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Article #25875: 5.x and 6.0 client interoperability

Problem:
Can I connect my 5.x client to my 6.0 server?

Can I connect my 6.0 client to my 5.x server?

Solution:
Yes on both counts.

The 5.x clients CAN connect to a 6.0 server.  However, when doing so you aren't 
allowed to use the new functionality that 6.0 includes, such as:

  * DATE and TIME datatypes
  * ALTER TABLE statement

The 6.0 client CAN also connect to a 5.x server.  When doing so a SQL Warning is issued 
stating that the client dialect is reset to 1.  You can alternatively set the SQL DIALECT to 1 
before connecting and the warning will not be generated.

SQL> set sql dialect 1;
SQL> connect 5x_server:/usr/interbase/examples/database/employee.gdb;

For an explanation of SQL dialects see the Getting Started Guide in the 6.0 documentation, 
which can be downloaded at:

ftp://ftp2.interbase.com/pub/products/beta6.0/ib_b60_doc.zip

alternatively, you can download just the migration guide which has the same information:

ftp://ftp2.interbase.com/pub/products/beta6.0/InterBase60_MigrationGuide.zip

Last Modified: 19-OCT-00