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<TITLE>The Answer Guy 30: Dreaming about xBase tools for Linux</TITLE>
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<!--endcut ========================================================= -->
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<H4>"Linux Gazette...<I>making Linux just a little more fun!</I>"
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</H4>
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<P> <hr> <P>
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<H1 align="center"><A NAME="answer">
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<img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif" alt="" border="0" align="middle">
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<a href="./index.html">The Answer Guy</a>
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<img src="../gx/dennis/bbubble.gif" alt="" border="0" align="middle">
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</A></H1> <BR>
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<H4 align="center">By James T. Dennis,
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<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com">linux-questions-only@ssc.com</a><BR>
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Starshine Technical Services,
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<A HREF="http://www.starshine.org/">http://www.starshine.org/</A> </H4>
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<p><hr><p>
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<H3><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" alt="(?)" width="50" height="28"
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align="left" border="0">Dreaming about xBase tools for Linux</H3>
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<p><strong>From Michael "Mookie" Kepler on the
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<A HREF="http://www.ch4549.org/lust/lusthome.html">L.U.S.T</A> List
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on 04 Jun 1998
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<!-- begin body -->
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<br><br>
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<em><font color="#003366">Is there a FoxPlus program for Linux ?
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When I use the SCO FoxPlus on Linux with <TT>iBCS</TT> module running,
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it can not read the data files.
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<br><br>
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Thanks,
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<br>Jyh-shing Chen
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</font></em>
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<br><br> Michael "Mookie" Kepler
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<br><br>Ha! Dream on! I'm decloaking and posting just because I'm
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glad to meet another living dinosaur. I, too, have too much
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experience with and an irrational attachment to FoxPlus.
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</strong></p>
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<blockquote><img src="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif"width="50" height="28" alt="(!)"
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align="left" border="0">
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I presume Fox-Plus is an xBase product related or
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similar to FoxPro. If so you might look at WorkGroup
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Solutions "Flagship"
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(<A HREF="http://www.wgs.com/fsad.html">http://www.wgs.com/fsad.html</A>).
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<br><br>
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This is a full dBase compatible system, and xBase
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compiler. (Actually I think it does a "compile to
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C" --- then you'd use <TT>gcc</TT> to actually produce your
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binaries. That makes it more portable I suppose).
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<br><br>
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You could also look at Christopher B. Browne's
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incredible annotated link farm of Linux business and
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productivity applications:
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<blockquote><code><A HREF="http://www.hex.net/~cbbrowne/"
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>http://www.hex.net/~cbbrowne/</A>
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</code></blockquote>
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... which has a page specifically one xBase dbms packages
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for Linux at: <A HREF="http://www.ntlug.org/~cbbrowne/rdbms05.html"
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><TT>http://www.ntlug.org/~cbbrowne/rdbms05.html</TT></A>
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<br><br>
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Oddly enough Christopher doesn't mention
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<A HREF="http://www.versasoft.com/">Versasoft</A>'s dbMan
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(dbMan IV or dbMan 5.x). Perhaps the product has been
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discontinued. I couldn't find any URL for it though there
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are a number of references. I just guessed at "versasoft.com"
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and glanced at their web site, which only mentions one
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product (VersaTOOLS; a FoxPro add-on?). I've blind-copied
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the one e-mail address listed thereon, so that he can
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respond with any info on the fate of dbMan, if he feels so
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inclined.
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<br><br>
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So in answer to your question:
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<br><br>
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Yes! Dream on! There are dbms apps for Linux,
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and you DON'T have to use SQL.
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<br><br>
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(Also, if you ever want to work with a dbms package that's
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less like "DOS" and xBase, nothing like SQL and more like Unix
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shell script programming, look at Revolutionary Software's
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package: <A HREF="http://www.rdb.com/"><TT>/rdb</TT></A> -- they have a
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Linux version. Apparently this <TT>/rdb</TT> is related to Rand/Hobbs
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RDB -- <A HREF="http://www.ntlug.org/~cbbrowne/rdbms07.html"
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>Christopher's pages</A> talk about this a little bit.
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</blockquote>
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<p><strong><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif"width="50" height="28" alt="(?)"
