XBase

Description

A fourth generation programming language that started life as the scripting language on the dBase II database software package. The language is not very well structured but extremely compact and well suited to its intended use in databases making it one of the most rapid development languages out there, even modern RAD systems suffer in comparison. But although usable as a generic programming language, as soon as you venture out from the realm of database manipulation you really start to loose the advantages it has to offer.

During the 1980's and into the mid-90's xBase was the primary business language used on microcomputers archiving a dominance similar to what Cobol had on larger systems, with the majority of financial and business admin software for PC's being written in an xBase variant, and the wast bulk of custom business solutions. However even by the late 80's financial applications like accounting packages were moving to Btree database engines due to xBase's complete lack of database and transaction integrity tools and functions.

A list of OS/2 implementations of xBase

• CodeBase - Discontinued - Not a full xBase compatible package but a clipper/dBase compatible database engine/library that could be called from any programming language.
• Harbour - Current - Open source Clipper compatible
• XBase++ - Discontinued - Commercial Clipper compatible system.
• XHarbour - Discontiued - Open source Clipper compatible, a fork of Harbour.

OS/2 software that offers partial dBase compatibility

• Bullet - Discontinued
• IBM Works - Discontinued but shipped as an optional install with OS/2 versions 3 and higher and all eComStation versions.
• Lotus Approach - Discontinued - eComStaion Preview, 1, 1.1 and 1.2 came with LA for free as a part of the Lotus Smartsuite package.

A list of DOS implementations of xBase

• Clipper - Discontinued.
• dBase - Current - One of the last supported DOS database product.
• dBXL - Discontinued.
• FoxBASE+ - Discontinued.
• FoxPro - Discontinued.
• nanoBase - Discontinued - Open Source
• QuickSilver - Discontinued.

Flat file DOS databases that offer partial dBase compatibility

These otherwise flat file DOS databases offered some dBase compatibility, some only file level compatibility with opening and working with .dbf, .dbt and sometimes index files (.ndx and/or .mdx files), others offered minimal screen painting and xbase language compatibility that allowed you to get partial dBase functionality out of the package, usually with a severely limited relational/multi-file functions. In addition most if not all DOS spreadsheets and most OS/2 ones can work with dbf file but offer .dbt and index file compatibility only to a lesser degree or not at all. The main utility of these was that you could edit database tables with much less fuss than with a full development system, and correct table errors in custom applications coded in xBase or dBase that did not allow you to do so and/or were you only have access to the executables, while typically offering more functionality than a mere DBF file editor.

• dBM - Freeware - Discontinued - original name "daily business manager" and not "data base manager" as you might think.
• Little - Discontinued - Was shareware is now freeware
• Lotus Works - Discontinued - Formerly sold as AlphaWorks
• MicroSoft Works - Discontinued.
• PC-File - Discontinued - Partial compatibility with versions 5 and up only - Version 5 is now freeware, later versions are not.
• Spinnaker Better Working Eight-in-One - Discontinued

DBF file viewers and editors

• CDBF - Commercial - Current
• Power Browse - Commercial - Discontinued

DBF file repairers

• Titanic - Shareware

A list of xBase implementations that run under Win-OS/2

• Visual FoxPro

Flat file databases with partial dBase compatibility

These otherwise flat file databases offered some dBase compatibility, some only file level compatibility with opening and working with .dbf, .dbt and sometimes index files (.ndx and/or .mdx files), others offered minimal screen painting and xbase language compatibility that allowed you to get partial dBase functionality out of the package, usually with a severely limited relational/multi-file functions.

• MicroSoft Works for Windows - Discontinued.
• PC-File - Discontinued - Commercial

A list of xBase implementations that run under Java

Note that the xBase name is irritatingly enough also used by the xText project for their ELL lib in the Java world.

• .

DBF/DBT File compatibility libraries and drivers

• DANS DBF Library - Open Source
• HXTT DBF Pure Java JDBC Drivers - Commercial - Current
• JavaDBF - Open source - discontinued - Usage notes
• JDBFDriver - Open Source
• StelsDBF - Commercial - Current
• xBaseJ - Open source - current

Standards

There was some work on creating an xBase standard by the USA IEEE company in 1986 and 7 but that was blocked by Ashton-Tate who threatened a lawsuit. After all claims by Ashton-Tate had been refused in the infamous lawsuit due to the Public Domain status of the Falcon/Vulcan database, an ANSI (US standards authority) committee X3J19 was set up in 1991 to standardise the language. However that failed due to differences between the American and European members on if it should concentrate on just a Clipper/dBase III compatible language or an extended one with subgroups focused on specific domain extensions to the language, resulting in the Europeans leaving the committee en masse in 1995. As all commercial and open source xBase implementations in the latter half of the 90's originated in Europe with the sole exception of the original dBase who by then was seriously diminished force, the ANSI/X3J19 specification died a natural death.

• TEXI The European xBase Institute