dBASE
DBASE was the first widely -used file-based database application, specifically a database management system (DBMS ) for microcomputers, which was originally developed and marketed by the company Ashton- Tate for the operating system CP / M. Later, the database application has been ported to the IBM PC under DOS.
The basic idea of the dBASE system, the tables in a database specifically structured to keep files ( Database Files = DBF) and provide a 4GL language for processing.
- 5.1 beginnings
- 5.2 dBASE II
- 5.3 dBASE III (PLUS)
- 5.4 dBASE IV
- 5.5 Borland dBASE
- DBASE 5.6 for Windows
- 5.7 dBASE Plus
The xBase standard
With its syntax and dBASE data structure has created a de facto standard, the have taken a number of companies for similar systems. The group of dBASE -compatible software products is often summarized by the term xBase.
Under DOS, dBASE many years was one of the best selling software title. Its market significance subsided only when it did not succeed fast enough to optimize dBase for Microsoft Windows. In place of dBase were first systems like Paradox, FoxPro (now Visual FoxPro by Microsoft), Xbase and Vulcan.NET that have preserved the compatibility to the dBase data structures.
In 1991, the software company Ashton- Tate was bought by the then just very successful company Borland in order to compete with Microsoft. Borland did not succeed, however, to maintain its market share. The rights to the product line dBase were sold to the dBASE Inc. 1999.
Instead, began at this time of the rise of the Office products on Windows from Microsoft that could process in addition to the proprietary formats and dBase files. In particular, Microsoft Access was unable to use dBASE files. Also Visual Basic for Windows possessed additional software drivers for dBASE files.
In recent years, database management systems, such as Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server or PostgreSQL or MySQL can be used for new database applications in client-server systems that meet the ACID properties and of the limitations of the dBASE data structures and concepts have solved file-based database systems.
Source code and compiler for dBase
For the success of dBase even BASIC-like source texts were responsible, that were created and executed in dBase and which enabled the automation of data processing beyond the purely interactive mode addition in the first place. The company Nantucket Corporation was distinguished by the then popular compiler " Clipper " who could compile independently executable programs from dBase source code. With this and similar compilers from other manufacturers also access to other database systems and on mainframes using SQL via so-called database drivers were possible. Ashton- Tate himself brought out a compiler only for the version of dBase IV.
The success of dBASE
The many competing and complementary software systems that worked well with dBASE files that initially hardly networked PC as well as the easy -to-learn programming language integrated are responsible for the great success of dBASE.
With the integration of capabilities for databases in the network such as the Novell NetWare that allowed disabling of individual data sets, dBASE IV was the leader among file-based database systems. During this time, especially PPC systems were database-based business applications developed primarily with dBase and Clipper.
Programs that used dBASE files were found almost everywhere on PCs. Due to the interpreter concept, the applications were slower than natively developed programs so that dBASE was hardly used for computationally intensive numerical calculations. It also lacked dBASE long on a powerful graphical interface.
With the former market position of dBASE on non-networked PCs would be comparable from today's perspective, most likely Microsoft Access when VBA applications and many programs that are now developed with Visual Basic and C #, instead, would also be implemented with Access.
Terms of dBASE today
DBASE was as a purely file-based database system designed and was initially able to work efficiently only with the proper file format. On networks and multiuser environments, file-based database systems are inferior to the more powerful client - server model. A typical problem are competing write access to a record. A really useful universal display interface for dBASE on PCs, there was only under dBASE for Windows.
DBASE files and programs are now considered technically outdated, although the dBASE file format is often still used as a data exchange format for small databases. But here are more modern concepts such as XML already state of the art.
The migration of existing dBASE programs under MS -DOS on Windows is possible in principle, but was rarely implemented in practice, as the requirements for the user interface of DOS and Windows are very different in some areas.
Geographic Information Systems
DBASE III is no longer relevant today in the database market. Only in the area of geographic information systems (GIS ) is found in the model developed by ESRI Shape format use. ESRI has been the introduction of the file format in 1998 for a dBase III table decided (*. Dbf file), which serves as internal attributes file. The Shape format has now developed into a de facto standard for data exchange of vector data.
History
The story of dBASE dates back to the 1960s. The then ruling system was RETRIEVE, which was developed by Tymshare Corporation. RETRIEVE was used by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Finally, the programmer of the project, Jeb Long, was commissioned to develop a customized version. The derivative was baptized JPLDIS (Jet Propulsion Laboratory Display Information System). The code was written in Fortran and was run on the UNIVAC 1108- mainframe computers. From Wayne Ratliff later developed an adapted version called VULCAN (named after the home planet of Mr. Spock ), on which the company became aware of Ashton Tate.
DBASE II
Wayne Ratliff sold the marketing rights to the programming language VULCAN to the company Ashton Tate, which hired him and Jeb Long as a developer. This company VULCAN ported later to CP / M. The marketing product called the dBASE II, to present it as an improved version of a nonexistent original dBASE. Success came very quickly. The database management system was a result, in many other 8-bit computing platforms as dBASE II, including the Apple II version (CP / M Z80 processor card ), ported and distributed.
Wayne Ratliff also programmed a 16 -bit version for IBM PC. In August 1982 dBASE II 2.3 came out. This first version contained many errors that were eventually resolved, so that dBASE II became one of the most successful software applications for PCs. There was also a version for the Atari ST with graphical user interface for GEM.
