IBConsole - Getting Started
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New Features
Start Here Welcome Page
When you start IBConsole, you see first the Start Here page. This page gives you direct access to new features information, videos and documentation on the InterBase wiki. From here, you can also interact with the Community, see the latest InterBase blog posts and join the Forum.
Starting IBConsole
To start IBConsole, choose IBConsole from Start>Programs>InterBase. The IBConsole window opens:
- Elements in the IBConsole dialog:
- Menu bar Commands for performing database administration tasks.
- Tool bar Shortcut buttons for menu commands.
- Tree pane Displays a hierarchy of registered servers and databases.
- Work pane Displays specific information or allows you to perform activities, depending on what item is currently selected in the Tree pane.
- Status bar Shows the current server, user login, and selected database.
IBConsole Menus
The IBConsole menus are the basic way to perform tasks with IBConsole. There are seven pull-down menus.
- Console menu enables you to exit from IBConsole.
- View menu enables you to indicate whether or not IBConsole displays system and temporary tables and dependencies and to change the display and appearance of items listed in the Work pane.
- Server menu enables you to log in to and log out of a server, diagnose a server connection problem, manage user security, view the server log file, and view server properties.
- Database menu enables you connect to and disconnect from a database, create and drop a database, view database metadata, monitor database performance and activities, view a list of users connected to the database, view and set database properties, and perform database maintenance, validation, and transaction recovery.
- Tools menu enables you to add custom tools to the Tools menu and start the interactive SQL window. The interactive SQL window has its own set of menus. This menu includes a ‘License Manager’ command that you can use to register a server.
Note: If you are adding the very first certificate from IBConsole to an older database, the Add Certificate pop-up menu is shown. This will add an old style certificate. However, as of InterBase 2007, certificate information is not displayed, so it will be hidden, after the server version is determined.
- Windows menu enables you to view a list of active IBConsole windows and to manage them. See Switching Between IBConsole Windows for more information.
- Help menu enables you to access both IBConsole on-line help and InterBase on-line help.
Context Menus
IBConsole also enables you to perform certain tasks with context sensitive popup menus called context menus . Tables 1 and 2 are examples of context menus.
When you right-click a server icon, a context menu is displayed listing actions that can be performed on the selected server.
- Table 1 IBConsole Context Menu for a Server Icon
Popup Command Description Login Login to the selected server. Logout Logout from the current server. Add Certificate Add certificate ID/keys for servers connected to older databases (InterBase 7.x or earlier). Use License Manager for newer databases (InterBase 7.x or later). User Security Authorize users on the current server. License Manager Add, edit, and verify license information. You can also launch the License Manager from the Tools menu. View Logfile Display the server log for the current server. Diagnose Connection Display database and network protocol communication diagnostics. Database Alias Add or delete a database alias. Properties View and update server information for the current server.
When you right-click a connected database icon, a context menu is displayed listing actions that can be performed on the database:
- Table 2 IBConsole Context Menu for a Connected Database Icon
Popup Command Description Disconnect Disconnect from the current database. Maintenance Perform maintenance tasks including: view database statistics, shutdown, database restart, sweep, and transaction recovery. Backup/Restore Back up or restore a database to a device or file. Copy Database Copy the database to a different database and/or server. Performance Monitor View database activities including queries, transactions, trigger actions, tables, and memory status. For more information, see Monitoring Database Performance. View Metadata View the metadata for the selected database. Connected Users Displays a list of users connected to the database. Properties View database information, adjust the database sweep interval, set the SQL dialect and access mode, and enable forced writes. Decrypt Database SYSDSO’s can use this option to encrypt the database password.
IBConsole Toolbar
A toolbar is a row of buttons that are shortcuts for menu commands. The following table describes each toolbar button in detail.
- Table 3 IBConsole Standard Toolbar
Button Description 
Register server : opens the register server dialog, enabling you to register and login to a local or remote server. 
Un-register server : enables you to un-register a local or remote server. This automatically disconnects a database on the server and logout from the server. 
Database connect : Connects to the highlighted database using the user name and password for the current server connection. 
Database disconnect : enables you to disconnect a database on the current server. 
Launch SQL : opens the interactive SQL window.
Tree Pane
When you open the IBConsole window, you must register and log in to a local or remote server and then register and connect to the databases of the server to display the Tree pane.
