NAME

       isql — Firebird Interactive SQL shell

SYNOPSIS

       isql  [  -a  ]  [ -cache bufnum ]  [ -database database ]  [ -echo ]  [ -input infile ]  [
       -noautocommit ]  [ -nowarnings ]  [ -output outfile ]  [ -password  password  ]   [  -page
       pagelen  ]  [ -role role ]  [ -s sqldialect ]  [ -terminator lineterm ]  [ -user user ]  [
       -x ]  [ -z ]

DESCRIPTION

       This manual page documents briefly the isql command.

       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.

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

       isql  in  Debian is available under isql-fb name due to filename conflict with binary from
       other package.  If for some reason it is needed to have  it  under  original  name  it  is
       possible to add /usr/lib/firebird/bin at the beginning of PATH variable which should solve
       eventual problem.

OPTIONS

       isql can handle various command line options.  Most options can be abbreviated. Below  are
       given  the  shortest  abbreviations  as  well  as the full versions.  A summary of options
       follows.

       -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. See -x.

       -c[ache] buffers
                 Specify default number of cache buffers to be used in connections.

       -d[atabase] database
                 Used together with -x. Specifies target database name when extracting. See -x.

       -e[cho]   Display each statement before executing it.

       -x|-ex[tract]
                 Extracts DDL statements to recreate database metadata.  The only difference with
                 -a is that -extract behaves differently if -d is also specified.

                 If  no -d is specified, -x behaves exactly as -a. If -d is specified, the CREATE
                 DATABASE statement is uncommented, replacing database name with database.

       -i[nput] infile
                 Reads commands from infile instead of standard input. Exits  with  commit  after
                 the last command.

       -m[erge_stderr]
                 Merges standard error to standard output. Useful for redirecting both streams.

       -n[oautocommit]
                 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[utput] outfile
                 All output is redirected to the given outfile.

       -page[length] n
                 Prints column headers every n output lines. Default is 20.

       -pas[sword] password
                 Uses given password as a default for connecting to the database.

       -r[ole] sqlrole
                 Uses given sqlrole as a default for connecting to the database.

       -s[qldialect] sqldialect
                 Uses given sqldialect as a default for connecting to the database.

       -t[erminator] lineterm
                 Set command line terminator. Default is semicolon (`;').

        -u[ser] username
                 Uses given username as a default for connecting to the database.

       -z        Show version string before doing anything else.

SEE ALSO

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

       Additional  documentation about isql and other Firebird parts can be found on the Firebird
       Project website.

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

AUTHOR

       This manual page was written by Damyan Ivanov (dam@modsoftsys.com) 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.

                                                                                          ISQL(1)