Interbase vs Access

[mpo...@cgro.com]

I've been using D3 and D4 with Access 97 tables. Everything works fine but
would like to compare its performance against Interbase.

I've been playing with Interbase 5.0 but havn't found an easy way to add
tables to the .gbd.

My questions are:

1) Is there a significant performance increase from Access to Interbase? (No
more than 10 user environment)

2) What's the best way to add tables to an Interbase .gdb?

3) Is there a way to import Access 97 tables into an Interbase .gdb?

Thanks,
Matt.

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[Allen O'Neill]

Matt,

......

In article <6t9cpu$t8n$1...@nnrp1.dejanews.com>, mpo...@cgro.com says...

> I've been using D3 and D4 with Access 97 tables. Everything works fine but
> would like to compare its performance against Interbase.

I am in process (Almost complete) of converting a very large Access app
to IB ... thus far very very impressed.

> My questions are:
>
> 1) Is there a significant performance increase from Access to Interbase? (No
> more than 10 user environment)

Remember that Access is a "desktop database", IB is Client/Server ....
there are distinct differences and it requires a shift in mindset when
developing. My app started with 3 users and now has average 10, with a
high on busy days of 25-35. The performance increase is huge. I have IB
on a Linux-box and use IB_Objects ... this does away with the BDE. This
alone shaves lots of time as IB_Objects talks directly to the IB API.

Next remember that in C/S environment queries are processed on the server
side whereas in Access they are done client side.

Locks are implimented in Access by Page Locking, so I have in the past
had to write my own locking mechinism for Access apps.

> 2) What's the best way to add tables to an Interbase .gdb?

# By embedded SQL ..... at runtime (best way if you want a fail-safe)
# By a script (in a text-file using loadfromfile) ... very handy as it
allows you to update things without having to recompile

> 3) Is there a way to import Access 97 tables into an Interbase .gdb?

You can check out a thing called "Interbase Desktop" ... it is in beta,
has a few bugs but worth checking out. Generally I use BATCHES or create
a loop and do it manually, then finally commit the BATCH UPDATE.

Hope this helps!

- Allen.