![DatabaseFile connection parameter [DBF]](arrow-left.gif){kind=icon}
![DatabaseSwitches connection parameter [DBS]](arrow-right.gif){kind=icon}
Specifies a loaded database to which a connection needs to be made. Use when connecting to a database that is already running.
To connect to a database that is not already running, use the DatabaseFile (DBF) parameter.
Running network servers
String
There is no default setting.
When a database is started on a server, it is assigned a database name, either by the administrator using the -n option, or by the server using the base of the file name with the extension and path removed.
If the database you want to connect to is already running, you should specify the database name rather than the database file.
A connection will only occur if the name of the running database matches the name that is specified in the DatabaseName (DBN) parameter.
If you specify both the database name and database file,
the database file is ignored and is not used to try to connect to
a database that is already running.
For HTTP connections, see “DatabaseName communication parameter [DBN]”.
To start a database file named cities.db and rename the database Kitchener, you can use the following command:
start_iq cities.db -n Kitchener
Assuming you have run the above command, you can successfully connect to the running database named Kitchener as follows:
DBN=Kitchener
Alternatively, you could use the following to successfully connect to the running database named Kitchener:
DBN=Kitchener;DBF=cities.db
However, specifying the following would fail to connect to the database named Kitchener:
DBF=cities.db
