(German-language version below)

The IBExpert Day Edition contains all the features of the IBExpert IDE, e.g. debugger, performance analysis and much more.

IBExpert can be used on registered computers for 24 hours following activation. After the 24 hour period IBExpert will no longer start on this computer, but can be activated again.

Use IBExpert wherever you or your employees work

In the home office
For customer support
On customer computers, e.g. as a supplement to the Company Year Edition

The automatic termination after 24 hours minimizes the risk of running an unlicensed product on customer machines.

Or for other tasks

Benchmark tests
Training purposes
Tests

Also as a cost-effective introduction

For your trainees and interns
And of course also for testing for new customers

And also at hand in case of emergency

For short-term use on another computer, e.g. if you cannot generate a removal code when moving to another computer, or your computer is broken.

IBExpert Day Edition Packages

There are a number of IBExpert Day Edition Packages. Please refer to our IBExpert products, services & prices page for details.

Please register in the IBExpert Download Center for this product with a valid e-mail address. If possible, use a use a company address such as support@companyx.com, ibexpertday@computerenterprise.com or similar.

The software activations are made available on your user account in the IBExpert Download Center for a period of 12 months.

Afterwards any unused activations will automatically expire. To prevent this, you can purchase a new IBExpert Day Edition package before the expiry date, so that unused activations are credited for a further 12 months.

The IBExpert Day Edition is the ideal supplement to all IBExpert full versions, ready for use on all computers at any time.

The IBExpert Day Edition can also be run on Linux/Wine.

You can download the latest IBExpert IDE setup file from the IBExpert Download Center and distribute it with your software product. If you wish to work with IBExpert on your customer servers, activate one of your Day Editions with your e-mail address/password combination to start IBExpert.

You can request a free package with 5 activations for 10 days for testing purposes here: register@ibexpert.biz

IBExpert Day Edition

Die IBExpert Day Edition enthält alle Funktionen der IBExpert IDE, z.B. Debugger, Performanceanalyse u.v.m.

IBExpert kann nach der Freischaltung 24 Stunden auf dem Computer benutzt werden. Nach Ablauf von 24 Stunden wird IBExpert auf diesem Computer nicht mehr starten, kann aber erneut wieder freigeschaltet werden.

Benutzen Sie IBExpert überall dort, wo Sie oder Ihre Mitarbeiter arbeiten:

Im Office
Im Homeoffice
Im Kundensupport
Auf Kundenrechnern, z.B. als Ergänzung zur Company Year Edition

Durch das automatische Beenden nach 24 Stunden minimiert sich das Risiko, ein nicht lizenziertes Produkt auf Kundenrechnern zu betreiben

Oder für andere Aufgaben

Für Benchmarktests
Für Schulungszwecke
Für Tests

Auch als günstiger Einstieg

Für Ihre Auszubildenden und Praktikanten
Und natürlich auch zum Testen für Neukunden

Und auch im Notfall zur Hand

Für den kurzfristigen Einsatz auf einem anderen Computer, z.B., wenn Sie keinen Removal Code beim Umzug auf einen anderen Computer erzeugen können, oder Ihr Computer defekt ist.

IBExpert Day Edition Pakete

Es gibt eine Auswahl an IBExpert Day Edition Paketen. Bitte entnehmen Sie die Details unserer IBExpert Produkte, Dienstleistungen & Preise-Seite.

Bitte registrieren Sie sich im IBExpert Download Center für dieses Produkt mit einer gültigen E-Mail-Adresse. Verwenden Sie nach Möglichkeit eine Firmenadresse wie z.B.support@companyx.com, ibexpertday@computerenterprise.de oder ähnliches.

Die Freischaltung erfolgt auf Ihrem User Account im IBExpert Download Center für den Zeitraum von 12 Monaten.

Nicht angeforderten Aktivierungen verfallen danach automatisch. Um dieses zu verhindern, können Sie rechtzeitig vor Ablauf ein neues IBExpert Day Edition Paket erwerben, damit werden nicht angeforderte Aktivierungen für die nächsten 12 Monate gutgeschrieben.

