How to make dbase engine work in LO Base

users
#1

Greetings, gentlemen.

When I try to open dbase data base using LO Base I enter the path to the directory with dbf-files but there's no tables in LO Base? LO Calc opens dbf files but how to open them in
LO Base? Standard connection fails to work.

LO version: 3.4.2
OS: OpenSuse 11.4 64 bit

Best regards, Aleksey.

#2

Am 28.09.2011 22:33, Aleksey wrote:

Greetings, gentlemen.

When I try to open dbase data base using LO Base I enter the path to the directory with dbf-files but there's no tables in LO Base? LO Calc opens dbf files but how to open them in
LO Base? Standard connection fails to work.

LO version: 3.4.2
OS: OpenSuse 11.4 64 bit

Best regards, Aleksey.

Base never opens any files other than the .odb files it creates. You always connect Base to some tabular data source.

Database...

[X] Connect to existing...
Type: <dBase>
Specify the directory (dBase has always been a database in a directory)
[x] Register data source
Save the .odb file

The .odb file is just a configuration file. It does not contain any database data. You may add simple SQL queries to that configuration.

#3

Am 28.09.2011 22:33, Aleksey wrote:

Greetings, gentlemen.

When I try to open dbase data base using LO Base I enter the path to the directory with dbf-files but there's no tables in LO Base? LO Calc opens dbf files but how to open them in
LO Base? Standard connection fails to work.

LO version: 3.4.2
OS: OpenSuse 11.4 64 bit

Best regards, Aleksey.

Base never opens any files other than the .odb files it creates. You always connect Base to some tabular data source.

Database...

[X] Connect to existing...
Type: <dBase>
Specify the directory (dBase has always been a database in a directory)
[x] Register data source
Save the .odb file

The .odb file is just a configuration file. It does not contain any database data. You may add simple SQL queries to that configuration.

#4

Aleksey

Greetings, gentlemen.

When I try to open dbase data base using LO Base I enter the path to the directory with dbf-files but there's no tables in LO Base? LO Calc opens dbf files but how to open them in
LO Base? Standard connection fails to work.

You could open them in Calc and then save them as a spreadsheet. In
Base, select the connect to existing database and scroll down to
spreadsheet. Follow the wizard and should import the file into Base.

#5

Andreas Säger wrote:

Base never opens any files other than the .odb files it creates. You
always connect Base to some tabular data source.

>>Database...
[X] Connect to existing...
Type: <dBase>
Specify the directory (dBase has always been a database in a directory)
[x] Register data source
Save the .odb file

The .odb file is just a configuration file. It does not contain any
database data. You may add simple SQL queries to that configuration.

I described my operation a bit obscure. I have done the mentioned procedure (I mean "Connect to existing database"->"dbase"-> other procedures mentioned above) and after that I
saw a database without any tables. My question: is there anyone who have seen that connection to dbase databases work in LO Base 3.4?

#6

Am 29.09.2011 07:43, Aleksey wrote:

I described my operation a bit obscure. I have done the mentioned procedure (I mean "Connect to existing database"->"dbase"-> other procedures mentioned above) and after that I
saw a database without any tables. My question: is there anyone who have seen that connection to dbase databases work in LO Base 3.4?

You might have another dBase connection already.

- In Writer or Calc hit F4.
- Right-click the "Bibliography"
- Choose "Edit database"

The status bar indicates that this example database is in dBase.
See menu:Edit>Database for more details.

#7

Am 28.09.2011 23:54, planas wrote:

You could open them in Calc and then save them as a spreadsheet. In
Base, select the connect to existing database and scroll down to
spreadsheet. Follow the wizard and should import the file into Base.

When you do that, you sacrify the database. A spreadsheet is not a sufficient replacement.

#8

Am 29.09.2011 07:43, Aleksey wrote:

I described my operation a bit obscure. I have done the mentioned procedure (I mean "Connect to existing database"->"dbase"-> other procedures mentioned above) and after that I
saw a database without any tables. My question: is there anyone who have seen that connection to dbase databases work in LO Base 3.4?

You might have another dBase connection already.

- In Writer or Calc hit F4.
- Right-click the "Bibliography"
- Choose "Edit database"

The status bar indicates that this example database is in dBase.
See menu:Edit>Database for more details.

