Discussion:
Access to VFP .dbf files from external programs
(too old to reply)
Mike Cracraft
2004-10-06 12:41:01 UTC
Permalink
I have been asked to find out if VFP .dbf
files can be opened, read, and/or changed from any
products other than VFP, e.g. Access, Excel,
any ODBC tools, etc.

Thanks

Mike
Fred Taylor
2004-10-06 15:14:10 UTC
Permalink
My guess is that there would be other products that can read and modify
them. You'd have to check the documentation of the other products.

Fred
Microsoft Visual FoxPro MVP
Post by Mike Cracraft
I have been asked to find out if VFP .dbf
files can be opened, read, and/or changed from any
products other than VFP, e.g. Access, Excel,
any ODBC tools, etc.
Thanks
Mike
Dan Freeman
2004-10-06 17:06:04 UTC
Permalink
It's a mixed bag.

Any product that can access an ODBC data source can access Fox data from
Version 6 and before. In later versions, new data features were added and
the ODBC driver wasn't updated to accomodate them. The OLEDB provider
supports them, so any product that can use an OLEDB provider can access the
data. If the later dbf's don't use any of the new features, the ODBC driver
will still work.

There are also a plethora of products out there that can read (and write)
DBF files natively. Their "understanding" of new DBF features in later
versions of VFP is hit or miss.

The "legitimate" way to access Fox data from non-Fox apps is through either
the ODBC or OLEDB provider, which work well given the constraints mentioned
above.

Dan
Post by Mike Cracraft
I have been asked to find out if VFP .dbf
files can be opened, read, and/or changed from any
products other than VFP, e.g. Access, Excel,
any ODBC tools, etc.
Thanks
Mike
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