DBase
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Software |
| Founded | 1980 |
| Founder | George Tate, Hal Lashlee, C. Wayne Ratliff |
| Fate | Acquired by Borland |
Key people | Hal Pawluk (Marketing Director), Fred Thompson, Jack Hatfield, Jeb Long, C. Wayne Ratliff |
| Products | dBase (dBASE II, dBase III, dBase IV), dBASE PLUS, dbDOS, dbfUtilities |
Number of employees | 500 (1984) |
dBase (sometimes written as dBASE) was one of the pioneering database management systems designed for microcomputers and held a dominant position in the market during its prime. It integrated a fundamental database engine, a query mechanism, a forms engine, and a programming language that unified these elements.
Initially introduced in 1978 as Vulcan for the PTDOS operating system, the CP/M adaptation caught the attention of Ashton-Tate in 1980. They secured licensing rights, rebranded it as dBASE II, and subsequently adapted it for the IBM PC platform running DOS. On personal computers, dBase quickly became one of the best-selling software packages. The significant update, dBase III, broadened compatibility to include UNIX and VMS systems. By the mid-1980s, Ashton-Tate was recognized as one of the top three software publishers alongside Lotus Development and WordPerfect.
From the mid-1980s onward, numerous firms introduced their own versions of dBase and its associated programming language, such as FoxBASE+ (which evolved into FoxPro) and Clipper, collectively referred to as xBase products. Despite many offering enhanced technical features, dBase maintained its market leadership until the release of the poorly received dBase IV, which prompted many users to migrate to alternative solutions.
In the early 1990s, xBase products dominated the landscape of business application databases. Within a short period, key acquisitions reshaped the industry:
- Borland acquired Ashton-Tate
- Microsoft took over Fox Software
- Computer Associates purchased Nantucket, creators of Clipper
By the early 2000s, most original xBase offerings had either diminished significantly or disappeared entirely. The dBase name continues under dBase LLC, which still develops and markets dBASE software products.
Origins
During the late 1960s, Fred Thompson at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) utilized a database product called RETRIEVE, provided by Tymshare, to manage a collection of costly electronic calculators. In 1971, Thompson collaborated with programmer Jack Hatfield to enhance RETRIEVE into a project named JPLDIS, developed in FORTRAN on a UNIVAC 1108 mainframe and publicly showcased in 1973. After Hatfield's departure in 1974, management passed to Jeb Long.
Contractor C. Wayne Ratliff, motivated by his involvement in an office football pool and seeking to analyze post-game statistics via a database system, discovered documentation on JPLDIS. He adapted it for use on his IMSAI 8080 microcomputer running PTDOS, naming this system Vulcan after the home planet from Star Trek.
Ashton-Tate
Entrepreneurs George Tate and Hal Lashlee—founders of early PC software distributors Discount Software and Software Distributors—joined forces with Ratliff to commercialize Vulcan, establishing the company Ashton-Tate (with "Ashton" chosen for branding purposes). Ratliff ported Vulcan from PTDOS to run on CP/M. Marketing director Hal Pawluk renamed the product "dBASE," highlighting a unique lowercase "d" combined with uppercase "BASE," and introduced the version dBASE II to suggest enhanced dependability. dBASE II quickly became a standard application on CP/M systems alongside WordStar and SuperCalc.
In 1981, IBM commissioned a port of dBASE for its forthcoming PC model, making it among the first professional software titles available at launch. The software swiftly gained popularity among end-users and "value added resellers" (VARs), who created and marketed custom applications built on it. The release of dBASE II RunTime in May 1983 further expanded its reach within the VAR market by enabling more cost-effective deployment of applications.
Although some criticized its learning curve, dBASE’s success fostered a vibrant third-party ecosystem by 1984, with over 1,000 companies providing development services, code libraries, consulting, training, and publications such as Data Based Advisor, which achieved a circulation exceeding 35,000 within eight months. Ashton-Tate reported that add-ons spanned industries ranging from agriculture to yacht racing. This extensive support network propelled dBASE to become the leading database product; by early 1984 Ashton-Tate had sold more than 150,000 copies of dBASE II.
dBase III
With the expansion of platforms and operating systems in the early 1980s, adapting the assembly language-based dBase became increasingly difficult. This challenge led to a complete rewrite in the C programming language utilizing automated conversion tools. Although the new version operated correctly, it lacked documentation and featured a complicated syntax, which caused complications later on.
Debuting in May 1984, dBase III initially received some criticism due to slower performance but was generally well accepted. Following a series of swift updates, it achieved stability and emerged as a top-selling product throughout the decade, forming part of the "application trio" for PC-compatible systems alongside Lotus 123 and WordPerfect. By the end of 1984, the company had grown to over 500 employees and was generating approximately US$40 million annually, primarily from dBase sales.
Cloning
An unauthorized replica called Rebus surfaced in the Soviet Union, where it was lightly modified by changing the name, localizing help documentation, and adjusting sorting tables to accommodate the Russian language.
dBase IV
Introduced in 1988 after several delays, dBase IV brought more than 300 new or enhanced features. Despite improvements such as support for Query by Example and SQL, it faced stiff competition from rivals like FoxPro. Unlike earlier editions that depended on third-party utilities like Luis Castro's ViewGen—which was later included with FoxPro as FoxView—dBase IV featured an integrated screen generator.
