Comparing dBase files w/DataViewer

[Guest]

I use the Data Viewer plug-in to compare dBase (.dbf) files. It does a GREAT job of finding the differences, but is very tedious to setup the file format. You must manually set the record length, number of fields and drag the field dividers to the correct location... And if you miss one, I have not found a way to edit the definition short of editing the .bcdv file.

Is there an easier method I’m missing?

Does anyone have a specification of the .bcdv file format?

Is there a way to automatically pre-process the file into a .csv format (w/Excel?) and compare the .csv in the Data Viewer? This would be similar to the way the File Viewer rule works.

[Chris]

Re: Comparing dBase files w/DataViewer

It isn't possible to change the configure left/right column after a file is loaded or if you are reading settings from a .bcdv file.

We'll look into making the configure/left right dialogs accessable when loading with a saved .bcdv file in the near future.

In the meantime, the .bcdv file is a plain text file similar to an ini file format. We won't publish the format because it might change in the future, but if you need to edit it and there is a part you don't understand send an email to support.

The Data Viewer doesn't have a way to automatically run a converter before it launches the comparison. I added support for external converters to the Data Viewer wish list.