isql-fb(1) Firebird interactive SQL shell

SYNOPSIS

isql-fb [option...] [db-path]

DESCRIPTION

This manual page documents briefly the isql-fb command.

isql-fb is a program that allows the user to issue arbitrary SQL commands to a Firebird database as well as exctracting the metadata.

This manual page was written for the Debian distribution because the original program does not have a (free) manual page. Instead, it has non-free documentation you can get from InterBase (Borland) or Firebird project sites; see at the end of the document.

Note that the original command is named isql, but had to renamed for Debian, since isql binary name is already taken by the unixodbc shell.

OPTIONS

isql-fb can handle various command line options. Most options can be abbreviated. Below are given the shortest abbreviations as well as the full versions.
-a
Extract DDL statements necessary to re-create database's metadata. The CREATE DATABASE statement is surrounded by C-style comment. Statements are printed to standard output unless redirection is used. See -output and -x options.
-c|-cache buffers
Specify default number of cache buffers to be used in connections.
-d|-database database
Used together with the -x option. Specifies target database name when extracting.
-e|-echo
Display each statement before executing it.
-x|-ex|-extract
Extracts DDL statements to recreate database metadata. The only difference with the -a option is that -extract behaves differently if option -d is also specified, in which case

the CREATE DATABASE statement is uncommented, replacing database name with database.

-i|-input infile
Reads commands from infile instead of standard input. Exits with commit after the last command.
-m|-merge_stderr
Merges standard error to standard output. Useful for redirecting both streams.
-n|-noautocommit
Normally, all DDL statements like "CREATE TABLE" are automatically committed in a separate transaction. This option disables the automatic commit of DDL statements.
-nowarnings
Disables displaying of SQL warnings.
-o|-output outfile
All output is redirected to the given outfile.
-page|-pagelength n
Prints column headers every I <n> output lines. Default is 20.
-pas|-passsword password
Uses given password as a default for connecting to the database.
-r|-role sqlrole
Uses given sqlrole as a default for connecting to the database.
-s|-sqldialect sqldialect
Uses given sqldialect as a default for connecting to the database.
-t|-terminator lineterm
Set command line terminator. Default is semicolon ";".
-u|-user username
Uses given username as a default for connecting to the database.
-z
Show version string before doing anything else.

AUTHOR AND LICENSE

This manual page was written by Damyan Ivanov [email protected] for the Debian system (but may be used by others). Permission is granted to use this document, with or without modifications, provided that this notice is retained. If we meet some day, and you think this stuff is worth it, you can buy me a beer in return.