Die IBExpert Day Edition ist die ideale Ergänzung zu allen IBExpert Vollversionen, jederzeit auf allen Computern einsatzbereit.

Die IBExpert Day Edition ist auch mit Linux/Wine lauffähig.

Sie können die aktuelle IBExpert IDE-Setup-Datei im IBExpert Download Center herunterladen und mit Ihrem Software-Produkt verteilen. Wenn Sie mit IBExpert auf Ihren Kundenservern arbeiten möchten, aktivieren Sie eine Ihrer Day Editions mit Ihrer E-Mail-Adresse/Passwort Kombination, um IBExpert zu starten.

Ein kostenloses Paket mit 5 Freischaltungen für 10 Tage zum Testen können Sie hier anfragen: sales@ibexpert.biz.

(German-language version below)

The IBExpert Developer Studio Edition contains a IBExpert Developer Studio Full Version with a 12 month software subscription.

IBExpert Developer Studio Edition

The current version was released in January 2024.

The Net Test executes 2000 inserts to a table with 100 columns and sends all params from client to the server in individual params, so this function will create a few hundred thousand very small TCP IP packages over the network and the total time is measured by how many operations were done within each second.

A good value on fast networks should have around >=400 IOPs. If it is much slower, you should ask your network support to check the speed of components used.

It is not part of the calculated percentage result values, and also the time it takes is not used there, since these result values use minimal network traffic to measure the server speed and not the network speed.

Benchmark results on an IFSLR Server using Ubuntu Linux 22 and Firebird 5

Compare your server's performance to our IFS servers!

How do you measure the performance of your own server or your clients'? Have you ever tried to compare the database speed of your Firebird server with new server hardware? Is a XEON Machine better than an Opteron? What improvements can you expect from fast SAS hard disks, RAID controllers or Enterprise SSDs?

This simple but effective tool gives you a reference benchmark, based on our recommended IFS Servers. Using IBExpert Benchmark you can generate and compare a reproducible speed index for your Firebird Server hardware. On average, our IFS servers with Firebird are 5 to 10 times faster than the server or virtual machines that our customers have previously used.

Benchmark (extended) results using Firebird 4.0 on an IFSML Server

To perform the IBExpert Benchmark at your customers and also take advantage of the extended and XXL benchmarks, you can use either the IBExpert Developer Studio customer version or the IBExpert Day Edition. To perform standard benchmarks locally, you may use our Free IBExpert Benchmark Tool.

Free IBExpert Benchmark Tool

You can use the IBExpert Benchmark Tool free of charge on any Windows computer. This limited special version allows standard benchmarks to be performed locally and includes Firebird 2.5, 3.0 and 4.0 versions, executed in application mode, so you do not need to install Firebird on the server to be tested.

The Benchmark Tool is quick and easy to use: download it here: https://ibexpert.net/benchmark/setup_benchmark.exe, install it on the drive that you want to test.

Since September 2021 the benchmark now uses the latest Firebird versions 2.5.9 and 3.0.7, and can also use Firebird 4.0.0 with the 32K page size. IBExpert Benchmark 2.0 was released on 17th November 2021.

The Benchmark Tool tests 10 parallel running threads.

Running the benchmark will not overwrite any programs already in use, nor does it install anything, so you can safely run the benchmark on your server. The IBExpert Benchmark Tool does not use an existing Firebird installation and will only test the drive on which it is installed.

Select the Firebird version you wish to use for your benchmark in the left-hand panel: Firebird 2.5 Superserver, Firebird 3.0 Superserver or Firebird 4.0 Superserver. The selection in this free version has been limited so that even users with no Firebird knowledge or experience can easily perform this quick benchmark test.

The right-hand window in this free version is read-only. (In the paid version you can enter any and all of this information, e.g. define your own connection string and client library file).

Start the benchmark by clicking Start Benchmark in the bottom left-hand corner.

Important: you will need to install and run this as Admin.

Note: Should you receive an error message, please download and install the current version.

The benchmark process and results are explained below under How does it work?

