dBASE Revived

Pioneering database has a new booster, new version, and maybe new customers.

Lincoln Spector, special to PC World

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Like Persephone and John Travolta, the venerable dBASE database system is getting another lease on life. The product's newest owner, dBASE, is preparing two upgrades to the 32-bit dBASE 7, and is offering a subscription service that could help keep dBASE cutting edge--or at least relatively bug-free.

Once the major player in the database development arena, dBASE has fallen on hard times. The previous owner, Borland International (now called Inprise), has not released a new version since 7.01 in March 1998.

Hope first appeared last March when KSoft subsidiary dBASE acquired the dBASE name and both shipping versions of the product. dBASE shipped dBASE 5.7, an update to Borland's 16-bit version, this July. (Because the 32-bit dBASE 7.x isn't backward compatible with older versions, many developers are still using dBASE 5.x.)

The company hopes to ship its first 32-bit version, dBASE 7.5, in October. But don't expect many earth-shattering new features here. For the most part, dBASE 7.5 will fix problems that have been left as is for nearly two years. For instance, dBASE 7.5 will allow cutting and pasting in places where 7.0 left it out.

But dBASE 7.5 will offer some new functionality. The release will boast new Web classes to ease tasks like creating electronic commerce applications.

But the big change is expected this winter with the release of dBASE 2000. Among other new features, this overhaul will contain two new ways to query data. One is an interactive tool described by dBASE's Chief Executive Officer Alan Katz as "similar to Access." The other is a browser-based wizard written in HTML and Javascript that could prove a big help in making a database accessible on the Web.

Subscription Updates

How are developers supposed to keep up with these updates? They can do it through dBASE's third new offering, the dBASE Subscription Program. Buying a subscription gets you a dBASE update every quarter with documentation, samples, third-party add-ons, and an incremental knowledge base.

Not all of these upgrades will be major ones. Most will probably just fix bugs and add minor improvements. Whether they will prove to be worth nearly $300 yearly for a subscription is yet to be seen; bug fixes are usually free downloads.

Still, a lot of dBASE developers are optimistic about the subscription service.

"I bought a software package in July for $800," says database developer John Staub. "I just received an upgrade notice--it's going to cost another $165. I think the subscription service is a huge leap forward for developers."

The dBASE Subscription Program costs $299 per year. dBASE 7.x users who subscribe will get a free upgrade to 7.5. For others, 7.5 will cost $349 without the subscription, and $499 with it.

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