django-firebird

Firebird database backend for Django.

This package provides a Django database backend for Firebird, supporting versions 2.5, 3.0, 4.0, and 5.0+. It uses the firebird-driver library for connectivity.

Features

Requirements

• Python 3.11+
• Django 5.0, 5.1, or 6.0
• firebird-driver 1.10.0+
• Firebird Server 2.5+

Installation

pip install django-firebird

Configuration

Configure your Django DATABASES setting:

DATABASES = {
    'default': {
        'ENGINE': 'django_firebird',
        'NAME': '/path/to/database.fdb',
        'USER': 'SYSDBA',
        'PASSWORD': 'masterkey',
    }
}

Remote Database

For remote connections, specify HOST and optionally PORT:

DATABASES = {
    'default': {
        'ENGINE': 'django_firebird',
        'NAME': '/path/to/database.fdb',
        'USER': 'SYSDBA',
        'PASSWORD': 'masterkey',
        'HOST': 'localhost',
        'PORT': '3050',
    }
}

Connection Options

DATABASES = {
    'default': {
        'ENGINE': 'django_firebird',
        'NAME': '/path/to/database.fdb',
        'USER': 'SYSDBA',
        'PASSWORD': 'masterkey',
        'OPTIONS': {
            'charset': 'UTF8',
            'fb_client_library': '/usr/lib/libfbclient.so',
        },
    }
}

Timezone Support (Firebird 4.0+)

DATABASES = {
    'default': {
        'ENGINE': 'django_firebird',
        'NAME': '/path/to/database.fdb',
        'USER': 'SYSDBA',
        'PASSWORD': 'masterkey',
        'TIME_ZONE': 'America/New_York',
    }
}

Notes on Django Fields

• AutoField/BigAutoField: Uses Firebird generators (sequences) with triggers
• BooleanField: Uses native BOOLEAN in Firebird 3.0+, SMALLINT in 2.5
• TextField: Uses BLOB SUB_TYPE TEXT
• JSONField: Not supported (Firebird has no native JSON type)
• UUIDField: Uses CHAR(36) storage

Known Limitations

• No JSON support: Firebird does not have a native JSON data type
• No DISTINCT ON: Use other approaches for similar functionality
• Single-row RETURNING: Bulk inserts with RETURNING not supported
• DDL auto-commit: Schema changes cannot be rolled back within a transaction
• Identifier length: 31 characters max in Firebird < 4.0, 63 in 4.0+

Using inspectdb

To inspect an existing Firebird database:

python manage.py inspectdb

For better results with foreign key ordering, use the enhanced command:

python manage.py inspectdb_firebird

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit issues and pull requests.

License

This project is licensed under the BSD-3-Clause License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

• Inspired by django-cockroachdb and mssql-django
• Built on firebird-driver