If you would like a more flexible version of our Benchmark, which allows you to change various test options, test multiple drives, various Firebird instances or even perform a benchmark on a Linux operating system or remote servers, you should use the following Benchmark, included in all IBExpert customer version IDEs.

IBExpert Developer Studio Benchmark

This version offers standard, extended and XXL benchmarks, which can be performed on the Firebird 2.5 Superserver, Classic server, Superclassic server or Firebird 3.0 and Firebird 4.0 32- or 64-bit, Windows, Linux etc. either locally or remote. The Benchmark software is implemented as a 32-bit Windows software, but it can connect to any remote Firebird installation.

If you wish to collect the results for comparison with different hard and software combinations, enter a brief description of the configuration to be tested, along with the recipient email address for the statistic report.

Benchmark (extended) results using Firebird 4.0 on an IFSML Server

Then add the required database connection information - you need to set a new path for the newly generated database; if you specify the path of an existing database, you will receive a warning message:

Specify the Firebird client, as well as the user name and password (the standard SYSDBA and masterkey). Finally click Start benchmark to run the benchmark test.

IBExpert now creates the demo database, which always follows the same guidelines. It then executes the INITALL procedure in this database. Following this parallel threads are created, which attempt to input further orders into the database. Following the Drive Test, the CPU Test test then is executed.

The results are displayed in the lower window: the drive and the CPU index are percentage index values comparing to our our IFS Server v. 6.0 series, which we rated at the time at 100%.

If you have specified an email address, you will receive the results by mail, with the heading as specified in the Please add a short description of the Firebird server hard- and software field.

How does it work?

Based on a demo database, which is created automatically, the standard benchmark, which is also included in the Free IBExpert Benchmark Tool, runs approximately 8 million operations (individual insert/update/delete/select statements) using 10 simultaneous processes in 2 runs on databases created with different parameters to demonstrate the impact of the physical drive speed.

The extended benchmark uses 50 parallel processes (simulating 50 concurrent users) and the XXL benchmark simulates 250 concurrent users with its 250 simultaneous processes.

Drive Test

The Drive Test is simply creating a benchmark database from a script. Within the Drive Test we changed the value of the so-called cache buffers (DefaultDBCachePages in firebird.conf) to 50, the smallest value possible. Then a stored procedure is executed inside the database to generate a lot of test data. In the Drive Test approximately 850,000 operations (i.e. INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, SELECT statements) are carried out. This really measures the speed of the drive, because of the low-level of cache that is being used, is responsible for making a lot of I/O operations on the external drive.

• Create DB - shows the time in seconds that it takes to create the Demo database.
• TMP - Temporary file management that is used when for example, Firebird does not have any indices, which it can use, or it needs to perform some GROUP BY, HAVING or similar instructions.
• Thread test - this is the multi-threaded test. If you have for example a test on this machine, and you have 1 thread or 10 threads running, you will also see this running in the Task Manager. This can result in huge differences on different machines.
• Result - the basic value that is calculated here displays the combined results of the drive test, and we compare this value to a server that was distributed by ourselves around 2010 which had 100% speed. In reality, when you test on typical customer machines, especially in virtual environments, you will often see values of as little as 30%. Typical values are often in the range of 100%-150%.

CPU Test

This category calculates the percentage value for multi-threaded CPU tests with 5000 pages cache result to better see the advantages when using Firebird 3. This means that it no longer needs any operations on the disk. You will see a much faster result. The Thread Test, the multi-threaded line - with this one 10 parallel threads are always executed, which means it generates several thousand new orders inside the Demo database simultaneously. The Threads value here is the most important value, when you later have to check whether the server is really fast. Only this Threads value is recalculated to the Thread Test.

Thread Test

The Thread Test simply we take the CPU Test / Threads value and recalculate it. Thread Test simply means that we take the CPU Test / Threads value and compare it to the original machine. This machine is compared to our original machine as an index value.

How do your results compare?

Compare your server's performance to our IFS servers! This simple but effective tool gives you a reference benchmark, based on our recommended IFS Servers.