#9

Am 28.09.2011 23:54, planas wrote:

You could open them in Calc and then save them as a spreadsheet. In
Base, select the connect to existing database and scroll down to
spreadsheet. Follow the wizard and should import the file into Base.

When you do that, you sacrify the database. A spreadsheet is not a sufficient replacement.

#10

Hi Aleksey,

When I try to open dbase data base using LO Base I enter the path to the directory with dbf-files but there's no tables in LO Base? LO Calc opens dbf files but how to open them in
LO Base? Standard connection fails to work.

How are your dBase files named ? This is important otherwise they will
not be recognised by LibO correctly.

Using SQL92 Naming Constraints
Only allows names that use characters that conform to the SQL92 naming
constraints in the data source. All other characters are rejected. Each
name must begin with a lower or upper case letter, or an underline (_).
The remaining characters can be ASCII letters, underlines, and numbers.

Character Set :
Text and dBASE databases are restricted to character sets with a
fixed-size character length, where all characters are encoded with the
same number of bytes.

Alex

#11

Am 29.09.2011 10:13, Alexander Thurgood wrote:

Using SQL92 Naming Constraints

Oh, yes! I recall an additional office specific constraint about file name extensions .dbf vs .DBF. I think it has to be .dbf but not .DBF.

#12

Hello,

Aleksey schrieb:

When I try to open dbase data base using LO Base I enter the
path to the directory with dbf-files but there's no tables in
LO Base? LO Calc opens dbf files but how to open them in LO
Base? Standard connection fails to work.

IIRC I had the same effect. It worked for me (OOo/Linux) if the
Filenames were only in uppercase or lowercase. Try again after
renaming the files.

Stefan

#13

Am 29.09.2011 10:13, Alexander Thurgood wrote:

Using SQL92 Naming Constraints

Oh, yes! I recall an additional office specific constraint about file name extensions .dbf vs .DBF. I think it has to be .dbf but not .DBF.

#14

Hi :slight_smile:
All upper-case looks like "shouting".  If mixed case is a problem then spaces, dots and other characters might also be a problem.  We had a problem with accented characters at one place recently.  Long file-names can sometimes cause problems especially if deep in a sub-sub-sub...folder but mostly that has been cured. 
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#15

Andreas Säger wrote:

Base never opens any files other than the .odb files it creates.
You always connect Base to some tabular data source.

>>Database... [X] Connect to existing... Type: <dBase>
Specify the directory (dBase has always been a database in a
directory) [x] Register data source Save the .odb file

The .odb file is just a configuration file. It does not contain
any database data. You may add simple SQL queries to that
configuration.

...

I described my operation a bit obscure. I have done the mentioned
procedure (I mean "Connect to existing database"->"dbase"-> other
procedures mentioned above) and after that I saw a database without
any tables. My question: is there anyone who have seen that
connection to dbase databases work in LO Base 3.4?

Yes. I have an old version of ACT contact database .dbf files on my
system (linux) and using 3.4.3 I set the directory as instructed by
Andreas, the databases appear in Base, I click on one and all the data
is there. Note that you need to click on the database, then in the view
window click on 'None' and change to 'Document' in order to see the data
in the view window. You can of course also right-click on the database
and select to 'Open', 'Edit', 'Copy', etc.

#16

Andreas Säger wrote:

Am 29.09.2011 10:13, Alexander Thurgood wrote:

Using SQL92 Naming Constraints

Oh, yes! I recall an additional office specific constraint about file
name extensions .dbf vs .DBF. I think it has to be .dbf but not .DBF.

Yes, it's a bit strange. Renaming files from *.DBF to *.dbf makes LO Base work. Is it a bug?

#17

Hi Aleksey,

Yes, it's a bit strange. Renaming files from *.DBF to *.dbf makes LO Base work. Is it a bug?

Well, I suppose that depends on whether you consider 14 year old
behaviour to be a bug ;-)) It has been like this since StarOffice 3.0 as
far as I can remember (and that was a long time ago) !!

You could always file a feature enhancement request with bugzilla. It
might even be considered an easy hack.

Alex

#18

It seems like a bug to me. Filename case should not be an issue
on case-insensitive filesystems. Especially when some
operating systems still 'helpfully' hide the file extension
from you by default.

Chris