Readme (Readme.txt)
InterClient 1.50
Last modified September 21, 1998

Contents:
    I.   Where's the Documentation?
    II.  What is InterClient?
    III. How Does InterClient Differ from DataGateway and Other Drivers?
    IV.  Compatibilities
    V.   How to Obtain InterClient Updates
    VI.  Configuration
    VII. Testing Your Configuration

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Where's the Documentation?

The complete HTML documentation can be accessed from the file 
index.html in your InterClient docs directory.  On Windows, the 
InterClient program group contains an icon for the InterClient
documentation. 

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What is InterClient?

InterClient is an all-Java JDBC driver for InterBase.

InterClient is a networked driver, meaning that it incorporates a 
JDBC remote protocol for exchanging and caching data between 
client and server.  This allows for a browser enabled client with 
no preinstalled client libraries (such as ODBC) to access 
InterBase data across the net.  This differs from a JDBC bridge 
which maps from the JDBC API to some native RDBMS client API or
ODBC.  A JDBC bridge implementation relies on the RDBMS client
library for the actual exchange and caching of data between
server and client.

The advantage of a networked driver over a bridge implementation
is that the client is 100% pure Java, thereby providing for 
cross-platform, robust, and secure applets.  Whereas a bridge 
implementation requires some binary code to be pre-loaded on each 
client machine, contrary to the notion of an applet.

The JDBC remote protocol employed by InterClient is streamlined 
for JDBC data access, and is database independent except in cases 
where InterBase access can be optimized or proprietary InterBase 
features may be leveraged.

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How Does InterClient Differ from DataGateway and Other Drivers

The DataGateway Broker was derived from InterClient.  But
DataGateway's server speaks BDE on the backend or middle tier.
InterServer speaks ISC on the server backend or middle tier.
Also, since InterClient/InterServer is middleware intended only
for InterBase, it can be, and is, streamlined for InterBase.
Being an all Java type 3 driver provides much more flexibility than
a type 4 jdbc driver (which is pinned to a legacy protocol).
These things give rise to a driver which we believe to be the fastest
driver on the market today, often being orders of magnitude faster
than drivers such as jConnect and dbANYWHERE.

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Compatibilities

Neither InterBase nor InterServer need to be installed on 
the client machine, nor even InterClient if running applets.

InterClient 1.50 is compatible with the
   Java Runtime Environment (JRE) 1.1
   InterServer 1.50 and InterBase 5.x

InterServer 1.50 has been tested with
   Windows 95/98 and NT 4.0
   Solaris 2.5.x
   HP-UX 10.x

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How to Obtain InterClient Updates

Periodic revisions are made available on the InterBase web site
at http://www.interbase.com.

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Configuration 

  On both Windows and Unix, the following 
  entry must appear in the services file.

            interserver 3060/tcp

  The TCP/IP services file was modified as a part of the 
  installation.  You can add the above line manually if you
  decided not to have setup make the modifications for you.

  The services file can be located as follows:
   *  Windows NT         <WINDOWS_DIR>\system32\drivers\etc\services
   *  Windows 95/98      <WINDOWS_DIR>\services
   *  Unix               /etc/services or an NIS services map
		
  For Unix only, an entry in the /etc/inetd.conf file is also required:

    interserver stream tcp nowait root /usr/interclient/bin/interserver interserver

  The CLASSPATH environment variable should be updated to include
          <INSTALL_DIR>\interclient.jar

  These configurations should be performed automatically by the
  Windows install program.  The class path configuration for 
  Unix must be performed manually.

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Testing Your Configuration

  See the Troubleshooting section of the InterClient Help html for 
  detailed instructions on testing your machine configuration for
  running InterClient applications using 

    java interbase.interclient.utils.CommDiag

  and for instructions on testing your applet configuration using

    CommDiag.html

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