Hi :) Thanks :)) ^_^ That confirmed what i believed and added some detail i hadn't been aware of at all. I hadn't been at all aware of the dBase 3 part and although that's as clear as mud to me right now it's not something i feel i need to understand any better. It kinda sounds like there is some sort of duplication of functionality that would be a nightmare to unentangle.
My experience of MS's jet-engine was that it kinda worked just fine but i take the point about Murphy's Law wrt back-ups for it - ie the only way to ensure you don't need a back-up is to go to the trouble of making one. Although i did once make a back-up of one at work and needed it right away. Anyway, thanks Garvin and Jonathon for fixing my existential anxiety so quickly ! :)) Thanks and regards from Tom :) On 6 April 2017 at 19:57, toki <toki.kant...@gmail.com> wrote: > On 04/06/2017 05:33 PM, Tom Davies wrote: > > > Errr, sorry my question looks so rude! > > Not rude. More like an exclamation of surprise, such as when the referee > knocks out the football player. > > > wondering if i have been wrong, and giving wrong advice as a result! > > Base works well with most database engines. (I always had issues with > the Jet Database Engine.) > > I was specifically referring to SQLite, which, as far as database > engines goes, manages to break every rule out there, whilst remaining > ACID compliant.) > > > despite an internal one being hastily thrown on years > > I wouldn't say "hastily thrown on". > > There was a fair amount of discussion about which database engine to > use. the major choices were SQLite, and HSqldb. One of the major > objections to using SQLite was the absence of data typing. (I think > that one can say that technically, SQLite does do data typing, and that > it pays more attention to data types today, than it did back in 2000. > However, for all practical purposes, there is no data-typing.) > > > ago in order to downgrade Base to be more like Access? > > I wouldn't call it a downgrade > > The Jet Database Engine, especially back in 2000, was crap. Data > corruption was a given. If you didn't back up the database before you > used it, your data would be trashed, when using it. If you did backup > your data, then it wouldn't be trashed. > > Originally, Base was a front-end UI to connect with any database engine > out there. However, Base didn't provide the front end experience of > dBase 3, or Access. The dBase 3 clone that was built into OOo, had its > own separate front end, independent of Base. As best as I can tell, that > functionality is still present. OTOH, I haven't tried using it since > circa 2007. (^1) > > Users migrating from MSO expected a database engine, to be included in > their office suite. Nobody told them about the dBase 3 clone in OOo. > (Small mercy, because that UI was a disaster area.) Consequently, a > database engine was incorporated into OOo. Then users complained, > because it didn't enable one to create forms, and other things, the way > that MSO does. Somebody wrote a set of macros, that gave LibO, the same > type of form interface as MSO. Somebody else came up with a way to > include those forms, and other things, in the resulting database. > > The net result is that one can create databases with LibO, including > forms, as easily as on MSO. (Actually, I'd say that the resulting forms > are better, because they can export directly to Write, and get > pretty-printed there. I don't remember if one can go straight from form > to PDF, or if one has to go through Write, first.) > > #### > > If one prowls the appropriate part of the OOo and LibO websites --- not > the template section --- one can find examples of Base being used for a > music collection (8 track cassettes, but not records), recipes, and > project management. > > Neither the LibO nor AOo site enable one to select templates > specifically for Base. Using "Base" as a keyword search brings up a > number of unrelated templates. > > ^1: The Bibliography component uses the dBase 3 clone. Now that > virtually all my reference material is digital, I use Calibre to > organize, create, and maintain bibliographies for my creative output. > > jonathon > > -- > To unsubscribe e-mail to: users+unsubscr...@global.libreoffice.org > Problems? http://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/mailing-lists/how-to- > unsubscribe/ > Posting guidelines + more: http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiquette > List archive: http://listarchives.libreoffice.org/global/users/ > All messages sent to this list will be publicly archived and cannot be > deleted > -- To unsubscribe e-mail to: users+unsubscr...@global.libreoffice.org Problems? http://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/mailing-lists/how-to-unsubscribe/ Posting guidelines + more: http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiquette List archive: http://listarchives.libreoffice.org/global/users/ All messages sent to this list will be publicly archived and cannot be deleted