Just like last time getting the Firebird database working on my new machine was a long way of trial and error. I have Visual Studio 2005, installed sp1 and it’s running on Vista. Installing FB has become easier but support is still very fragmented. Worse is that essential parts contain typos which will lead to complete VS crashes. Hereby the recipe which does work. I have to thank Kai Bøhli a lot for his help.

1. Install the FireBird client. Found here. Having completed that you will see the firebirdclient in the GAC.

1. Edit the machine.config file (in the directory $WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\CONFIG\). There are online instructions here but do not take these literally. The example contains the values for the firebird-client 2.0.0.0 The current download is version 2.0.1.0, which has also a different public key. This does work for 2.0.1.0:

description=".Net Framework Data Provider for Firebird"

type="FirebirdSql.Data.FirebirdClient.FirebirdClientFactory,

FirebirdSql.Data.FirebirdClient, Version=2.0.1.0, Culture=neutral,

PublicKeyToken=3750abcc3150b00c" />

What is essential is that both version and publickeytoken should match the values of the assembly in the gac.

1. Install the Firebird data designer for VS 2005, found here
2. Perform the registry update found here.

After these steps your VS 2005 supports FireBird.

Firebird server running on Vista

The firebird server does run on Vista (RC1) but one feature can completely trash your machine. Part of the setup is the control panel applet to start and stop the FB server. After installing this the Windows explorer crashes when trying to open the control panel. The good thing about the applet is that you do not have to install it; it’s an option in the setup. To start or stop Firebird just use the Window’s service manager.

The FireBird guardian service (listed just above the FireBird service) does the actual stop/restart work. Use that one to control the FB server. (Thanks Kai, where would I be without you :?)