in reply to Re^4: Problem with DBI, DBD::XBase
in thread Problem with DBI, DBD::XBase

Hi Holger,

There is a utility included in DBD::XBase named dbfdump that might be used as validator. You can use it to post here the result from the following command: 

dbfdump --info file.dbf

[download]

It can be used also to dump the contents of the database. Also Excel or Open/Libre Office can open DBFs (if you didn't know already).

Regards, Stefan

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Re^6: Problem with DBI, DBD::XBase
by hgtmp (Initiate) on Jan 24, 2013 at 15:06 UTC
    Hi Stefan.
    Many thanks for your help.
    Here is what I get with dbfdump:

    dbfdump --info EEV_DET_BATCHRUN_1~MAIN.DBF
    Filename: EEV_DET_BATCHRUN_1~MAIN.DBF
    Version: 0x30 (ver. 5 (FoxPro))
    Num of records: 67
    Header length: 1000
    Record length: 214
    Last change: 2013/1/23
    Num fields: 22
    Field info:
    Num Name Type Len Decima
    1. PRODUCT C 8 0
    2. PURPOSE C 8 0
    3. GROUP C 50 0
    4. DISC_RATE N 6 2
    5. TIME C 10 0
    6. PERIOD C 15 0
    7. T_FROM N 5 0
    8. T_TO N 5 0
    9. CAL_MONTH B 8 6
    10. CAL_YEAR B 8 6
    11. CONTROL_CA B 8 6
    12. FINALISE B 8 6
    13. INITIALISE B 8 6
    14. INIT_NB_MP B 8 6
    15. PASS_DOWN_ B 8 6
    16. PROJ_MONTH B 8 6
    17. PROJ_YEAR B 8 6
    18. STARTUP B 8 6
    19. TCWP B 8 6
    20. WRITE_CRED B 8 6
    21. W_FORT_FLV B 8 6
    22. _NULLFLAGS 0 2 0

    Let me please recapitulate:
    I have a problem with the field CAL_YEAR.
    With Excel I get the years like 2012, 2013 etc.
    but with DBD::XBase I get decimal numbers.

    Regards, Holger
[reply]

      Hi Holger,

      I see you have 'B' (binary?) type for many fields, I'm not familiar with this type, but the year and month data type should be integer or numeric with 0 decimal places - N(4,0) for example.

      Regards, Stefan

      Update: Table with the official list of column types supported by the module:

      use strict;
use warnings;
use DBI;

my $dbf_dir = '.';
my $table   = 'test_types';

my $dbh = DBI->connect("DBI:XBase:$dbf_dir") or die $DBI::errstr;

my $def =<<"STR";
CREATE TABLE $table (
    str_1 CHAR,
    num_1 NUMERIC(8,2),
    num_2 INTEGER,
    num_3 FLOAT,
    bol_1 BOOLEAN,
    blb_1 BLOB,
    blb_2 MEMO,
    dat_1 DATE,
    tim_1 TIME,
    dat_2 DATETIME
)
STR

unlink "test_types.dbf", "test_types.dbt";

$dbh->do($def);

      [download]

      Update2: Interesting, the other interface (non DBD) XBase can make B type columns, but the length is 10 and decimal places 0, ignoring the parameters:

      use strict;
use warnings;

use XBase;

my $newtable = XBase->create(
    "name"           => "with_b.dbf",
    "field_names"    => [ "ID", "MSG", "BIN" ],
    "field_types"    => [ "N",  "C",   "B"   ],
    "field_lengths"  => [  6,    40,    18    ],
    "field_decimals" => [  0,   undef,  2    ]
) or die XBase->errstr;

      [download]

      So, my guess is that B(8,6) is a erroneous type.

      Update3: 'B' = Type Double :)

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