I'm looking at a software package that is built on btrieve 6.1 data
files -- its an application for order entries, pricing structure &
inventory tracking, and some CRM.

I've been asked (by my friend who owns this software) how to get some
of the data into a spreadsheet for further processing. He already does
this manually in a spreadsheet but there is no synchronizing of data
between the spreadsheet and the backend data base, which is btrieve
6.1X; about 45 *.db files.

My best recommendation is to get the software vendor to customize the
system so the exact report he needs is done natively, not "exported" to
spreadsheet for further processing. Could be very costly. I want to
know if he could buy something like Crystal Reports to read the
database, construct queries or export selected data to .xls or .csv. I
understand this can leave the spreadsheet out of date. Can it show what
fields are key fields, etc? Can the software vendor obscure the data
layout?

How many report generators can read Btrieve files?

On 7/27/2005 21:19, coffeebug wrote:
Crystal can, but you need Data Dictionary Files (.ddf's) or an odbc driver
I'm not sure about the key fields but I would think the cust would already
know what they're doing if they're wanting to manipulate in Excel. They
could also see about updating to the newer Pervasive DB which has ODBC
included.

Yes--and very effectively!--by not providing ddf files. Soon someone will
be advertising their product for creating those if you want to try
yourself. Bill might help you too for a modest fee.

I suppose a smart enough person could reverse engineer the data files and
create the ddf's by hand. If they can, a customer move to a product using
a more accessible DB might make more long term sense with less frustration
and hackery.

DISCLAIMER: I'm a customer within this same type of situation
(Rock<->*<->HardPlace.)

~Jason

--

Wouldn't want to disappoint Jason...

For a good start, check out our white paper at
www.goldstarsoftware.com/press.asp on ODBC access. We can help with
building DDF's, if needed, by trying to guess at what is in the data
files, and we've been pretty successful in past projects. Of course,
it all depends on the data involved....
Goldstar Software Inc.
Building on Btrieve(R) for the Future(SM)
Bill Bach
BillBach (AT) goldstarsoftware (DOT) com
http://www.goldstarsoftware.com
*** Chicago: Pervasive.SQL Service & Support - July 19-22 ***
*** Chicago: Pervasive DataExchange Class - July 27-29 ***

Jason Gurtz wrote: