Subject Re: Returning to dBase and need help From Ronnie MacGregor <No_Sp@m.Thanks> Date Sat, 16 May 2020 09:37:12 +0100 Newsgroups dbase.getting-started In article <bxgUCBwKWHA.2624@ip-AC1E04A7>, bbeacham@no_plm_lowman.co.uk says... > Do you have a recommendation for Joe in the database system he > would be best advised to use? > > In partcular, do you recommend that he completely bypasses the BDE and > Level 7 tables, and goes straight to ADO and an external database system? Yes . . . . for anyone starting out I would avoid the BDE. It is however possible to continue to use .dbf tables using ADO (even in older non ADO versions of dBASE) and the .dbf level 4 table structure remains a universal standard. However, much better to use a proper back end database server these days. The days of businesses having a simgle computer on site are long gone, and even small businesses will generally now have a server of some sort for their data. For the developer, a test server is to be preferred, but it is possible to run the database server on the same (development) machine. In terms of choice, Firebird is well regarded, well supported, open source, actively developed, and free. However . . . . If you have a current (or future) need to integrate with web development, most web hosts have moved from MySQL to MariaDB since Oracle aquired MySQL, and MariaDB is similarily well regarded,  well supported, open source, actively developed, and free. For me, the ability to have a web (browser) app use the same data took me to MySQL and now MariaDB, but if I had no possible conceivable need for browser app integration, then I might very well have chosen Firebird.