General URL-Style Pattern
[<protocol>://[<hostname>[:<port>]/]]<database file path or alias>
TCP/IP Connections (INET)
Remote Client Examples
- Traditional
-
servername/port:database_path
- URL-Style
-
INET://servername:port/database_path
# Traditional
serverlinux/13050:employee
serverwindows:c:\data\mydatabase.fdb
# URL-Style
INET://serverlinux:13050/employee
INET://serverwindows:d:/data/db.fdb
Local Client Examples
# Traditional
127.0.0.1:d:\data\db.fdb
localhost:/opt/data/db.fdb
# URL-Style
INET://d:\data\db.fdb
INET:///opt/data/db.fdb
IPv6 & IPv4
-
Use
INET6://
to force IPv6 -
Use
INET4://
to force IPv4 -
Default
INET
will use IPv6 if configured
Windows Named Pipes (WNET)
Pattern
- Traditional
-
servername[@service_name]\\database_path
- URL-Style
-
WNET://\\servername[:service]/database_path
# Traditional
\\serverwindows\c:\data\db.fdb
\\.\c:\data\db.fdb # Local connection
\\serverwindows@MyService\c:\data\db.fdb
# URL-Style
WNET://\\serverwindows/d:/data/db.fdb
WNET://\\serverwindows:myservice/d:/data/db.fdb
Windows Local Protocol (XNET)
Pattern
- Traditional
-
database_path
- URL-Style
-
XNET://database_path
# Traditional
d:\data\db.fdb
# URL-Style
XNET://d:/data/db.fdb
XNET://MyDB # Using alias
Key Points
-
TCP/IP is recommended for all platforms
-
WNET (Windows Named Pipes) is deprecated
-
XNET is Windows-only, provides better performance than INET/WNET for local connections
-
Forward slashes work for Windows paths except in WNET servername
-
Database aliases can be used in place of full paths