Microsoft Jet vs. Other Data Source Types

To Microsoft Jet, a “database” has different meanings depending on the source of the data. While a Microsoft Jet database is physically represented as an .mdb file, the database for other data sources is just a logical construction. For example, a dBASE or Microsoft FoxPro database is nothing more than a directory on a hard disk that contains one or more .dbf or .cdx files, or both. You must still “open” the database by using a Database object, but the database is not a physical object.

Because a non-Microsoft Jet database isn’t a physical object, you don’t use the CreateDatabase method to create the files that make up that type of database. For example, you can create new dBASE or FoxPro tables by using the CreateTableDef, CreateField, and CreateIndex methods as described in the “Creating Tables and Indexes in Installable ISAM Databases” section later in this chapter.