Xphiles

Xphiles

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Nice Things People are Saying About Xphiles

Using Xphiles has been a large time saving. Having spent so long with CA-Clipper, it's fantastic to use the functions I know so well -- Grant Dunoon, Australian (Melbourne) Delphi User Group

I think this is the most useful product to come out for Xbase developers moving to Delphi since Apollo. Xphiles is a very complete product. I use many of its functions even when I'm not writing database applications. -- Loren Scott, Product Manager, Luxent

Xphiles is Xbase for Delphi, an Xbase-on-Delphi toolkit that includes a run-time library of hundreds of Xbase functions and dozens of Delphi components, including all major Xbase functionality and CA-Clipper functions.

Xphiles is the perfect solution

for any Delphi developer with an investment in existing Xbase (dBASE, FoxPro, CA-Clipper) applications. Because no conversion or migration method is perfect, Xphiles provides several effective ways to convert your existing investment in Xbase applications to Delphi applications.

Although primarily intended as an Xbase compatibility library, many of the routines provided in Xphiles are indispensable for any application development. Also, both 16 and 32-bit versions of Delphi are supported, and enhancements to the Delphi 1 version of the product are planned until at least the end of 1997.

All your questions answered

Xphiles includes an extensive (about 50 pages) document just on conversion issues for Xbase developers moving to Delphi. This document includes code comparisons for all Xbase statements, data types, and database operations. Furthermore, tables that show the Xphiles and Delphi equivalents for every Xbase command and function are also included in the document. This information alone could save you countless hours hunting through the Delphi documentation and help files.

Any Xbase file format

Xphiles has complete support for Apollo, the Delphi version of the SuccessWare Database Engine, which allows high performance direct access to CA-Clipper and FoxPro data files. If you decide you want to use Delphi's built-in DBMS support, XBConvert is provided to convert any Xbase data file format to any other. (Source code for this utility is provided, so you can customize it for your own needs if necessary.) XBConvert supports .DBF, .DBT, .DBV, .FPT, .SMT, .CDX, .IDX, .MDX, .NDX, .NSX, and .NTX files.

Run-Time Library Source Code

Over 400 functions and procedures are provided in Xphiles, all with complete, well written Delphi source code. This includes all the familiar functions you use with Xbase: Upper(), dToC(), StrTran(), RecNo(), MemoEdit(), and more. This source code alone is a superb reference for almost every language feature Delphi provides. It includes inherited classes, dynamically typed variables, exception handling, set operations, and many valuable insights for writing your own custom Delphi code. This run-time library even contains a complete set of CA-Clipper compatible RDD functions, including dbCreate(), dbUseArea(), dbSeek(), dbSetFilter(), and OrdCreate().

These run-time library routines allow you to write Xbase-friendly Delphi code such as:

dbUseArea( True, '', 'test.dbf', 'test',
        True, False );
dbGoTop;
while not dbEOF do begin
        QOut( [ RecNo,
                FieldGetByName( 'FIRST' ),
                FieldGetByName( 'Last' ) ] );
        dbSkip(1);
end;
OrdSetFocus( [ 'NAME' ] );
if dbSeek( 'KASTER', XbSoftSeek, False ) then
        QOut( [ 'Found at', RecNo ] );
dbCloseArea;

This is native Delphi 1.0 code -- your original Xbase source code will convert as something similar to this code.

Entry Screens to Delphi Forms

We doubt anyone would want to replicate a text-based data entry screen as a Delphi form. However, there should be some convenient way to keep track of what labels and edit fields need to be included on the Delphi equivalents of these screens. Xphiles has an excellent solution for this problem -- it can instantly convert any CA-Clipper data entry screen to source code for a Delphi data entry form. This form can then be used as a to-do list for everything that needs to be put on the form. This way, the information you need will be right under your mouse when it's time to design the forms! (Support for @ ... SAY ... GET is also provided in the code converter.)

The Bottom Line

Xphiles Professional is US $179, includes all Delphi source code, and is available directly or through development tool resellers.

Programming Tools has been producing award-winning development products for years. Their products include TechWriter, Grok, Grumpfish Menu, and Guide++. John Kaster is also co-author of the critically acclaimed book Delphi Database Development, much of which used knowledge acquired from Xphiles.

Xphiles Professional list price: US $179.00

Special discount: Save $20 on Xphiles wherever it is presented by one of our staff.

We have a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

If you are a registered Xphiles user, you can download the latest Xphiles version.

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