Our servers will show you a typical Firebird 2.5 Superserver performance of at least 200% for the CPU and at least 200% for the HDD Test with our IFS server series), und using Firebird 3.0 at least 230% for the CPU and at least 500% for the HDD Test. Results under 100% indicate an outdated server performance.

Important: This benchmark gives you a value to compare several hardware or software configurations running the Firebird server.

You will notice a huge performance increase, when comparing a Windows environment mit a Linux environment on the same hardware. This is partially due to the Windows NTFS file system, which is standard on Windows.

If, for example, you want to restart the Benchmark, especially on virtual machines, we always recommend executing this Benchmark several times, because sometimes when you execute it again, you can achieve better or worse values. This can happen because other jobs are being executed by the virtual machine host.

If the results are poor, click in the results window. You will be automatically redirected to our homepage. Here you can view our current offers for our really fast IFS Firebird servers.

Changing the server to a more powerful hardware might improve the speed by 100%. Additionally optimizing your software and database operations can often improve the speed by more than 1000%. Ask sales@ibexpert.biz for further support.

IBEScript.exe can be found in the IBExpert root directory, and needs to be started from DOS. (This feature is unfortunately not included in the free IBExpert Personal Edition.)

For regulations regarding distribution of any of the IBExpert Server Tools modules (hkSCC.exe, ibescript.exe, ibescript.dll and fbcrypt) together with your application, please refer to the IBExpert Server Tools documentation contents page.

Syntax

 IBEScript script_filename [options]

• -S = silent mode
• -V<Verbose_file> = verbose output file. If <Verbose_file> exists, IBEScript will overwrite it.
• -v<verbose_file> = verbose output file. If <verbose_file> exists, IBEScript will append message to this file.
• -E = display only error messages.
• -N = continue after error.
• -A<seconds> = advanced progress: <seconds> specifies the time interval in seconds to display progress messages. If <seconds> is not specified, advanced progress information will be displayed every second. The following information is available:

  • SC - statements count, number of executed statements;
  • POC - percentage of completion;
  • TS - time spent;
  • ETL - estimated time left.

• -T = write timestamp into log.
• -D = connections string (use it if your script does not contain CONNECT or CREATE DATABASE statements).
• -P = connection password (use only with -D option).
• -R = connection role (use only with -D option).
• -U = connection user name (use only with -D option).
• -C = character set (use only with -D option).
• -l = client library file (gds32.dll if not specified).
• -L<1|2|3> = SQL dialect (use only with -D option; 1 if not specified).
• -i = idle priority.
• -G<variable_name>=<value> = specify global variable values.
• -I<file_path_and_name> = By default (without the -I option specified). IBEScript.exe processes IBEScript.ini files immediately after starting in the following order:

• -A<seconds> = display advanced progress information every <seconds> second(s) (default 1)

  ---

• -e = encrypt a script file (no execution will be performed)
• -d = decrypt an encrypted script file (no execution will be performed)
• -p<password> = encrypt/decrypt password
• -o<file_name> = output file for encrypted and decrypted scripts

WARNING! All options are case-sensitive!

Example 1: IBEScript C:\My Scripts\CreateDB.sql
Example 2: IBEScript C:\MyScripts\CreateDB.sql -S -VScriptLog.txt

The following features are also available: when no password and/or user name are specified in the CONNECT or CREATE DATABASE statements, a login dialog will appear. It is also possible to change the connection character set (SET NAMES) and garbage collection option (SET GARBAGE_COLLECT) before the RECONNECT statement. Any SET commands mentioned which are followed by a RECONNECT statement will affect the new connection.

It is also possible to use environment variables in INPUT, OUTPUT and SET BLOBFILE statements (see example below).

UTF8 BOM is skipped when executing a script from file.
The OUTPUT command also supports the OctetsAsHex option, which allows the extraction of CHAR(n) CHARACTER SET OCTETS values in hexadecimal format.

