
		------------------------------------
			XBase and DBD::XBase
		------------------------------------

This is the README file for the XBase and DBD::XBase packages for work
with *.dbf files. Please read it if you install this module for the
first time or if there are any problems with the module.


What is this module for:
	Module XBase provides access to XBase (dBase, Fox*) dbf files.
	It also handles memo files (dbt, fpt) and to certain extend
	index files (ndx, ntx, mdx, idx and cdx). The DBD::XBase is
	a database driver for DBI and provides simple SQL interface for
	reading and writing the database files. So this package offers
	two ways of accessing your beloved data in dbf files: XBase.pm
	and DBD::XBase. I recommend using DBD::XBase and only resort
	to XBase.pm if you need something special which is not
	supported by the DBI interface.

	You do not need any other servers/software, these modules
	directly read and write the dbf (and other) files. The main
	goal was to create a parser, mainly to work with data from
	your legacy applications. If you are looking for something
	more powerfull, check real relation database servers, such as
	Oracle, MySQL or PostgreSQL.


How does the code look like:
	The DBI (DBD::XBase) way of doing things is

		use DBI;
		my $dbh = DBI->connect('dbi:XBase:/directory',
			undef, undef, { RaiseError => 1 });
		my $data = $dbh->selectall_arrayref(q!
			select * from table
			!);

	which is the same as would be with any other database.
	Remember, this is only a simple parser, so no joins or
	subselecects are supported.

	If you want to use the base XBase.pm interface, you'd use code
	like

		use XBase;
		my $table = new XBase 'table.dbf';
		my @data = $table->get_record(0);

	The distribution also includes a dbfdump script that prints
	the content of the table in readable form.


Index support:
	The support for ndx/ntx/idx/mdx/cdx index files still needs
	quite a lot of work. It currently allows you to search
	directly to the record you want, using the
	prepare_select_with_index method of the XBase table object.
	But you cannot create the index, nor is the index updated
	when you change the dbf. Check the XBase::Index(3) man page
	and the eg/ directory for how you can help to make it better.

	Recently, support for SDBM index files was added. I hope to
	make it a fully working and reference implementation before
	attacking the world of undocumented mess of XBase index types
	again.


Support, documentation:
	This module is provided in a hope you might find it useful.
	My intent is to support as many variations of formats as
	possible, but I do not have dBase/Fox* and do not plan to
	have, so send me examples of your data files if you feel your
	native XBase engines produce data incompatible with this
	module.

	Man pages for XBase, DBD::XBase, dbfdump, XBase::Index and
	XBase::SDBM are included, examples of little scripts can also
	be found in eg/ directory of the distribution. Read the DBI
	man page for DBI specific issues, and the XBase::FAQ page.


Installation:
	For installation and problem and bug reporting, please read
	the INSTALL file.


If it works for you:
	I'd appreciate any message if you use the module and find it
	usefull -- I'm just curious what tasks people use the module
	for and what they expect from it. You can of course also send
	something more valuable.


Available:
	http://www.adelton.com/perl/DBD-XBase/ and from your favorite
	CPAN site in the authors/id/JANPAZ/ directory.

	Contact the author at jpx dash perl at adelton dot com.


Copyright: (c) 1997--2016 Jan Pazdziora.
	All rights reserved. This package is free software; you can
	redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl
	itself.


