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What is this? This tool can take a database created by archaic versions of Clipper/Flex File and export them to a formatted text file for re-import to a modern database system. Click here to see a slide show of the tool in operation.

Why is it useful? Clipper DBF files are known-science and there are free utilities for parsing them. The trick is that the old Flex File Clipper add-on product took arbitrary length string fields and broke them out into a separate file with a .DBV extension, storing a mangled pointer to the actual text record as a 6 byte character field in the original DBF file. This is not known-science and this tool deals with that situation.

Why did you write it? I had three years worth of email trapped in a program called Robomail (v1.3?) that dated from somewhere around 1993. I needed all of it in another database. Robomail was a good product for its time, but it used this Clipper/Flex File hack.

How does it work? The program parses the .DBF file to find all the records, converts all the MEMO fields into file offsets into the DBV file, then reparses the DBF/DBV pair, importing all the complete records into a database dedicated solely to your data in the MS SQL Server 2000 database instance on our site. The data is then exported to a text file on our system from where it can be downloaded. The database containing your data and the export file is deleted when download the text export so your data doesn't stay on our system..

Why is it worth $50? I needed this utility for a single set of files and could happily have stopped after creating a tool that suited only my needs and no one else's. I went the extra mile, gave it a useable UI, put it on my website and attached it to my database server. All that costs time and money. If you can find a utility that does this for free, use it. That's what I would have done - believe me I looked. I needed it so bad that I spent a weekend coding up a solution. If you need it that bad, it's worth the price. Feel free to email me a reason why you shouldn't have to contribute.

How do I know if it will work for me? If you have files created by Robomail back in the 1995 era and you have .DBF and .DBV files this is pretty much guaranteed to work. It's been tested on one file pair containing about 50,000 emails with a mix of bulletin board and USENET messages. Robomail created a single table with about 29 fields, only one of them a MEMO field. The tool should deal with multiple MEMO fields but I have no way of testing that. I doubt that the tool would deal with multiple tables out-of-the-box. If you have another program of unknown provenance that has created .DBF and .DBV files then it's entirely possible that the tool will help you out. Feel free to ping me if you're not sure.

What if it doesn't work for me? If you have a DBF/DBV file pair that this tool doesn't work for (e.g. multi-table ...) I will happily refund your money. Alternatively, you can send me the files and I will extend the tool to work with them at no charge to you.

What do I need to use it? You must install Java 1.5. DO THIS BEFORE SENDING ANY MONEY OR TRYING TO RUN THE TOOL.

How do I get a license? Click the Buy Now button

How long does the license last? One week.

Why is the license time-limited? This tool is a one-time use for most users - convert the data and try to forget about Flex File - so a week is plenty of time to get the job done. More important, each license gets a login to my database server and I don't want those lying around for any longer than is absolutely necessary.

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