IBEScript examples

1. IBEBlock technology to create procedures with access to data in different Firebird/InterBase^® databases

A simple script to copy data from one Firebird/InterBase^® database to another:

 execute ibeblock
 as
 begin
   FBSrc  = ibec_CreateConnection(__ctFirebird,'DBName="localhost:C:\DB1.FDB";
   ClientLib=C:\Program Files\Firebird\Bin\fbclient.dll;
   user=SYSDBA; password=masterkey; names=WIN1252; sqldialect=3');
   FBDest = ibec_CreateConnection(__ctFirebird,'DBName="localhost:C:\DB2.FDB";
   ClientLib=C:\Program Files\Firebird\Bin\fbclient.dll;
   user=SYSDBA; password=masterkey; names=WIN1252; sqldialect=3');
   ibec_UseConnection(FbSrc);
   for select CustNo, Company, Addr1 from customer order by company into :CustNo, :Company,
     :Addr1
   do
   begin
      use FBDest;
      INSERT INTO CUSTOMER (CustNo, Company, Addr1) VALUES (:CustNo, :Company, :Addr1);
      use FBSrc;
   end
   use FBDest;
   COMMIT;
   ibec_CloseConnection(FBSrc);
   ibec_CloseConnection(FBDest);
 end

2. ODBC access to all ODBC data sources for importing or exporting data from a script

The same can also be done with any ODBC data source as the source and/or destination (this functionality has been tested with IBM DB2^®, Oracle^®, MS Access^®, Sybase^® etc.):

 execute ibeblock
 as
 begin
   OdbcCon = ibec_CreateConnection(__ctODBC, 'DBQ=C:\demo.mdb; DRIVER=Microsoft Access
   Driver (*.mdb)');
   FBCon = ibec_CreateConnection(__ctFirebird,'DBName="AVX-MAIN:D:\FB2_DATA\IBEHELP.FBA";
   ClientLib=C:\Program Files\Firebird\Bin\fbclient.dll;
   user=SYSDBA; password=masterkey; names=WIN1251; sqldialect=3');
   ibec_UseConnection(OdbcCon);
   for select CustNo, Company, Addr1 from customer order by company into :CustNo, :Company,
   :Addr1
   do
   begin
      use FBCon;
   INSERT INTO CUSTOMER (CustNo, Company, Addr1) VALUES (:CustNo, :Company, :Addr1);
      use OdbcCon;
   end
   use FBCon;
   COMMIT;
   ibec_CloseConnection(OdbcCon);
   ibec_CloseConnection(FBCon);
 end

3. Comparing databases from scripts

The following script compares the structure of two Firebird/InterBase^® databases and stores a script that can be used to synchronize the database structure in the destination database: Save the following text as c:\comp.sql:

 execute ibeblock
 as
 begin
   create connection ReferenceDB dbname 'localhost:c:\RefDB.fdb'
   password 'masterkey' user 'SYSDBA'
   clientlib 'C:\Program Files\Firebird\bin\fbclient.dll'; 

   create connection CustomerDB dbname 'localhost:c:\customerDB.fdb'
   password 'masterkey' user 'SYSDBA'
   clientlib 'C:\Program Files\Firebird\bin\fbclient.dll';

   cbb = 'execute ibeblock (LogMessage variant)
          as
          begin
            ibec_progress(LogMessage);
          end';

   ibec_CompareMetadata(ReferenceDB, CustomerDB, 'C:\CompRes.sql', 'OmitDescriptions; OmitGrants', cbb);

   close connection ReferenceDB;
   close connection CustomerDB;
 end

Now run the following command line to create the script and synchronize the databases:

 ibescript.exe c:\comp.sql
 ibescript.exe c:\compres.sql

4. Create automatic reports

ibec_CreateReport prepares a report from a specified source and returns prepared report data. For preparing the initial report please refer to the IBExpert Report Manager.