Following Borland’s acquisition of Ashton-Tate, a revised edition of dBase IV was launched in 1992, focusing more on developers than on general end-users.
Recent version history
| Version | Released | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| dBASE PLUS 9 | June 18, 2014 | Highlights include dComplete (Intelli-Sense for dBASE), dBlocks (code snippet library), dLocator (multi-file search capability), dBabel (syntax coloring for HTML, XML, SQL, JavaScript), dExtract (exporting code to HTML, RTF, PDF, LaTeX, XML), integration of dbfExplorer with Windows Explorer, an updated Editor featuring Code Folding and additional shortcuts, Lookup Data with royalty-free stock and geographical datasets, plus Catalyst SocketTools ActiveX controls for internet-enabled applications. |
| dbfExport 2 | April 17, 2015 | Major update enabling conversion of .dbf files into CSV, HTML, Microsoft Excel (2003 and later), and XML formats. |
| dbDOS PRO 4.0 | May 6, 2015 | Latest release supporting MS-DOS applications on Windows Vista and subsequent operating systems. |
| dbDOS PRO 4.0N | May 18, 2015 | Added multi-user capabilities for MS-DOS applications running on Windows Vista and newer platforms with enhanced network communication features. |
| dBASE PLUS 10 | July 21, 2015 | Introduced Native Components including data-aware GridEx and ListView controls; accelerated compiler handling larger files; new debugger called dBugger; Embedded Runtime allowing deployment as a single executable; improved resource support for .BMP and .PNG images; over 15,000 royalty-free graphics; and upgraded dComplete 2.0 offering advanced code completion. |
| dbDOS PRO 5+N | July, 2016 | Released an updated MS-DOS virtual machine enabling DOS applications to run on Windows 64-bit systems. |
| dBASE PLUS 11 | January, 2017 | Added support for touch and tablet devices; dmAssist tool simplifying data module design compatible with BDE and ADO; responsive web framework supporting Apache and IIS servers; dmOutput module for generating data module output; dmC.R.U.D. starter application generator; seven new open-source fonts enhancing code readability; enhanced data-aware components supporting larger graphics; plus compatibility with ten Microsoft Windows themes. |
Offerings from dBase, LLC
- dBASE PLUS: A database application designed for Windows.
- dBASE 2019: The follow-up to dBASE PLUS 12, compatible with Windows Vista and newer versions; capable of creating 32-bit Windows programs and supports both 32-bit and 64-bit systems.
- dBASE CLASSIC: The original dBASE V for DOS without requiring an emulator, initially included in dBASE PLUS 9; comes with original manuals in PDF format.
- dbDOS: An MS-DOS emulator available in several editions such as dbDOS PRO (successor to version 1.5.1), dbDOS Open Source, dbDOSv, and dbDOSv 2.x.
- dbfUtilities: A suite of utilities for handling .dbf files:
- dbfCompare: Identifies differences between tables.
- dbfExport: Converts .dbf files into alternative formats.
- dbfImport: Imports data from other formats into .dbf.
- dbfInspect: Facilitates management of tables from dBASE IV onward.
SQL Tools
- dumpSQL: Extracts data from existing tables and creates new tables in supported formats.
- moveSQL: Moves data records across various supported database formats.
dBase / xBase programming language
dBase is both a programming language for application development and an integrated navigational database management system, known for providing immediate command feedback that helped drive its early popularity by allowing rapid data entry and querying. It offers procedural commands to manage data operations such as opening records, navigating through them, and manipulating fields, text strings, numbers, and dates.
While Ashton-Tate promoted dBASE as a "relational" database system, it did not fully adhere to Dr. Edgar F. Codd’s relational model principles. Its runtime interpreter enabled command execution at a command-line "dot prompt," with program scripts (PRG files) executed within this interpreter environment.
Competitors released clone products and compilers featuring enhanced programming capabilities including user-defined functions and arrays. Both Ashton-Tate and its competitors incorporated SQL—the ANSI/ISO standard query language for relational databases.
A third-party ecosystem developed around standardizing the dBase language under the name "xBase," involving companies such as Fox Software, Nantucket, Alpha Software, Data Based Advisor Magazine, SBT, among others. This movement led to legal disputes; Ashton-Tate filed a lawsuit in 1988 against Fox Software and Santa Cruz Operation alleging copyright infringement but ultimately lost as courts ruled that copyrights were invalid due to prior public domain influences. Borland’s acquisition of Ashton-Tate in 1991 resulted in the lawsuit’s termination under Justice Department terms that allowed unrestricted use of the dBase/xBase language.
By 1992, significant acquisitions reshaped the landscape: Borland took ownership of Ashton-Tate’s dBase products; Microsoft acquired Fox Software’s FoxBASE+ and FoxPro; Computer Associates purchased Nantucket’s Clipper. Developer-oriented publications and conferences supported these tools, although plans for a dedicated dBase Advisor magazine were abandoned following the commercial failure of dBase IV.
