README
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3 XBase and DBD::XBase
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5
6This is the README file for the XBase and DBD::XBase packages for work
7with *.dbf files. Please read it if you install this module for the
8first time or if there are any problems with the module.
9
10
11What is this module for:
12 Module XBase provides access to XBase (dBase, Fox*) dbf files.
13 It also handles memo files (dbt, fpt) and to certain extend
14 index files (ndx, ntx, mdx, idx and cdx). The DBD::XBase is
15 a database driver for DBI and provides simple SQL interface for
16 reading and writing the database files. So this package offers
17 two ways of accessing your beloved data in dbf files: XBase.pm
18 and DBD::XBase. I recommend using DBD::XBase and only resort
19 to XBase.pm if you need something special which is not
20 supported by the DBI interface.
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22 You do not need any other servers/software, these modules
23 directly read and write the dbf (and other) files. The main
24 goal was to create a parser, mainly to work with data from
25 your legacy applications. If you are looking for something
26 more powerfull, check real relation database servers, such as
27 Oracle, MySQL or PostgreSQL.
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29
30How does the code look like:
31 The DBI (DBD::XBase) way of doing things is
32
33 use DBI;
34 my $dbh = DBI->connect('dbi:XBase:/directory',
35 undef, undef, { RaiseError => 1 });
36 my $data = $dbh->selectall_arrayref(q!
37 select * from table
38 !);
39
40 which is the same as would be with any other database.
41 Remember, this is only a simple parser, so no joins or
42 subselecects are supported.
43
44 If you want to use the base XBase.pm interface, you'd use code
45 like
46
47 use XBase;
48 my $table = new XBase 'table.dbf';
49 my @data = $table->get_record(0);
50
51 The distribution also includes a dbfdump script that prints
52 the content of the table in readable form.
53
54
55Index support:
56 The support for ndx/ntx/idx/mdx/cdx index files still needs
57 quite a lot of work. It currently allows you to search
58 directly to the record you want, using the
59 prepare_select_with_index method of the XBase table object.
60 But you cannot create the index, nor is the index updated
61 when you change the dbf. Check the XBase::Index(3) man page
62 and the eg/ directory for how you can help to make it better.
63
64 Recently, support for SDBM index files was added. I hope to
65 make it a fully working and reference implementation before
66 attacking the world of undocumented mess of XBase index types
67 again.
68
69
70Support, documentation:
71 This module is provided in a hope you might find it useful.
72 My intent is to support as many variations of formats as
73 possible, but I do not have dBase/Fox* and do not plan to
74 have, so send me examples of your data files if you feel your
75 native XBase engines produce data incompatible with this
76 module.
77
78 Man pages for XBase, DBD::XBase, dbfdump, XBase::Index and
79 XBase::SDBM are included, examples of little scripts can also
80 be found in eg/ directory of the distribution. Read the DBI
81 man page for DBI specific issues, and the XBase::FAQ page.
82
83
84Installation:
85 For installation and problem and bug reporting, please read
86 the INSTALL file.
87
88
89If it works for you:
90 I'd appreciate any message if you use the module and find it
91 usefull -- I'm just curious what tasks people use the module
92 for and what they expect from it. You can of course also send
93 something more valuable.
94
95
96Available:
97 http://www.adelton.com/perl/DBD-XBase/ and from your favorite
98 CPAN site in the authors/id/JANPAZ/ directory.
99
100 Contact the author at jpx dash perl at adelton dot com.
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102
103Copyright: (c) 1997--2016 Jan Pazdziora.
104 All rights reserved. This package is free software; you can
105 redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl
106 itself.
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