This feature can be used for executing reports created with the IBExpert Report Manager in command-line mode, for example with batch files. The monthly sales report, invoices or other such reports can be designed in the Report Manager and executed with simple SQL statements. The result can then be saved in the database as a PDF file or other formats and sent by email or exported using ibec_ExportReport.

 execute ibeblock
  as
  begin
    Params['HeaderMemo'] = '';
    Params['MEMO2'] = 2;

    SELECT IBE$REPORT_SOURCE FROM ibe$reports
    where ibe$report_id = 4
    into :RepSrc;

    Report = ibec_CreateReport(RepSrc, Params, null);
    ibec_SaveToFile('D:\reptest.fp3', Report, 0);
            Res = ibec_ExportReport(Report, 'D:\reptest.pdf', __erPDF, 'EmbeddedFonts=TRUE');
    Res = ibec_ExportReport(Report, 'D:\reptest.jpg', __erJPEG, 'CropImages; Quality=90');
 end

5. File import into blob fields from SQL scripts

The following script imports the data from the files into the table TEST:

 SET BLOBFILE 'C:\f1.jpg';
 INSERT INTO TEST(ID,BLOBCOL) VALUES (1, :h00000000_7FFFFFFF);
 SET BLOBFILE 'C:\f2.jpg';
 INSERT INTO TEST(ID,BLOBCOL) VALUES (2, :h00000000_7FFFFFFF);
 SET BLOBFILE 'C:\f3.jpg';
 INSERT INTO TEST(ID,BLOBCOL) VALUES (3, :h00000000_7FFFFFFF);

The same syntax can be used for updating blob data.

6. Using environment variables in INPUT, OUTPUT and SET BLOBFILE statements

 execute ibeblock 
 as
 begin
 ibec_SetEnvironmentVariable('MyScriptDir', 'D:\Scripts\MyScripts');
 ibec_SetEnvironmentVariable('MyDataDir', 'D:\Data');
 ibec_SetEnvironmentVariable('MyBlobData', 'D:\Data\Blobs');
 end;

 SET BLOBFILE '\mytable.lob';

 OUTPUT '\mytable.sql';
 select * from mytable
 asinsert;
 COMMIT;

 INPUT '\ProcessData.sql';

These are just a few examples of the many tasks you can do with IBEScript. The full syntax and parameter list for ibec_CompareMetadata can be found in the online documentation, along with a full list of all current IBEBlock commands.

Encryption & decryption

There are two possible ways to encrypt/decrypt scripts and to execute encrypted scripts:

1. Encrypting without the password. In this case there is no possibility to decrypt an encrypted script but it is possible to execute this script with IBEScript.
2. Encrypting with the password. In this case it possible to decrypt the script and execute it with IBExpert if the correct password is specified.

The following options control the encrypting and decrypting:

• -e = encrypts a script file and creates a file with the extension .esql if the output file is not specified (no execution will be performed).
• -d = decrypts an encrypted script file if it was encrypted with password (no execution will be performed).
• -p<password> = encrypt/decrypt password.
• -o<file_name> = output file name for encrypted and decrypted scripts.

Again: all options are case-sensitive!

Example 1

 IBEScript "C:\MyScripts\CreateDB.sql"

Example 2

 IBEScript C:\MyScripts\CreateDB.sql -S -UScriptLog.txt

This product can be purchased as part of the distribution software listed above.

See also:
Firebird Interactive SQL Utility
IBEBlock
Script Executive

          Client library is missing or invalid 
          Can't format message 13:98 ... firebird.msg not found
          IBExpert currently uses IBExpert.stg ...

If you are re-installing and activating IBExpert on a machine, where IBExpert has already been used, you may be asked to enter a Hardware Unlockcode to free up the license.dat.

Please mail register@ibexpert.biz a screenshot of the corresponding window showing the request for the Hardware Unlockcode, and we will generate and mail you a code, which you can use to start IBExpert within the next 24 hours.

When re-registering IBExpert on this computer, as long as the machine code has not changed, you should be able to activate your IBExpert software registration in the usual way (i.e. enter email address, password and click Get Code) without any further problems.

If a new machine code is displayed in the IBExpert Start window, please mail a screenshot of this information to register@ibexpert.biz. Following validation, we will notify you that a further software activation has been made available on your IBExpert Download Center user account. 

Read the full documentation here: Hardware Unlockcode