I need to dissect or know all detail about how data or entry are saved
in the above file format. It need to know start and end delimiters for
each entries.

Kind Regards
Buts101

Ashish.Batajoo (AT) gmail (DOT) com wrote:
You mean JET database engine from Microsoft, used with Microsoft Access
databases ? You should look for a method named CreateCatalog in ADOX
documentation in MSDN.

As for the file format, have you checked Microsoft licence ? As far as I
know the file format should be property of Microsoft so I can't tell you
the delimiters, and even Microsoft will not tell you. I am afraid that
even an attempt to discover the file format by trial and error is not legal.

But hey, there is a lot of free software out there that would allow you
to do virtually anything you want to do, so all you need is to search
the web.

Hope that helps
Timothy Madden
Romania

"Timothy Madden" <terminatorul (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote


Reverse engineering a file format is perfectly legal. Using that file format
for your own software, however, would require some licensing, but to just
convert the Access database to *another* file format doesn't require
anything but knowledge. How can one be held to Microsoft license if they do
not have any Microsoft software (e.g. Microsoft Office - Access).

"don" <news (AT) southeast-florida (DOT) com> wrote:

property protection that Microsoft has is a patent or a copyright.
Both require the disclosure of the file format which Microsoft has not
done.

David Segall wrote:
Is that not so? IANAL, but has not the enforceability of a typical EULA
- "Because we say so" - long been in question? And can such an
agreement bind a third party anyway?

Prior to DMCA - which was of course lobbied for to close the loophole -
isn't don correct that reverse engineering would be clearly legal?

"toby" <toby (AT) telegraphics (DOT) com.au> wrote:

Access database is illegal in the United States which is why I
included the caveat in my post. The End User License Agreement is
irrelevant since Microsoft do not restrict the distribution of an
Access database.

Although I find many of Microsoft's attempts to constrain their
customers reprehensible, I can understand their motives. The
underlying reason for my post is that I object to a post on Usenet
that supports them let alone, as in this case, something that
advocates the extension of their intellectual property rights beyond
their legal entitlement.

David Segall wrote:

I wonder how can OpenOffice work with Microsoft Word documents. Did they
not reverse engineer .doc file format ? Was that legal ?

I mean Microsoft does not restrict distribution of Word documents, but
if I am allowed to reverse engineer file format, I am allowed to create
my own version of .doc file editor.

Still I do not think I am allowed to create and sell my own replacement
for Microsoft Word, so are you sure I am allowed to decode the file
format in the first place ?

By the way, it is my opinion that fair-play competition laws should
always allow any third-party to read the file format of any file whose
distribution is not limited, just for the purpose of compatibility with
existing products.

Timothy Madden
Romania