DBASE III (PLUS)
Had great success Ashton- Tate dBASE III and then with the next version, dBASE III PLUS.
In the second half of the 1980s Ashton- Tate reached with these two versions in the Federal Republic of Germany and the neighboring countries a market share of 67% by PC database systems. These two versions were further supported by the so-called Clipper, the dBASE compiler of Nantucket Corporation, the developer for clients in the dBASE source code files (*. PRG) directly executable EXE files could generate that ran very fast under DOS and the use allowed, without the customer dBASE or the required runtime module had to buy. Furthermore, so had to be given to the outside no source code.
With the advent of PC network software such as Novell NetWare dBASE III PLUS has been enhanced in the range of commands to network commands such as LOCK / UNLOCK RECORD to be multi-user. New Clipper versions supported these commands also.
The success also contributed to dBASE defined interfaces had to then Office programs such as Lotus 1-2-3 and Microsoft Word, which allowed for the developer to transfer data in both directions.
DBASE III was ( as already dBASE II and other successful standard software ) cloned by the East German Robotron company and sold in the GDR under the name Redabas.
The main competitor of Ashton- Tate was Borland with its database system PARADOX, which, however, never reached the market shares of dBASE. All PARADOX databases supported data format dBASE and had defined interfaces to dBASE, to bring about the switch.
In 1986 Ashton- Tate to develop software for the Apple Macintosh. A smaller company that developed business applications, Ann Arbor Softworks was purchased. Here is an office suite with spreadsheet, Full Impact, a word processor called Write Full Professional and a database application with name dBASE Mac was produced.
The project was a failure, only dBASE Mac was retained as an application with a graphical user interface. However, the file transfer to the PC versions was impossible, and the competition with other Mac databases at the expense of dBase Mac.
DBASE IV
The demise of Ashton- Tate dBASE IV began with the release of version appeared hastily in October 1988 in the U.S. first. dBASE IV 1.0 had already embedded SQL and an integrated pre-compiler.
The U.S. version had a lot of mistakes and had significantly struggling with the then applicable 640 -KB memory limit of the industry standards for PCs. Added to this was that even the compiled programs were slower than the uncompiled programs in dBASE III .
The executed presented as an innovation center director for the operation of dBASE IV proved to be a flop because the administrators and secretaries were unable to cope in the company with it. The newly developed report and label generator was hard to use.
With this new product broke Ashton- Tate one on the PC market. From the middle of 1990 dBase IV was offered 1.1 for SCO Unix, and SunOS.
1991 Ashton- Tate was bought by its largest competitor Borland.
Borland dBASE
Borland introduced Borland dBASE dBASE IV as with the releases 1.1, 1.5, and - as a bridge to dBASE for Windows - with the release of dBASE IV 2.0 on. In addition, the in-house dBASE Compiler 1.0 for MS- DOS was developed, the dBASE supported to dBASE IV 2.0.
DBASE 5.0 was released in 1993 again under DOS and Windows. But it could just as his predecessor no longer show off on the market. That in October 1992 brought out by Microsoft Access competing product, which built by the operator forth in dBase was, until 1996, dBase as the market leader for file-based databases displace (Source: PC World July 1996).
DBASE for Windows
Also for Windows Borland introduced with new versions of dBase. The first dBase Windows version about the mid-1990s was called dBase for Windows (V 5.0) and was still for the 16 -bit versions of Windows (specifically Windows 3.x) programmed. For a first porting from DOS to Windows it was done quite well, although performance and stability could not always convince. Then came Visual dBase (V 5.5), also still in 16 - bit technology, followed by 5.7 V under the same name and the first year - 2000 compliant.
The first 32 -bit versions were also offered as a Visual dBase, but under the version number 7.0x and went to V 7.5x.
In the new millennium, after the sale of the rights to the dBase Inc., it was the product under the name dBase 2000 and dB2K with versions 0.1, 0.2, 0.3 and 0.4. Although these version numbers do not necessarily worked to inspire confidence, but the product was very stable. However, a Windows NT or 2000 was a good idea, because on the older Win95/98/ME-Versionen it was a little tough and spent a lot of system resources.
DBASE Plus
From about 2004/2005 in the possession of the company DataBased Intelligence Inc. ( dBi ), which under the name dBASE Plus still used and marketed was. 2012 were the rights to dBASE Plus turn to the newly founded company dBase LLC, which is composed partly of former dBI employees.
DBASE Plus is a powerful database system on Windows and can be run both PRG files directly ( as it used to under DOS means of an interpreter ). , as well as create standalone EXE programs (using the built-in compiler ) Many old xBase commands for managing databases such use, replace, append, etc. work so as decades ago. But also an object-oriented programming is possible.
In June 2011, the version appeared dBASE Plus 2.70. This runs in comparison to their predecessors, more stable under Windows 7 and Windows Vista, in particular the 64 -bit versions, and offers other enhancements improved support User Account Control ( UAC) feature of Windows.
Overall, however, dBASE is today very little known Plus. Some software companies specializing in the development and in particular on the conversion of older dBase / DOS programs on dBase / Windows. The software dBASE itself, however, is far away from the importance they had in the past.