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align="left" border="0">
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I made my living pushing the limits of Sco FoxPlus for five
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years, starting in 1989, making it do things it was never
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meant to do. It is frustrating that so many people think
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that SQL and Relational are synonyms, and that Relational
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and XBase are mutually exclusive. Every database application
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I created with FoxPlus conformed to the Relational data
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model. There is nothing in FoxPlus to prevent this.
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<br><br>
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Please let me know if you find anything FoxPlus-esque that
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works under Linux. I've been looking myself and have found
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nothing comparable. If they would just release the source
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code, we could get somewhere. Whenever I encounter a trivial
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programming task, especially ones involving tabular data, I
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always think of how much quicker and easier it would be to
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turn it out in FoxPlus than 'C', or _<EM>shudder</EM>_ PlSql (yuck!).
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</strong></p>
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<p><hr width="40%" align="center"></p>
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<p><strong><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif"width="50" height="28" alt="(?)"
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align="left" border="0">From Thomas Good on the L.U.S.T List on 5 Jun 1998
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<BR><BR>
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Jim - I have the opposite problem. I want to lose foxpro in favour
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of SQL. I run an odd mix of dbs including Postgres, Progress and FoxPro.
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The foxpro is sitting on a dos box and is need of extinction. It is
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(obviously) single user and so the person who sits on the box has to do
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all of the data input and answer the phone - doing queries as requested.
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<br><br>
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I am moving her data onto a linux box and I want to shift the code from
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foxpro to SQL. Any converters out there? Front end is not too important
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as I will use <TT>perl</TT> (5 with DBI 0.91 and DBD-Pg 0.69). I just need to
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rework the existing queries...thanks!
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<br><br>
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Tom
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<br><br>
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----------- Sisters of Charity Medical Center ----------
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<br> Department of Psychiatry
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<br>Thomas Good, System Administrator
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<br>North Richmond CMHC/Residential Services
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</p></strong>
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<blockquote><img src="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif"width="50" height="28" alt="(!)"
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align="left" border="0">
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Look at Christopher's web pages (I cited it in my
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longer message but it's at: <A HREF="http://www.hex.net/~cbbrowne/"
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>http://www.hex.net/~cbbrowne/</A>)
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<br><br>
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Specifically he lists a some conversion utilities and
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.DBF libraries at: <A HREF="http://www.ntlug.org/~cbbrowne/rdbms05.html"
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>http://www.ntlug.org/~cbbrowne/rdbms05.html</A>
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<br><br>
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Also don't forget to check the LSM (Linux Software Map).
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Here's a couple of entries from there (not listed on CBB's
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pages):
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<pre>
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.......
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Title: Light DBF client/server dbms (LDBF)
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Version: 0.9.9 beta
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Entered-date: 17NOV95
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Description: This is client/server dbms that operate with
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DBF files and compatible with Foxpro CDX indexes.
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Clients connecting with server via TCP/IP
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and works with databases as on local machine.
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Supports transactions,multi-user operation,
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stored procedures,triggers,
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password security,logging all operations,
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flexible configuration.Implemented main suite of
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xBase operators.
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Includes DLL of LDBF API for Windows.
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Keywords: LDBF,ldbf
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Author: vlad@torn.ktts.kharkov.ua (Vlad Seriakov)
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Maintained-by: vlad@torn.ktts.kharkov.ua
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Primary-site: sunsite.unc.edu (<A HREF="ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/Incoming/">/pub/Linux/Incoming</A>)
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707 Kb ldbf-0.9.9.tar.gz
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930 b ldbf.lsm
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Alternate-site: ftp.kiae.su ( <A HREF="ftp://ftp.kiae.su/linux/misc/">/linux/misc</A> )
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Original-site:
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Platforms: Linux 1.2.0 or later with IPC support
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Copying-policy: Freeware
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.......
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Title: dbview
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Version: 1.0.0
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Entered-date: 20APR96
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Description: dbview is a little tool that will display dBase III and
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IV files. You can also use it to convert your old .dbf
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files for further use with Unix.
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Keywords: database dbase view convert
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Author: joey@infodrom.north.de (Martin Schulze)
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Maintained-by: joey@infodrom.north.de (Martin Schulze)
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Primary-site: sunsite.unc.edu <A HREF="ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/apps/databases/">/pub/Linux/apps/databases</A>
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10kB dbview-1.0.0.tar.gz
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Original-site: ftp.infodrom.north.de <A HREF="ftp://ftp.infodrom.north.de/pub/Linux/Devel/dbview/">/pub/Linux/Devel/dbview</A>
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10kB dbview-1.0.0.tar.gz
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Copying-policy: GPL
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.......
