=head1 NAME

isql-fb - Firebird interactive SQL shell

=head1 SYNOPSIS

B<isql-fb> [I<option>...] [I<db-path>]

=head1 DESCRIPTION

This manual page documents briefly the B<isql-fb> command.

B<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 B<isql>, but had to renamed for Debian,
since B<isql> binary name is already taken by the unixodbc shell.

=head1 OPTIONS

B<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.

=over

=item B<-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 B<-output> and B<-x> options.

=item B<-c|-cache> I<buffers>

Specify default number of cache buffers to be used in connections.

=item B<-d|-database> I<database>

Used together with the B<-x> option. Specifies target database name when
extracting.

=item B<-e|-echo>

Display each statement before executing it.

=item B<-x|-ex|-extract>

Extracts DDL statements to recreate database metadata. The only difference with
the B<-a> option is that -extract behaves differently if option B<-d> is also
specified, in which case

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

=item B<-i|-input> I<infile>

Reads commands from I<infile> instead of standard input. Exits with commit
after the last command.

=item B<-m|-merge_stderr>

Merges standard error to standard output. Useful for redirecting both streams.

=item B<-n|-noautocommit>

Normally, all DDL statements like C<CREATE TABLE> are automatically committed
in a separate transaction. This option disables the automatic commit of DDL
statements.

=item B<-nowarnings>

Disables displaying of SQL warnings.

=item B<-o|-output> I<outfile>

All output is redirected to the given I<outfile>.

=item B<-page|-pagelength> I<n>

Prints column headers every I <n> output lines. Default is 20.

=item B<-pas|-passsword> I<password>

Uses given I<password> as a default for connecting to the database.

=item B<-r|-role> I<sqlrole>

Uses given I<sqlrole> as a default for connecting to the database.

=item B<-s|-sqldialect> I<sqldialect>

Uses given I<sqldialect> as a default for connecting to the database.

=item B<-t|-terminator> I<lineterm>

Set command line terminator. Default is semicolon C<;>.

=item B<-u|-user> I<username>

Uses given I<username> as a default for connecting to the database.

=item B<-z>

Show version string before doing anything else.

=back

=head1 SEE ALSO

L<gbak(1)>, L<gdef(1)>, L<gfix(1)>, L<gpre(1)>, L<gsec(1)>, L<gstat(1)>,
L<qli(1)>.

Additional documentation about B<isql-fb> and other Firebird parts can be found
on the Firebird Project website.

For more information about Firebird project, visit
L<http://www.firebirdsql.org/>.

=head1 AUTHOR AND LICENSE

This manual page was written by Damyan Ivanov L<dmn@debian.org> 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.