Entering the 2000s, xBase usage waned as developers transitioned to newer databases and programming languages. Computer Associates gradually discontinued Clipper; Borland restructured and eventually sold off dBase; Microsoft maintained FoxPro longer than others before ceasing its development. Advisor Media ended its final xBase-focused publication in 2006. Despite this downturn, xBase products continue to exist; as of February 2024, dBase LLC owns the dBase brand and markets dBASE PLUS 12.3 alongside DOS-based dBASE CLASSIC (operable via dbDOS on modern 64-bit Windows platforms).
Open source projects such as Harbour, xHarbour, and Clip serve as alternatives.
In 2015, XSharp (X#) was introduced as a modern xBase language variant featuring an open source compiler, integrated development environment (IDE), and integration with Microsoft Visual Studio. Developed by former Vulcan.NET engineers, XSharp generates .NET assemblies using familiar xBase syntax built on Microsoft’s Roslyn compiler infrastructure.
Programming examples
Contemporary versions of dBase have advanced to incorporate functionalities designed specifically for business environments, including object-oriented programming, distributed and remote data access through SQL, web integration, and hardware connectivity.
The following sample demonstrates opening an employee database ("empl"), applying a 10% salary increase to managers who oversee one or more staff members, and outputting their first names, last names, and updated salaries:
<syntaxhighlight lang="xbase">
USE empl REPLACE ALL salary WITH salary * 1.1 FOR supervisors > 0 LIST ALL fname, lname, salary TO PRINT * (keywords capitalized for emphasis)
</syntaxhighlight>
dBase preserves the active table context until explicitly altered, minimizing redundant commands and facilitating interactive coding. This approach, however, introduces complexity when developing extensive modular programs, as module behavior may rely on external factors such as open tables or in-memory variables. Developers can still access multiple tables concurrently by using arrow notation (e.g., "B->customer") or by opening tables with aliases like "use EMP alias Employee," allowing unambiguous field references such as "Employee->Name."
An important aspect is the repeated use of the FOR clause, which restricts command execution similarly to SQL's WHERE condition. Commands like LIST, DELETE, REPLACE, and BROWSE support FOR to confine their effect to specified records, easing language mastery.
dBase was a pioneer among business programming languages in introducing string evaluation through string evaluation:
<syntaxhighlight lang="xbase">
i = 2 myMacro = "i + 10" i = &myMacro * i now equals 12
</syntaxhighlight>
Here, the "&" operator interprets the string stored in "myMacro" as executable code, enabling dynamic scripting and embedding expressions directly within tables—comparable to spreadsheet formula functionality. Although this metaprogramming capability enhanced customization for small and medium enterprises’ internal tools, it complicated pre-compilation processes and posed security concerns. Nevertheless, dBase’s interpreted execution model was less problematic in contexts where protecting software was not a primary concern.
File formats
One of dBase’s enduring contributions is its .dbf file format, which includes a self-describing header that details the data structure. This feature has led to widespread adoption by other software products. As an unofficial standard, .dbf files are utilized in numerous applications; for example, ESRI’s shapefile format for geographic information systems employs .dbf files to store attribute data associated with spatial features.
Microsoft advises saving Microsoft Works database files in dBase format to ensure compatibility with Microsoft Excel.
Emacs provides a package capable of reading xBase files, while LibreOffice and OpenOffice Calc offer full support for reading and writing generic .dbf files.
dBase was among the earliest database systems to embed a header section that allows programs to dynamically interpret data layouts. However, differences exist among .dbf file implementations, resulting in compatibility issues across various dBase-related products. VP-Info is notable for its comprehensive support of all .dbf format variants.
The .dbt file type handles memo fields in dBase. Unlike character fields capped at 254 characters, memo fields utilize 10-byte pointers referencing .dbt files to store larger text entries. While dBase’s processing of memo fields was limited, other languages like Clipper treated them similarly to character strings except for their storage mechanism.
For indexing purposes, dBase uses .ndx files for single indexes and .mdx files for multiple indexes (ranging from one to forty-eight). Some xBase dialects such as VP-Info support .ndx formats; others employ different index file types like .ntx (Clipper) or .idx/.cdx (Visual FoxPro and FlagShip). Later versions of Clipper incorporated drivers compatible with .ndx, .mdx, .idx, and .cdx index formats.
Reception
In July 1980, BYTE contributor Jerry Pournelle described Vulcan as "exasperatingly excellent," acknowledging its robust software capabilities while noting the shortcomings in its documentation. He commended the program’s rapid performance and sophisticated query features but found the documentation to be a significant source of frustration.
Malcolm Rubel, writing in 1989, characterized dBASE IV 1.0 as a substantial advancement compared to dBASE III Plus, citing enhancements in functionality, power, and user-friendliness. He verified Ashton-Tate’s claim of complete backward compatibility and emphasized the upgraded Control Center as an improvement over the earlier Assist mode. Although some initial bugs were reported, the overall assessment of the product was positive.