accessing btrieve data through ODBC into Access

[jcaulder]

Hi,

I am trying to link tables from what I think is a btrieve database into MS Access. The tables all have .dat extensions. I downloaded a Pervasive ODBC driver and tried to make the connection but the ODBC was looking for a database of type .ddf which apparently doesn't exist.

So my questions are:

1)What is the quickest, easiest way to determine if a database is pervasive/btrieve?
2)If it is, what tool is available to view the data directly or what ODBC driver is recommended to link the table to Access for viewing(free hopefully)?

Thanks in advance for any information!

 

[mirtheil]

To answer your questions:
1. Probably the quickest way would be to use BUTIL or the Maintenance Utilty. BUTIL is a command line program and an example command to find out of the file is a Btrieve file would be: BUTIL -STAT <filename>. You could also use Btrieve FIle Opener (

http://www.mirtheil.com/fileopen.asp).

2. If the files are Btrieve files, you're going to need DDFs to open them using any ODBC driver. This is the way Pervasive/Btrieve ODBC drivers work. The DDFs describe the structure of the table to the application (in this case, Access). There is information on the Pervasive web site (

http://www.pervasive.com)

or you can check out this page:

http://www.goldstar-sw.com/papers/btrvodbc.htm

info@mirtheil.com
Custom VB and Btrieve development.
Certified Pervasive Developer
Certified Pervasive Technician

 

[jcaulder]

Thanks for the information. I'm not even sure that the files are Btrieve. That is what I'm trying to determine. Apparently they're not because I downloaded the file opener and received the error 'File Not Found wbtrv32.dll' when attempting to scan the directory.

They are .dat and .key extensions. Any ideas on what else they might be? Does the wbtrv32.dll reside on the client machine or the server or does it depend on configuration?

Thanks for the reply!

 

[mirtheil]

The File Opener needs Pervasive/Btrieve to be installed on the machine. You mentioned that you had installed the Pervasive ODBC driver, what exactly did you install?
The WBTRV32.DLL is the Btrieve interface that File Opener uses. It should be in the system path. Be default with newer versions of Btrieve, it's installed into C:\PVSW\BIN.
If you send me one of the .DAT files, I can tell you if it's a Btrieve file.
info@mirtheil.com
Custom VB and Btrieve development.
Certified Pervasive Developer
Certified Pervasive Technician

 

[jcaulder]

I installed 'Pervasive Software ODBC Interface for Windows'. I cannot actually create the ODBC connection since it can't find the *.DDF. I have two databases I am working to determine what they are. On one server, I have found the BUTIL utility so I'm going to use that as you suggested. On the other server, I haven't found anything related to Btrieve. I should know shortly how it works on this server.

Thanks!

 

[jcaulder]

I know this is a silly question but when I run butil -STAT <filename>, it brings up a DOS screen that flashes and goes away before I can interact with it or read it. Is there another switch to get the screen to stay in place?

 

[grnelson]

After you download and install the Pervasive Btrieve drivers from

http://www.pervasive.com

(they have a trial version) then it also installs some utilities. Run the maintenance utility and select to run a Stat report. At that point if it tells you that it is not a btrieve file then it is not. Otherwise if it runs the stat report then it will show you what version your file is. If it is a Btrieve file and you want to create the DDF files then visit

http://www.nssdd.com.

You can download BtSearch32 and it allows you to open your existing Btrieve files and analyze the structure and build the DDF files.
Gil

 

[jcaulder]

Ok, well I read the Goldstar page and it was very informative. As far as I can tell, I don't have access to the various *.ddf files and therefore I'm pretty well out of luck. These are both vendor supported packages and I guess I'll have to leave it to them to support. My goal was to understand the data structure to assist when things break. Guess I'll be limited to calling a support number and waiting for them to fix it.

Thanks for all the information!

 

[jcaulder]

Thanks Gil. Both of these systems are somewhat outdated but yet run in a hospital environment where long downtime cannot be tolerated. For that reason, I am now very hesitant to do anything to the database or server that could in anyway have a negative impact on uptime. I'll just have to leave it to the vendor which is the way they want it I'm sure.

The main reason I was looking at it was because the system was down all weekend because of a corrupted record that caused an interface feed to fail. Waiting on a vendor to respond and fix problems can be quite frustrating. It would be nice to find the problem then tell them where it is and let them fix it quickly. But anyway, back to SQL Server and Oracle. Guess I'll have to leave btrieve to the experts. I can't risk doing anything that may affect the support we receive from the vendor.

Thanks again!