access not reading linked dbf file correctly

[JeffArcherJr]

I have a problem linking from access to a dbase file.

I'm creating a link to a dbase III file, and access seems to make the link okay, but when I view the file the fields are not mapping across correctly. The first few fields are okay, and the last field is okay, but everything in between is junk. I can see bits and pieces of the original data, but all jumbled up, ... as if access is somehow getting the field boundaries incorrect.

(Access also wants to order the fields alphabetically instead of in the order of the dbase file as well, which does not help seeing it).

Same thing if I import the file rather than link to it. Interestingly, same thing also if I try and view the dbase file with Excel.

However, I can clearly view the dbase file correctly if I use a third party dbase viewer downloaded off the net (I don't have dbase myself, but need be able to read data off this file).


Anyone any suggestions about where to go looking to fix this?


(Tech notes: Access 2002, dbase III, Jet 4.00 and downloaded all the latest drivers. Tried using the Borland Database Engine (BDE), but that just causes access to time out when I try and form the link and/or give me error 10019 when I try and import, so I've uninstalled it).

 

[Pat Hartman]

If you have an old version of Access such as A97, try using that version to import the .dbf. Perhaps someone here could do the conversion for you. Many members still use A97.

If you have dBase III/IV loaded, export the file as .csv

Can the third-party viewer, export the file as .csv or .txt?

 

[JeffArcherJr]

If you have an old version of Access such as A97, try using that version to import the .dbf. Perhaps someone here could do the conversion for you. Many members still use A97.

If you have dBase III/IV loaded, export the file as .csv

Can the third-party viewer, export the file as .csv or .txt?

I don't have an old version of access, nor even a version of dbase. In any case, this is an ongoing problem so a one time translation of the dbase file won't do the trick.

My third-party viewer will export as a csv, but does so without column headers (!) so I'd have to do some work to get them all read back in correctly and in order.

I actually have 15 different .dbf files (all variations on similar data), and some of them are big files (GB). If I have to, I can do the csv export and read back in, but I'd like to work out how to get access working "correctly" first because it would be much simpler and save me a lot of disk space and processing time.