 Call for testers letter v1.1 BOSNIAN ---
I have translated Call for testers letter to Bosnian language.
Also, I have translated files needed for InnoSetup and mailed them to Paul Reeves.
I hope they will be included in Alpha 1...
Fikret
--- Firebird 2.0 Call for testers letter v1.1 ---
The Firebird Project will soon be releasing the first public "alpha"
release of Firebird 2.0. Version 2.0 is a long-awaited important major
release of Firebird with many new features, enhancements and
bugfixes (see alpha Release Notes
http://firebird.sourceforge.net/download/prerelease/rnotes0200_01.zip
for details). In number of changes, the jump in this release is equivalent
if not greater than the transition from version 1.0 to version 1.5.
You know that we care about quality, and that we will not release the
final version 2.0 until it meets our strict QA requirements. For version
1.5, it took about a year before we were satisfied. But this time we are
in a slightly different situation.
The Vulcan project reached the *general usability milestone*, with only
a few loose ends left, and we would like to merge both codebases as
soon as possible. This merge should result in Firebird 3.0 with full
SMP support, unified architecture (no more separate
classic/superserver/embedded builds) and other enhancements (see
http://www.ibphoenix.com/downloads/VulcanOverview.pdf for details).
Beside clear benefits for Firebird users, this merge will result in
cleaner and concise architecture and codebase, and will complete our
transition from old procedural C code to fully OOP C++ code. This will
open gates for developers to design and implement more complex features
like namespaces, temporary tables and other much requested features.
But we can't fully focus on the Firebird/Vulcan merge before the final
Firebird 2.0 is released, hence we would like to shorten the QA phase
as much as possible, but without compromising our strict quality
requirements for final release. We *can* do that by making our QA
process more effective. The effectiveness of the Firebird QA process
heavily depends on feedback from end users, so it's natural for our
quest for more effective QA to start with it.
So far, user feedback was random and fully in the hands of end users.
Basically, we would release a build, wait for feedback for some time
and solve the reported issues (along with other issues we did find
internally over that period). If no important issues were
found/reported since the last Release Candidate build, that build was
repackaged as final. Of course, there are also alpha and beta stages
that follow this pattern too, but differ in what developers are
allowed to change in the ncode.
While this routine has worked nicely for us in the past, it has an
important drawback: We don't know how much the build is tested in
field, in both scale and functionality coverage. We can only guess
approximate figures based on download count, direct feedback, hearsay,
development stage etc. to estimate the "quality index". We also have
only one gauge to work with: time, hence the long release cycle.
To improve on that, we would like to initiate a managed field-tests
program, starting from Firebird 2.0. This managed field-test *will
not* replace the *usual* field-test scenario (or internal testing),
but should work as a complement to other QA routines we use. The
objective of managed field-test is to collect precise information
about field-test (i.e. how the released build was tested and with what
outcome), so we can better estimate the outcome of the QA process,
focus on open gaps in QA and thus allocate our QA resources more
precisely, so eventually we would build our trust in quality of code
more quickly.
The participation in managed field-test is very simple. You need to
sign-in by e-mail to
how you would like to test our releases. We prefer any testing method
that is close to real use. This means that if you have an application
that runs with Firebird, you can simply take it on a "test drive" with
the new Firebird release in some testing environment, preferably with
real-world data. Of course, you can pick up any testing method you
like, and you can even focus only on a particular area you're most
interested in (for example performance, backup/restore, new features,
optimizer etc.). You must also describe what Firebird flavour(s)
(CS/SS/Embedded) and platform(s) you want to test. We will send you a
notification whenever a new filed-test build is available, and we will
expect a report from you about the outcome (either good or bad) of
your tests.
We know that such commitment may not be easy to fulfil, so it's
possible that you may skip testing of the field-test release or leave
the program altogether at any point, so we will reward those who help
us! We have created a "prize pool" that right now contains a Firebird
T/polo-shirt in color and shape of your choice from IBPhoenix, but we
believe that we'll get more prizes into this pool before Firebird 2.0
final release. At the end of the release cycle, we will reward the
most "active" tester(s) and one randomly selected tester.
The managed field-test program is open to anyone, at any time point in
the release cycle (starting from fist alpha till last RC), but those who
sign-in early will have better chance to get a reward for their help.
