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Convert BTrieve database

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Pietro Santoro

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Feb 10, 2003, 7:06:20 AM2/10/03
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Hi all,

I must convert a old BTrieve database in Access format or SQL Server format.
I have .btr files, not .ddf file and I don't know tables's structure (the
application that use this btrieve tables isn't mine).
How can I convert them?
Can you help me?

Thanks
Pietro


Bill Bach

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Feb 10, 2003, 3:08:14 PM2/10/03
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You already know the drill -- you need to have either DDF's or some information
about the tables structure. See my white paper on ODBC access at
www.goldstarsoftware.com/press.htm for more information. Your only hope is to
find the original developer and get some sort of documentation...
Goldstar Software Inc.
Building on Btrieve(R) for the Future(SM)
Bill Bach
Bill...@goldstarsoftware.com
http://www.goldstarsoftware.com
*** Pervasive.SQL v2000i/v8 Service & Support Classes ***
2003: IL/TX/DC: See our web site for details!

Michael Salem

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Feb 10, 2003, 11:13:16 PM2/10/03
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Pietro Santoro wrote:

> > I have .btr files, not .ddf file and I don't know tables's structure

Bill Bach wrote:

> You already know the drill -- you need to have either DDF's or some information

> about the tables structure...

If you have no other way, you may be able to extract at least some
information by the following:

- Exporting data, or "printing" reports to disc files, using facilities
of the original application.

- Dumping all the table's data in a sequential (but still encoded) format
using BUTIL -SAVE

- Working out the table's structure, preferably from the SAVE file: you
need to establish that the data from record position 300 to 307 is "total
amount", for example, and that it is encoded in a certain way. A useful
tool is to make a single change in one record, then bytewise compare the
old and the new table.

Both of these techniques can extract data from tables that are important
enough to be worth it, but they require much skill and time.

HTH,
--
Michael Salem

Lewis Gardner

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Feb 11, 2003, 10:05:52 AM2/11/03
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http://www.nssdd.com/btsearch.html

BTSearch32 worked quite well for me to do exactly what you need to do. You
will need to be familiar with the data to be successful.

Funny thing. The Btrieve table was almost 700Mb, the resulting text file (csv
to import into Access) was only about 90Mb. Yes I have all the data.

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