Conversion

[Chris]

I recently purchased a new PC and have lost all my old software. I
have only 4 (four) files that need to be converted so that I may be
able to view them in a MS-Office product. Can anybody please help?
They were orginally Symantec Touchbase Database ( Q & A ) files.
Thank You.

[John Dow]

On 28 Aug 1998 18:03:09 GMT, Chris wrote:

:>I recently purchased a new PC and have lost all my old software. I

There is a free program which extracts data into a comma delimited file. The
program is QEXTRACT and is from Symantec.

You can get it from them (I don't know the exact url) but you can also get it from
my site, www.johntdow.com. Go to where the demos are and you'll find it.

I have a program that will extract the data, but it does a better job. QEXTRACT
frequently misses several records. It may extract several files with varying number
of fields in the records. If QEXTRACT doesn't do what you want, take a look at my
DTFDATA program. There is a free demo you can download.

John
John T. Dow j...@pgh.net www.johntdow.com

[Lance Jacobs [Symantec]]

>I recently purchased a new PC and have lost all my old software. I
>have only 4 (four) files that need to be converted so that I may be
>able to view them in a MS-Office product. Can anybody please help?
>They were orginally Symantec Touchbase Database ( Q & A ) files.

Chris:

The free QEXTRACT program that John mentions for converting Q&A databases
can be downloaded from this web page:

http://www.symantec.com/techsupp/files/qa/qa_version_4x_for_dos.html

The file name to download is QEXTRA.EXE When you run it, it will unzip the
utility, as well as text file containing documentation on how to use it.

QEXTRACT will convert your data to standard comma delimited ASCII format.
Either Access 97 or Excel 97 can easily import such a file.

If you look in HELP in Access 97, check out IMPORT DATA, then under that
IMPORTING DATA, and then TRANSFER TEXT ACTION. The screen that comes up
will contain help on how to import text files like this into Access. When
Access asks you if the file contains the field names, choose the NO option
on that, as Q&A does not export these with the data.

Best regards,

Lance Jacobs Senior Product Support Analyst [Symantec Corp.]

Please continue to post your messages to the public discussion groups as
Symantec does not provide support via private e-mail. If you have
difficulty getting a response or using our online support services, please
read the following article:

http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/sharedtech.nsf/docid/1998527114414

For Knowledge Base support articles, File Libraries, and FAQs, visit our
Q&A support page:

http://www.symantec.com/techsupp/qa.html

[Michael Cohen]

> Chris:
>
> The free QEXTRACT program that John mentions for converting Q&A databases
> can be downloaded from this web page:
>
> http://www.symantec.com/techsupp/files/qa/qa_version_4x_for_dos.html
>
> The file name to download is QEXTRA.EXE When you run it, it will unzip the
> utility, as well as text file containing documentation on how to use it.
>
> QEXTRACT will convert your data to standard comma delimited ASCII format.
> Either Access 97 or Excel 97 can easily import such a file.
>
> If you look in HELP in Access 97, check out IMPORT DATA, then under that
> IMPORTING DATA, and then TRANSFER TEXT ACTION. The screen that comes up
> will contain help on how to import text files like this into Access. When
> Access asks you if the file contains the field names, choose the NO option
> on that, as Q&A does not export these with the data.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Lance Jacobs Senior Product Support Analyst [Symantec Corp.]

Dear Lance:
We are currently using Q&A 4.0 for DOS on a Windows95 network. It's
the last DOS program we're using, but I haven't been able to bite the
bullet to re-enter the years of data we have. If we change over to
Q&A for Windows or another Windows database, will the above utility
convert our DOS files for use with the new program? If not, any
suggestions on how to make the changeover?

Thanks,
Michael Cohen

[John Dow]

:>We are currently using Q&A 4.0 for DOS on a Windows95 network. It's

:>the last DOS program we're using, but I haven't been able to bite the
:>bullet to re-enter the years of data we have. If we change over to
:>Q&A for Windows or another Windows database, will the above utility
:>convert our DOS files for use with the new program? If not, any
:>suggestions on how to make the changeover?
:>
:>Thanks,
:>Michael Cohen

I'm not Lance but I've an interest in answering your question.

If you convert to Q&A Windows, you do not have to convert your database as Q&A
Windows uses the same files (the DTF and IDX).

With Q&A Windows you can continue to use the database as a DOS database, but you
can add up to 300 Windows forms, with colors, graphics, buttons, scripts, to
enhance the databases significantly.

Also, I have written a program that further enhances what Q&A Windows can do. It
adds the ability to manage multiple databases, have a customized menu, have macros,
do popup listboxes, and so forth. You can download a free demo from my website,
but I suspect you don't yet have Q&A Windows, in which case you can read about the
program and see screen images. Go to www.johntdow.com.

Of course, Q&A Windows is only an inexpensive way of getting some more life out of
your databases. At some point you will want to convert to something else. You can
do it now or you might decide another year or so down the road is fine too.