Pavel Cisar
Firebird Project QA Division
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
SQL# For GTK# 0.2 released
take a look at screenshot (looks familiar ?)
http://xrl.us/fams (Link to ftp.novell.com)
the rest of article
http://xrl.us/famu (Link to www.mfconsulting.com)
IBPhoenix got competition
Single Source Support For Top Leading Open Source RDMBS - MySQL, Firebird SQL and PostgreSQL.
(PRLEAP.COM) Cambridge, MA Feburary 16, 2005 - Advent Consulting - a leading open source technology consulting firm today announced enhanced managed support program for MySQL, Firebird SQL and PostgreSQL."We recognize the value that the Open Source database community brings." Said David Lee, CEO of Advent Consulting. "With the strength of MySQL, Firebird SQL and PostgreSQL database deployments in the enterprise and of the greater open source movement as a whole, Advent Consulting is addressing the growing demand for open source database supports with a single source, traditional proprietary methods of escalating professional support services for all three leading open source database."
"Our goal is to provide the best out of open source database solutions to our clients with greater confidence. With this program, the database administrator (DBA) and developer can easily and productively escalating support for their open source (RDBMS) on MySQL, Firebird SQL and PostgreSQL from one convenient source." said Mr. Lee.
Subscriptions plan will be available for a range of required service levels - from basic system updates with automatic escalation procedures, to 24/7 live production support with remote administration on both Linux and Windows environments.
Other open source database services includes: database migration, custom development, database optimization and tuning.
Advent Consulting has been a Firebird SQL foundation member and sponsor, MySQL devconnect consulting partner, as well with extensive successful experience with PostgreSQL consulting & implementation.
About Advent Consulting
Advent Consulting is an independent, open-source strategy consulting firm that provides best-of-breed, totally integrated open source and Linux solutions for delivering cost savings, stability and performance required for companies embracing open source technology.
The professionals at Advent Consulting provide a range of services and supports necessary for organizations to leverage the benefits of open source software including consulting, research, migration, integration, customized development and support.
To learn more about Advent Consulting’s focus, philosophy and open source solution offerings, visit http://www.adventconsultants.com
###
OPEN SOURCE DATABASE SOFTWARE COMPARISON
This is a comparison between free open-source database software solutions actually avalaible. I want to thanks all the sofware developers for developing such a great software for the open source community.
| | Ingres | ||||
| Version | Mysql-4.1.x | PostgreSQL 8.x | MaxDB Version 7.5 | Firebird 1.5.x (Roadmap) | Ingres R3 |
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Firebird second in Brazil (Oracle10g is 1rst)
Info OnLine, a leading IT magazine in Brazil found Firebird the second (translated from Portuguese) most popular database after Oracle
Sunday, February 27, 2005
The boon of FireBird for "Edge" development
Researcher finds strong uptick in open source DB use
The boon of FireBird for "Edge" development -- Aside from the traditional names of MySQL and PostgreSQL, Evans also found the FireBird open source databases making some inroads -- particularly in the "edge" sector of networking. Evans found FireBird is the most used database period for 'edge' applications, Microsoft Access is a close second (at 21 percent). In addition, MySQL and FireBird are locked in a virtual tie in the open source database space with each being used by just over half of database developers who use open source databases.All these factors are providing the DBA/developer all sorts of "prime opportunities" to further push open source into the enterprise, McKendrick added:
"Right now, if a developer wants to put together some type of project, and can't get the CIO to authorize the funding, he can now simply download a free database and build an enterprise-caliber project based on this database," he said. In fact, McKendrick added, the increase in open source database capabilities is more than sufficient for most enterprise projects -- and won't get that developer in trouble.
Read more @ IT Manager's Journal
Jim Starkey's Thoughts on DDL
The original data definition mechanism was direct update of system
tables. This proved both scary and awkward, and a BLR-ish DYN layer was
added. When DSQL was extended to include SQL DDL, the DSQL, originally
in the client, later moved to the Y-valve, translated the SQL DLL into
dyn for interpretation. This means that for every new DDL clause we
invent, it must be added to DSQL, DYN, and the DYN interpreter.
