Access Visual FoxPro database from Java

Question

I've been trying to access a Visual Fox Pro database from Java for a week now. I'm getting desperate because my project is in a very tied budget and timeframe. (As any other project, I guess, hahaha)

I have a .dbf, a .cdx and a .fpt files. I need to be able to look for a record, extract data, and update data. I don't have a VFP licence.

I hope someone has some pointers or a working example that I can use. If the only way is buying a driver I'll be willing to consider it based on suggestions received.

This is a short description of what I have tried.

I found this xBaseJ: java objects to read and write to dBase files. But it doesn't suport CDX index files.

Also found this Example to access a dbf. But my tests show this exception: java.sql.SQLException: [Microsoft][Controlador ODBC dBase] La tabla externa no tiene el formato esperado. I guess a translation to english of this error could be something like: java.sql.SQLException: [Microsoft][ODBC dBase Driver] External table is not in the expected format

Because of that error I think I need a newer driver. In this microsoft page say they no longer have an ODBC driver, and everybody should use OLE DB Provider. The problem is I haven't found a way to use it from java.

As far as I can tell, there is no way to do it directly. Found here someone talking about a JACOB "thingy", and someone comments about the need to create a C++ or C# "something" to be able to do what I need. I think he is talking about The JACOB Project: A JAva-COM Bridge. But I also don't know what COM calls would actually have to make.

Haven't been able to find a suitable JDBC driver.

Thank you all.

Ely.

Answer 1

I found the way to do it.

I ended up using JACOB (from here).

1. Downloaded and installed Visual FoxPro OLE DB driver from http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-US/vfoxpro/bb190232. the direct link is: Microsoft OLE DB Provider for Visual FoxPro 9.0 SP2
2. Downloaded JACOB version 1.17 binary and source code.
3. Added jacob.jar as a Java Build Path library
4. Copied jacob-1.17-x86.dll to the project directory (same place as eclipse's .project file)
5. Copied jacob-1.17_src\jacob-1.17\samples\com\jacob\samples\ado contents to my src directory and:
   1. Removed the ms directory
   2. renamed test.java to Main.java
   3. Changed the connection string to: String connectStr = "Provider=vfpoledb;Data Source=C:\\path\\to\\Data\\;Collating Sequence=general;";
   4. Changed the queryStr to match one of the dbf's name

Hope this helps someone else.

Answer 2

You may find interesting to use a jdbc driver for foxpro files. I made some quick tests with this one, and it almost looks like you are using a real database in Java.

Regards,