[fz6yamaha]

Hi All,
I found this forun full of useful information, thanks to all of you, Now I wanted to find out if possible some help.

I need to import some data from a Daceasy program, File ext. DB I realiced that Pervasive will help me do this, now the question is can I extract the data, modify it and place it back?

The reason for this is some old bad habits at the company I am working at, They used to save credit card information within the invoice's detail, I could edit each of every invoice in Daceasy but it would take me years, I need to remove the Credit card information from this field to be in complaince with the new company policy.

I thought I could open up the database, whereever that data resides, edit the field I am looking for and save the data, this way I think may fix my problem once for all.

Now since we are new with the Pervarsive thing, where can I purchase it and how much does it go for?, What version would I need?, I have contacted pervarsive already but still waiting from them and I have contacted a company called classicsoftware.com that may be able to do this. I am just trying for the most efficient and affordable way. I think we may be able to open the database with Perversive 2000, no sure though.

Any thoughts?, We are pretty decent with MS Sql but never used pervasive b4.

Thank you all.

[mirtheil]

You might be able to open the data using ODBC and do some of the batch updates you want to do but it's going to depend on a number of factors.
First, you need to determine what version of PSQL you are currently using. If the Daceasy program is still being used, then you've got a Btrieve/PSQL engine running. Once you've determined that, you will be able to determine your options. FOr example, if you have Btrieve 6.15, your options will be more limited than if you have PSQL v9. Btrieve v6.15 did not come with ODBC drivers and they aren't generally available any more for that version.
Starting with PSQL 2000 and later, ODBC drivers were included with the product install (if you got it from Pervasive and some vendors). Some vendors did not include them.
Once you've got ODBC drivers, you need DDFs. DDFs (FILE.DDF, FIELD.DDF, and INDEX.DDF) are files that describe the Btrieve data files including the field definitions. They let ODBC know what the record structure of the data file is and how to treat the data.
Once you've got DDFs and an ODBC driver, you can simply use any number of tools to manipulate the data. You can use the Pervasive COntrol Center or your favorite ODBC query tool.

[fz6yamaha]

Thanks mirtheil , more questions after reading your post, I could not find any files named FIle.ddf, field.ddf or index.ddf, Does that mean I do not have a shot?, Second: How can I determine what engine are we running?, Regarding the PSQL2000 we have not purchased just yet, we are wondering about the cost of it. What happend if I do not have the files you named above, Can I still edit the data with the PC Center or any other ODBC query tool?

Any help would be much appreciated, We tried to download the trial version of PSQL 10. but the thing says that is already running out of license, who knows.

Thanks mirtheil

[mirtheil]

To answer your questions:
1. If you don't have DDFs, you can't use any ODBC tool. This would include the PCC. You have to have DDFs to use relational access. If you know the structure of the tables, you can create the DDFs and table entries.
2. The easiest way to determine the engine is to run a "BUTIL -VER" command from the command line. It should say what version is running. You can also look in the Task Manager to look for W32MKDE.EXE, W3DBSMGR.EXE, or NTDBSMGR.EXE and then search the drive for the file that's running and look at the Version tab of the properties.

With V10, there's a separate trial license that must be installed. If you don't put the license key in, you get a 1 day license.

[nelsonsoft]

If you need to build your DDF files for your existing files you can take a look at BtSearch 2008 at www.nssdd.com. It will allow you to analyze the structure and build the definitions.

Gil