Vulcan has move DSQL from the Y-valve to the engine. I think it's time
to stop translating SQL DDL into DYN and go directly to changes in the
internal metadata and system tables, gradually replacing much or most of
MET. This will relegate DYN to a legacy service that we can allow to
whither and die as the remaining parts of the tool set learn to express
DDL in SQL.
If we can reach agreement on this process, I suggest that proposals to
extend SQL DDL be considered this light. Doing them in the current
architecture of either Firebird or Vulcan will require about twice as
much work to go through DYN than direct handling of SQL DDL, and
probably two thirds of it will be wasted in the long run. I would
rather see work invested in revising the internals to make extensions
easier and cleaner than spent on extensions that can only be considered
throwaways in an environment we know is life limited.
--
Jim Starkey
Netfrastructure, Inc.
978 526-1376
Where's My Delphi for .NET Compact Framework?
“I want to write PDA apps using Delphi and the .NET Compact Framework. Yet Borland still doesn't support this. Why not?“
Read more @ Delphi Compiler Core
FastCode Awards
Borland is pleased to recognize John O'Harrow and Dennis Christensen as the top contributors to the Delphi FastCode Project in 2004. Each will receive a copy of Delphi 2005 Architect edition as a token of Borland's appreciation for their efforts and energy.
The FastCode Project sets up challenges for folks to write replacement routines for the Delphi RTL with better performance than the stock routines. When the results of these challenges significantly outpace the stock routines (and don't sacrifice hardware compatibility), we make an effort to incorporate the best routines into the core Delphi RTL. Delphi 2005 contains 3 or 4 RTL routines that were reoptimized by FastCode competitions.
Congratulations John and Dennis!
Firebird ADO.NET Data Provider 1.7 RC2
The Firebird ADO.NET Data Provider 1.7 Release Candidate 2 is available
for download.
* Download information can be found here:
http://firebird.sourceforge.net/index.php?op=files&id=netprovider
* Release Notes can be found here:
http://sourceforge.net/project/shownotes.php?release_id=308369
CVS Tag: NP_17_RC2
InterBase/FireBird Manager V3.9
EMS announces the availability of InterBase/FireBird Manager V3.9 with full support for InterBase V7.5 and Firebird V1.5.
Open Source Database Market Share Breakdown
Evans Data revealed the results of a a study on open source databases. While the familiar names MySQL and PostgresSQL were in there, the biggest surprise may be that Firebird was nearly tied for the most used open source database.
Here are the rankings found in Evans' Database Development Survey 2005, Winter:
MySQL -- 53%
Firebird -- 52%
PostgresSQL -- 15%
Berkeley DB -- 4%
GNU SQL -- 3%
SAP DB -- 1%
Other -- 6%
Some survey respondents are using use more than one open source database, thus the total exceeds 100%.
Friday, February 25, 2005
Delphi 2005 Update 2 On The Way
In the Borland.public.delphi.non-technical newsgroup, Danny Thorpe posted this:
Update 2 is in the pipe moving towards production. It'll be going through regression testing for a couple of weeks yet. Hopefully nothing will explode and require a restart. Pipeline stalls really hurt the schedule.
interview with Danny Thorpe (Borland Chief Scientist)
Published interview with Danny Thorpe (Borland Chief Scientist) - on The Server Side
Borland Chief Scientist Danny Thorpe talks about the challenges of moving the Delphi language to .NET, working with Microsoft on the .NET Framework, and also gives his thoughts about what improvements he'd like to see in the .NET Framework.
Monday, February 21, 2005
Multiversion Concurrency Control Before InterBase?
From Craig Stuntz's Weblog:
Multiversion Concurrency Control In Computing Literature Before InterBase
Multiversion concurrency control is described in some detail 4.3 and 5.5 of this paper by Philip Bernstein and Nathan Goodman -- then employed by the Computer Corporation of America. [Note: An ACM Portal subscription is required to read the full text of the paper.] Bernstein and Goodman's paper cites a 1978 dissertation by D.P. Reed which quite clearly describes MVCC and claims it as an original work. Reed's paper is cited by 66 other authors, according to the Guide to Computing Literature, and Bernstein and Goodman's, 180 times.
