On 2022-12-27 16:29, Steven via PLUG-discuss wrote:
On 12/25/22 16:58, David Schwartz via PLUG-discuss wrote:
On Dec 25, 2022, at 1:59 PM, Keith Smith via PLUG-discuss
<[email protected]> wrote:
I think someone like David Schwartz has the ability to create a clone
of dBase III.
Perhaps, but I think it’s far wiser to let sleeping dogs lie. :-/
I remember playing with some version of dBase at some point, and I as
I recall, most of what it could do can be done using *nix shell
scripts.
-David Schwartz
Yeah, a few years back in a fit of nostalgia (in combination with a
NaNoWriMo project) I looked around to see if dBase or one of the
classic xBase clones was easily available. I got my first introduction
to dBase as a kid when they started using it for some departmental
records at the hospital where my father worked, so we ended up with a
three inch thick book and a copy on our computer. Later working at the
college computer lab dBase III/IV was one of the bits of software we
had classes for (among Word, Excel, Lotus 123, PowerPoint, Access,
dBase, and typing dBase stood out because it was arguably a programming
class). In the end I decided to leave it as just nostalgia.
And anything that could have been done with dBase can likely be done
with a combination of SQLite and any programming language you wish
including shell scripting. Sqlite might not fit on a 360k floppy, but a
quick search says that even if you turn on all the options you can
still comfortably compile it under a megabyte in size. There's a reason
it's been getting embedded into all sorts of things from programming
languages to applications and operating systems. Even Microsoft has
given in and works with it, which probably has Gates preemptively
spinning in his grave despite not being dead or buried yet. You can
pretty much treat it as the standard lightweight data store these days.
Heck, the Library of Congress has it as a recommendation due to the
open nature of the software (released to the public domain) and
available official documentation of the file format.
SQLite surly looks cool, however I would not call is a replacement for
dBase III. dBase III was very structured and provide the ability to
create forms with widgets.
It looks like SQLite would require some programming and the use of
ncurses or Qt... or maybe some other screen building language. Am I
wrong?
Still it is pretty cool!!
---
Microsoft owns Visual FoxPro ... why not trim that down?
MS also owns MS-Access which is a kludge in my opinion.
Interesting trivia time: a few years back I ran across an article about
how Microsoft was in discussions to include a lightweight version of
dBase as one of the built in applications in Windows, much
Hyperterminal which MS licensed from Hilgraeve. Only it was actually
the Ashton-Tate legal actions against the xBase clone makers that
apparently scuttled the deal as when the lost their courtroom battle to
stop people from selling compatible database software managers at
Microsoft reportedly started asking why they were considering paying
any sort of royalty to Ashton-Tate on every copy of Windows sold no
matter how small it might be.
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