You must use the -n command-line switch as a server switch (to name the server). This prevents you from unintentionally connecting to the wrong server.
The server and database names are among the connection parameters that client applications can use when connecting to a database. On Windows, the server name appears on the desktop icon and on the title bar of the server window.
While you can start more than one database, Sybase
strongly recommends that you run only one database on an IQ server. If
you must run multiple databases, start each one on a separate IQ
database server, and on a different port.
If no server name is provided, the default server name is the name of the first database started.
You can name databases by supplying a -n switch following the database file. For example, the following command line starts a database and names it:
start_iq -n MyServer mydb.db -n MyDB
Naming a database lets you use a nickname in place of a file name that may be difficult to remember.
You name the server by supplying a -n switch before the first database file. (The rest of the parameters are added from the default.cfg file.) For example, the following command line starts a server named Cambridge_iqdemo and the iqdemo database on that server:
start_iq -n Cambridge_iqdemo iqdemo.db
Each server name must be unique across the local area network (domain). This prevents you from unintentionally connecting to the wrong server. The host name and port number combination does not uniquely identify the server. Appending a unique identifier to the server name is a useful convention. It is especially important in a multiuser, networked environment where shared memory will be used for local database connections. This convention ensures that all users will be able to connect to the correct database, even when other databases with the same name have been started on other host systems.
To allow Sybase IQ to locate the server no matter what character set is in use, include only seven-bit ASCII (lower page) characters in the server name. For more information on character sets, see Chapter 11, “International Languages and Character Sets”
Specifying a server name lets you start a database server with no database loaded. The following command starts a server named Galt with no database loaded:
start_iq -n Galt -gm 10 -gp 4096
Although you can start a server by relying on the default
server name, it is better to include both the server name and the
database name, and to make the two names different. This approach
helps users distinguish between the server and the databases running
on it. You must specify the server name in order
to start the server without starting a specific database.
For information about starting databases on a running server, see “Starting and stopping databases”.
Server names and database names are case insensitive on Windows, and case sensitive on UNIX.
You should adopt a set of naming conventions for your servers and databases, as well as for all other database objects, that includes a case specification. Enforcing naming conventions can prevent problems for users.