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Title: libdbf
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Version: 1.4
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Description: Tools for manipulating dBase files
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Keywords: unix dbase
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Author: beacker@sgi.com
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Maintained-by: Nobody to my knowledge
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Primary-site: Wherever you put it.
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Original-site: news::comp.sources.misc
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Platforms: Unix (This copy linuxified)
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Copying-policy: No commercial use, no charging for distribution (see README).
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Entered-date: 01JAN96
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</pre>
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<br><br>
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Those were all found just using the "dbf" search string
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on a local copy of the LSM (just a text file I keep around
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since I do so much Linux support work).
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<br><br>
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There's are several Linux Software Map search engines
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and searchable Linux Software Database sites out on the
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web. I don't even have a "favorite" one any more.
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<br><br>
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Try:
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<dl><dt>Linux Search Database
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<dd><A HREF="http://www.egypt.pca.net/LSDB/lynx.html"
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><TT>http://www.egypt.pca.net/LSDB/lynx.html</TT></A>
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</dl>
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... which found this one:
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<br><pre>
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Title: AppGEN
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Version: 0.2 alpha
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Entered Date: 11JUL96
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Description: Database application generator and 4GL for Postgres95 and
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HTTPD. DBase DBF file to SQL Convertor.
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Key Words: Application Generator 4GL SQL Web WWW Forms Postgres95 DBF
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Author: Andrew Whaley
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Primary Site: sunsite.unc.edu <A HREF="ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/apps/databases/postgres/">/pub/Linux/apps/databases/postgres</A>
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appgen-0.2-alpha.tar.gz
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Alternate Site: GPL'ish End
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</pre>
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<br><br>
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... or try:
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<dl><dt>Linux Links (by Goob!) at:
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<dd><A HREF="http://www.croftj.net/~goob/"
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><TT>http://www.croftj.net/~goob/</TT></A>
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</dl>
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(The search engine is not too hot, but the hierarchy of
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links is <EM>great</EM>). There is a reference there to a
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semi-free package called X2c (the portable xBase compiler).
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X2c seems to have some features for creating binary CGI
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interfaces to your DBF databases. Which might be an alternative
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to converting it to SQL, if you aren't worried about some
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of the concurrency and integrity and business rules enforcement
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that are associated with SQL --- or even if you just need a
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quick interim solution to use while you're doing the xBase to
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SQL port.
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<br><br>
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Another place to check into is:
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<dl><dt>The #LinuxOS Webpage: Linux Software Search Engines and Indices
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<dd><A HREF="http://www.linuxos.org/Lsoftsearch.html"
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><TT>http://www.linuxos.org/Lsoftsearch.html</TT></A>
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</dl>
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As the name suggests that site is maintained by principals
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of the #LinuxOS IRC channel on EFNet and it contains a list
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of Linux link farms, search engines and indices (what a
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surprise!).
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<br><br>
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So, I'd say there's plenty of places to look.
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</blockquote>
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<p><hr width="40%" align="center"></p>
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<p><strong><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
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alt="(?)" border="0">From Michael Kepler on the
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L.U.S.T List on 5 Jun 1998
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<!-- begin body -->
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<br><br>
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I'd just like to thank you (Jim Dennis) for your very comprehensive and
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helpful responses to the XBase question. I had no idea there were so
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many database options available for Linux. I joined this conversation
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out of idle personal interest, but now I think I see some possibilities
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for solutions for current needs we have at our company.
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<br><br>
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Thanks again,
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<br><br>
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Michael Kepler
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<br>VP Systems Development
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<br>Metro One Telecommunications
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</p></strong>
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<!-- end body -->
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<!--================================================================-->
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<P> <hr> <P>
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<H5 align="center"><a href="http://www.linuxgazette.com/copying.html"
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>Copyright ©</a> 1998, James T. Dennis <BR>
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Published in <I>Linux Gazette</I> Issue 30 July 1998</H5>
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<P> <hr> <P>
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<table width="98%"><tr valign="center" align="center">
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<td rowspan="3"><A HREF="./lg_answer30.html"><IMG
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