The ADO.NET Firebird data provider that is used by the .NET API supports ODS (on-disk structure) version 10 or later, which is used by Interbase 6 or later, or any version of Firebird. This error happens when trying to connect to an earlier version Interbase database file (even if the server is Firebird, the data file itself may be an old Interbase file format). The ODS of a database can be checked by running the Firebird gstat.exe utility, like this:
"C:\Program Files\Firebird\Firebird_x_x\bin\gstat" -h VETtrak.gdb
This page lists the ODS versions of each version of Interbase/Firebird:
http://www.ibexpert.net/ibe/index.php?n=Doc.ODSVersion
The database can be upgraded to the version of the ODS matching the installed Firebird by using the Firebird utilities to backup and restore the database. To do so, follow these steps on the Firebird server machine:
- Ensure everyone is logged out of VETtrak
- Take a backup copy of your VETtrak.gdb file – just in case
- In a Command Prompt window, change to the directory containing your VETtrak.gdb file, eg:
cd "C:\Program Files\VETtrak\Data"
- To create a backup of your database, run this command:
"C:\Program Files\Firebird\Firebird_x_x\bin\gbak" -backup VETtrak.gdb VETtrakBackup.gbk
- To shut down your existing database, run this command:
"C:\Program Files\Firebird\Firebird_x_x\bin\gfix" -shut -tran 60 VETtrak.gdb
- To restore the backup into a new database, overwriting your old database file, run this command:
"C:\Program Files\Firebird\Firebird_x_x\bin\gbak" -replace VETtrakBackup.gbk VETtrak.gdb
- You can then run gstat again to check your ODS version, it should show ODS version 10 or higher:
"C:\Program Files\Firebird\Firebird_x_x\bin\gstat" -h VETtrak.gdb