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http://hsqldb-ber.sourceforge.net/HSQLDB-BER hosts the latest versions of all available formats. If you want a different format of the same version of the document you are reading now, then you should try your current distro. If you want the latest version, you should try http://hsqldb-ber.sourceforge.net/HSQLDB-BER.

Sometimes, distributions other than http://hsqldb-ber.sourceforge.net/HSQLDB-BER do not host all available formats. So, if you can't access the format that you want in your current distro, you have no choice but to use the newest version at http://hsqldb-ber.sourceforge.net/HSQLDB-BER.

HSQLDB can be used with Perl via the DBI and DBD::JDBC modules, without this HSQLDB-BER product. You don't need HSQLDB-BER to access a fantastic database (HSQLDB) by coding perl to the DBI API. And, even though the DBD::JDBC documentation implies otherwise, you can even run HSQLDB database instances directly in the DBD::JDBC-supplied proxy server (by just using "mem", "file", or "resource" HSQLDB JDBC URLs). The purpose of HSQLDB-BER is to add the following important features.

HSQLDB is better than any other database for use with DBD::JDBC because there will be no proxying involved. HSQLDB is already known for being the fastest of the fast databases. Whether you use the DBD::JDBC-supplied server or HSQLDB-BER, you can access HSQLDB directly from your perl scripts without the performance and resource cost of a proxy server.

The same HSQLDB JVM can serve the normal "hsql" protocol, the "ber" protocol for Perl clients, "hsqls", "http", "https", etc., all at the same time. This package comes with utilities which make it easy to run any of these combinations and to embed your own Java applications if you wish.

The auto-of-the-box configuration runs one Java JVM that serves both "hsql" JDBC requests, and "ber" perl requests. Client perl code just uses DBI with a resource locator string beginning with ber:hsqldb:. Java client code just uses JDBC with a JDBC URLs beginning with jdbc:hsqldb:hsql:.

This project may be distributed according to the terms of the GNU GPL or the Perl Artistic License, with some portions also being covered by the HSQLDB license. The text of both licenses reside in distributed with HSQLDB-BER in the same directory as this file.

This document you are reading is the primary documentation for HSQLDB-BER. Documentation for the component technologies is not duplcated here. If you want documentation for HSQLDB, the DBD::JDBC or DBI perl modules, or perl programming, see the documentation for that product. See the Resources appendix below. You're better off to go by this document than the README.txt in the doc subdirectory of the HSQLDB-BER distribution, because this is the one that will be maintained most vigorously.