Navigating the server/database hierarchy is achieved by expanding and retracting nodes (or branches) that have sub-details or attributes. This is accomplished by a number of methods, outlined in Table 4: Server/database Tree Commands.
To expand or retract the server/database tree in the Tree pane:
Table 4 Server/database Tree Commands
| Tasks | Commands |
|---|---|
| Display the databases of a server |
|
| Retract the databases of a server |
|
In an expanded tree, click a database name to highlight it. The highlighted database is the one on which IBConsole operates, referred to as the current database. The current server is the server on which the current database resides.
The hierarchy displayed in the Tree pane of Figure 3.3: IBConsole Tree pane is an example of a fully expanded tree.
- Expanding the InterBase Servers branch displays a list of registered servers.
- Expanding a connected server branch displays a list of server attributes, including Databases, Backup, Users, and the Server Log.
- Clicking on the Database branch displays a list of registered databases on the current server.
- Clicking on Server Log displays the “View Logfile” action in the Work pane.
- Expanding a connected database branch displays a list of database attributes, including Domains, Tables, Views, Stored Procedures, External Functions, Generators, Exceptions, Blob Filters, and Roles.
- Expanding Backup shows a list of backup aliases.
Work Pane
Depending on what item has been selected in the Tree pane, the Work pane gives specific information or enables you to execute certain tasks.
- To display a list of backup aliases for the current server, click the Backup icon.
- To display a list of users defined on the server, click the Users icon.
- To display information about a database attribute , click the database attribute icon.
- To display information about a database object in a viewer, click the Work Pane icon for the object (for example, a table name).
Standard Text Display Window
The standard text display window is used to monitor database backup and restoration, to display database statistics and to view server and administration logs.
The standard text display window contains a menu bar, a toolbar with icons for often-used menu commands, and a scrolling text display area. Database Backup Verbose Output is an example of the standard text display window.
Elements in a standard text display window:
- Menu bar: The File menu enables you to save the contents of the window and Exit from the window. The Edit menu enables you to copy selected text in the window to the clipboard, select all text in the window, cut and paste text, and find a specified word or phrase within the displayed text.
- Toolbar: Save and Copy toolbar buttons enable you to save the contents of the text display window as well as copy selected text to the clipboard.
- Status bar: Shows the cursor location, given by line and column, within the text display window.
Switching Between IBConsole Windows
Use the Active Windows dialog to switch between IBConsole windows, or to close specific windows. To access the Active Windows dialog, click on the Windows menu. The dialog appears:
- To switch to a different IBConsole window, select it and click the Switch To button.
- To close a window, select it and click the Close window button.
Managing Custom Tools in IBConsole
Use the Tools dialog to add, edit, and delete custom tools for the IBConsole interface. To access the Tools dialog, select Tools > Configure Tools from the IBConsole menu. The Tools dialog is displayed:
- To delete a tool, select it and click Delete.
- To modify a tool, select it and click Edit. Change the relevant fields in the Tool Properties dialog .
- To add a tool, click Add. The Tool Properties dialog appears.
To add a custom tool:
- Enter the name of your utility in the Title field. This is the name that will be displayed on the Tools menu. Use an ampersand (&) to specify an accelerator key for the menu item. Conflicting accelerator keys are automatically resolved. If you do not specify an accelerator key, one will be chosen automatically.
- Enter the path and the executable to be launched in the Program field.
- Enter the working directory for your utility in the Working Dir field. If no working directory is specified, then it defaults to the current directory.
- Enter any other parameters needed to run your utility in the Parameters field.
Monitoring Database Performance
You can use the IBConsole performance monitor to view the status of a database and activities including:
- A summary of database threads, procedures, transactions and memory use
- View memory use by graph, pool or heap
- List all the tables and views in the database
- Display a list of all recent transactions
- View a list of all recent procedures and triggers
- Display the interbase log file and statistics list
Displaying the Performance Monitor
To display the performance monitor:
- In the left pane, right-click on a database name, and select Performance Monitor from the context menu.
- The Performance Monitor contains the following tabs: Attachments, Database, Memory, Procedures, Statements, Tables & Views, Transactions, and Triggers. Click on a tab to view the information displayed on that tab.
The following figure displays the Database tab. Notice the options (Flush Write Cache, Reclaim Memory Space and others) that appear above the tab name. You can click on an option to perform that action on the database. Different options appear for each tab.
