Re: [libreoffice-users] Re: QUESTION: Base and recognised 'xbase' file formats

On 19/02/11 12:40, Andreas Säger wrote:
> Base supports one single type of file which is *.odb.
> You never "open" any database in Base. A database may have gigabytes.
> You connect databases to a database document, some driver requests data
> snippets (row sets) from the external database and shows the requested
> data in the user interface. Even the native type of database works like
> this since the contained database gets extracted into a temporary
> directory before any content is delivered by a database driver to the
> Base GUI.
> dBase always used to be a database in a directory. Thus you connect a
> new Base document to a directory which contains *.dbf files.
> In Writer or Calc hit F4, right-click the example database
> "Bibliography" and choose "Edit database file". This loads an odb
> document. Look at the status bar. It shows the connection type "dBase"
> together with the location of the connected dBase directory.
> No matter what file you open in Base, it will always be the odb
> container format.
Andreas,

Thanks for the overview, but you did not answer the question.

Although Base sees these external objects and shows you them in the GUI 
interface, it does not mean it will access the tables correctly.

I presume the object show in the GUI interface is a link to the external 
tables. In my case dbase tables in a directory.

What I want to know is what can Base actually talk with? dBaseIII files, 
dBase IV files, Foxpro files, Clipper files, etc. All have the DBF 
extension and similar structure although vary in allowable field types, 
header flags and index structure.

I have searched the web and few packages provide complete compatability 
with the DBF format. At best Dbase III and Visual Foxpro v6 files are 
accessible with the python package 'dbf'. How then is Base able to show
some of my Visual Foxpro 9 tables?

So back to my original question, what file types can Base actually 
access and manipulate, and how?

--
Cheers Simon

   Simon Cropper
   Principal Consultant
   Botanicus Australia Pty Ltd
   PO Box 160, Sunshine, VIC
   W: www.botanicusaustralia.com.au

--
Unsubscribe instructions: E-mail to users+help@libreoffice.org
List archive: http://listarchives.libreoffice.org/www/users/
*** All posts to this list are publicly archived for eternity ***