dBase Convert r2.0 User Guide
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Features
========

This program enables you to convert files between Psion Series 3/3a Data file
format (.DBF), OPL data file format (.ODB) and dBase III+/IV compatible
database format (.DBF). Psion Series 3 Agenda files can also be converted to
dBase III+/IV files. dBase Convert uses a temporary file on disk to load the
file; the temporary file is created in the directory specified by the TEMP
environment variable. See the documentation of your computer for details on how
to create this environment variable. You will need an AT286 or higher with 640k
RAM or more.



Usage
=====

syntax: conv source[.ext] dest[.ext]

source.ext  : the source data file; if no extension is given, .DBF will be
              added
dest.ext    : the destination file; destination file format is derived from
              the extension
                   add .DBF to convert to a Series 3 data file
                   add .ODB* to convert to an OPL (C) data file
                   add no extension to convert to a dBase file

If the source and destination file names are identical, the source file is
overwritten. The program does not convert memo fields en the conversion of
Agenda files is only possible from Series 3 (not 3a) .AGN to .DBF.

The maximum number of fields dBase Convert can process is 150 per record.

* .ODB files are used on the Psion Organiser II. In fact they are normal ASCII
TAB-delimited files. This means you can use Convert to convert tab-delimited
files between tab-delimited format and the Psion Data format.


Other parameters
----------------

D   ... sets the number of decimal places in a dBase numeric field (used when
    converting numbers between .ODB files and dBase files); reason for this is
    that dBase stores numbers internally as strings, whereas the Series 3
    stores them as 'real' numbers in binary format
T   ... sets the maximum length of string fields in dBase file. If you omit
    the T parameter, the maximum length is set according to the largest string
    in the 'source' field in the S3(a) Data file. This may be necessary
    because of the difference between the structure of a dBase file (fixed
    length records) and Psion Data files (variable length records). For
    example if you have 100 entries in your Series 3 database with a length of
    maximum 30 characters and 1 entry that is 100 characters, the conversion
    utility will take 100 as the field width in dBase, which would be a huge
    waste of space.



Notes
=====

Notes about Psion Data .DBF  dBase .DBF conversion
---------------------------------------------------

The labels from the Series 3/3a database are used as field names for the dBase
file. If there is no label in the Series 3 database, the dBase field is named
#1, #2, etc. During the dBase to Series 3/3a conversion only the names of the
first 32 fields are used, other fields will be unnamed. Remember that a Series
3/3a record is limited to 4096 bytes - keep this in mind when converting from
dBase .DBF to Psion Data format.


Notes about Series 3 .ODB  dBase .DBF conversion
-------------------------------------------------

In .ODB files, fields are not labeled. This means that when converting from
.ODB to dBase .DBF, the field names in the dBase .DBF file will be #1, #2,
etc. When converting from dBase .DBF to .ODB files,  field names are ignored.

Field type   in DBF                         in ODB
             char                           string
             numeric, no decimal places     integer, long integer (*)
             numeric, > 0 decimal places    double

(*) ...if the number has less than 6 digits, it is converted to an integer.
Otherwise the program will check the maximum value in this field and set the
field type to integer or long integer (integer if  all numbers are in the
range from -32768 to 32767 and long integer if not).


Notes about Series 3 .AGN  dBase .DBF conversion
------------------------------------------------

You can only convert Series 3 .AGN files to dBase files. Both the S3a agenda
as the conversion from dBase files to Series 3 agenda files are not supported.
Field names in the dBase files are set to date, time, priority, repeat and
note, all of which are string fields.



Examples
========

Suppose that the file s3.dbf is a (Psion) Data file and that dbase.dbf is a
dBase file.

conv s3.dbf s3pc t=60       convert from Psion .DBF to dBase .DBF with 60
                            characters maximum length
conv dbase.dbf s3dbf.dbf    convert from dBase .DBF to Psion .DBF
conv data.odb data d=3      convert from Psion .ODB to dBase .DBF with
                            maximal decimal length 3