What is it?

[AndyApp]

Erm, what is it? My boss has asked me to look at dbaseIV as we are doing some work with ChiliSoft ASP which apparently doesn't support Access DB but does work with dBase. However I have no idea what the hell it is? what it does? how you create it/them/whatever? how I use it? am currently struggling through the dbase website but any answers would be appreciated.

"Life is like a Ferrari, it goes to fast.
But that's ok, because you can't afford it anyway" - Jim Davis (Garfield)

 

[dbMark]

Though I know nothing of ChiliSoft, I've programmed in dBase since the days of version 2. The DOS versions were 2, 3, 3+, 4, and 5. Later versions were developed as Windows-compatible applications. I still use version 5 for DOS with many legacy applications, and I consider version 5 as the oldest and only version I would for DOS. And that program is already 8 or 9 years old, not obsolete, but mostly used to keep running LAGACY applications.

Frankly, dBase IV must be at least 10 years old. It is quite limited by today's standards since it runs in a DOS enviroment and is totally unaware of other environments in which it may be running, such as Windows. Also it has no support at all except for limited help on sites such as this. Once Microsoft switched to promoting their Windows/GUI software, they have, in my firm belief, refused to make any enhancements or improvements to the DOS environment. (Oh, how I would love for a way to cut-and-paste text between DOS and GUI applications!)

The "DOS" window has been renamed as the "Command Prompt" and now with Windows 2000 and XP that window is not really running native DOS but an emulation or variation of it. (I have one simple program (a file viewer, not dBase) that ran lightning fast in native DOS but on 2000/XP it is literally slower than molassas.

For that reason I'd strongly recommend you reserve DOS programs for maintaining older legacy programs, and if at all possible wite new applications in newer programming environments. Unless you absolutely need the DOS environment for a specific reason, use dBase SE or visual dBase 5.7 available from

http://www.dbase.com/.

Visual FoxPro is also a popular alternative, among others. If ChiliSoft can use DBF tables, you may not need dBase since VFP can also read and write those xBase tables.

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[tviman]

To answer your original question, ERM probably stands for Environmental Resource Management, Employee Resource Management, or Enterprise Resource Management.

Like dbMark, I have no knowledge of ChiliSoft and have been programming dBase since 1983. dBase IV came out in 1986 and suffered from poor beta testing and never really became an industry leader. MS Access seems to be the "database of choice" for the desktop market and as dbMark says, your best bet is to stay away from a DOS based system for any new development.

DBF files can be used with PERL by installing the XBase DBI module. Standard SQL statements are used to read, write, and edit the file. The only thing that you can't do with this type of setup is perform any aggregate functions in the SQL statements.



There's always a better way. The fun is trying to find it!

 

[cfneumann]

dBase II was from 80-85
dBase III was from 85-87
dBase IV was from 88-94


Christopher F. Neumann
[dBASE Charter Member]
Blue Star Visual dBASE graduate
ICCP TCP/IP Network Analyst
Data Communications Engineer

http://cfneumann.us