Object lifetime in Firebird
From Jim Starkey:
Object lifetime is one of the two or three major strategic questions in
the merge between Firebird 2 and Vulcan. Almost all objects in Firebird
2 are deleted by pool deletion. To make this work, every resource
controlled by an object subject to delete-by-pool must also be pool
aware and allocated from the same pool. This makes writing object code
in Firebird difficult, time consuming, and fragile. It also makes
adoption of non-pool aware classes problematical at best. Vulcan still
has much of his code, but all new classes respect standard object
lifetime conventions, and none are "pool aware".
A question facing the project is whether or not we should accept object
oriented technology into our database implementation. If the answer is
yes, then I believe we must respect the integrity of objects and observe
individual object lifetime controls. This necessarily involves
rejection of the concept of delete-by-pool purposes other than
exceptional, localized mechanisms.
So where you and many other developers may say "of course, that's the
way objects work", in fact, that isn't the way Firebird 2 and
predecessors work.
I am arguing that post-merge object integrity be respected, a
pre-condition for adaptation of object technology. I am also arguing
that it is no longer necessary for all Firebird classes to be pool aware
and, in fact, most classes will not be. These questions seep into
almost every line of code in the prodct. I believe it better that we
resolve this question abstractly than as a debating point in the
general merge debate.
In my mind, the key technical questions around the merge are:
1. Object integrity (also known as delete-by-pool), including
obligatory pool awareness
2. The provider architecture
3. Object structured vs. flat configuration files
4. Thread synchronization primitives
5. The division of work between the Y-valve and the providers
6. Exception handling
Jim Starkey
>Jim:
>When you relate ancient computer history I always wonder:
>How old are you?
>
>
>
I was born in 1949. I started programming when I was about 15 at a
technical institute that offer a weekend course in Fortran for high
school kiddies. I designed my first language about a year later, a
simulated machine language, assembler, and job control language, in IBM
1620 assember. I converted it first to an IBM 7040 then the 360 (DOS),
all in assembler. During college I worked summers programming for a TV
rating company. After college (1973), I went to work for a company
building a database computer for the ARPAnet. A couple of years later I
went to DEC to write relational database system, or so I thought. After
a bait-and-switch, I worked on a conversion of IDMS to the PDP-11.
Escaping that, I wrote Datatrieve-11 for the PDP-11, then VAX
Datatrieve. I started and spun off the VAX Common Data Dictionary
(fellow is now a senior member of Microsoft SQLServer group) and the Rdb
project. When the latter ran into trouble, I started what eventually
became Rdb/ELN (ostensibly as an engine for a natural language query
system during a flirtation with AI), which kicked off the Great Database
War. I started Interbase in 1984. I have a wife Ann, who is a nice
person and thinks I should be one, too, a cat Perry and a Portuguese
Water Dog named Wyrly. Anything else you want to know?
--
Jim Starkey
Netfrastructure, Inc.
978 526-1376
Providing Database Encryption as a Scalable Enterprise Infrastructure Service - Protecting Against External and Internal Threats
As databases become networked in more complex multi-tiered applications, their vulnerability to external attack grows. We address scalability as a particularly vital problem and propose alternative solutions for data encryption as an enterprise IT infrastructure component. In this paper, we explore a new approach for data privacy and security in which a security administrator protecting privacy at the level of individual fields and records, and providing seamless mechanisms to create, store, and securely access databases.
Download the paper in PDF format here.
Friday, February 18, 2005
Delphi 1.0 shipped with a 16bit version of InterBase embodied in a dll (the first embedded version)
It brings back many memories, Delphi 1.0 shipped with a 16bit version of InterBase embodied in a dll (the first embedded version) and was freely deployable, the port was originally done by Jim Starkey.
KylixDriver version 3.1 released
Bug-fixes:
CardBuilder: Urgent bug fix - Kylix IDE was hanged on a card component destruction while CardBuilder design window was existing (fixed-time improvements always do ill turn).
Thursday, February 17, 2005
FBCopy, a command-line tool that can copy data between Firebird tables and databases
Milan Babuskov announces the availability of FBCopy, a command-line tool that can copy data between Firebird tables and databases. This utility is available for Windows and Linux.
Nagios plugin for Firebird
Milan Babuskov of FBExport, announces the availability of a Nagios plugin for Firebird. Nagios is an open source host, service and network monitoring program that can monitor multiple servers for availability, hard disk usage, CPU load, etc. More details about Nagios can be found at www.nagios.org.
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