dBASE Initialization Settings

The Jet\3.5\Engines\Xbase folder includes initialization settings for the Msxbse35.dll driver, used for access to external dBASE data sources. Typical settings for the entries in this folder are shown in the following example.

win32=<path>\MSXBSE35.dll
NetworkAccess=On
PageTimeout=600
INFPath=C:\DBASE\SYSTEM
CollatingSequence=ASCII
DataCodePage=OEM
Deleted=On
Century=Off
Date=MDY
Mark=47
Exact=Off

The Microsoft Jet database engine uses the Xbase folder entries as follows.

Entry Description
win32 The location of Msxbse35.dll. The full path is determined at the time of installation. Values are of type String for Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0, and of type REG_SZ for Windows NT 3.51.
NetworkAccess A binary indicator for file locking preference. If NetworkAccess is set to Off, tables are opened for exclusive access, regardless of the settings of the OpenDatabase and OpenRecordset methods' exclusive argument. The default value is On. Values are of type Binary for Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0, and of type REG_BINARY for Windows NT 3.51.
PageTimeout The length of time between when data is placed in an internal cache and when it is invalidated. The value is specified in 100 millisecond units. The default is 600 units or 60 seconds. Values are of type DWORD for Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0, and of type REG_DWORD for Windows NT 3.51.
INFPath The full path to the .inf file directory. The Microsoft Jet database engine first looks for an .inf file in the directory containing the table. If the .inf file is not in the database directory, it looks in the INFPath. If there is no INFPath, it uses whatever index files (.cdx or .mdx) it finds in the database directory. Values are of type String for Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0, and of type REG_SZ for Windows NT 3.51.

This entry is not written by the installation procedure.
CollatingSequence The collating sequence for all dBASE tables created or opened using the Microsoft Jet database engine. Possible values are ASCII and International, but the default is ASCII. Values are of type String for Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0, and of type REG_SZ for Windows NT 3.51.
DataCodePage An indicator of how text pages are stored. Possible settings are:
  • OEM ? OemToAnsi and AnsiToOem conversions done.

  • ANSI ? OemToAnsi and AnsiToOem conversions not done.

The default is OEM. Values are of type String for Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0, and of type REG_SZ for Windows NT 3.51.
Deleted A binary indicator that determines how records marked for deletion are handled by the Microsoft Jet database engine. A value of 01 corresponds to the dBASE command Set Deleted On and indicates never to retrieve or position on a deleted record. A value of 00 corresponds to the dBASE command Set Deleted Off and indicates to treat a deleted record like any other record. The default is On. Values are of type Binary for Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0, and of type REG_BINARY for Windows NT 3.51.
Century A binary indicator for formatting the century component of dates in cases where date-to-string functions are used in index expressions. A value of 01 corresponds to the dBASE command Set Century On and a value of 00 corresponds to the dBASE command Set Century Off. The default is Off. Values are of type Binary for Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0, and of type REG_BINARY for Windows NT 3.51.
Date The date formatting style to use in cases where date-to-string functions are used in index expressions. The default setting is MDY and the possible settings for this entry, which corresponds to the dBASE Set Date command, are American, ANSI, British, French, DMY, German, Italian, Japan, MDY, USA, and YMD. Values are of type String for Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0, and of type REG_SZ for Windows NT 3.51.
Mark The decimal value of the ASCII character used to separate date parts. The default depends on the Date setting as follows:
  • "/" (American, MDY)

  • "." (ANSI)

  • "/" (British, French, DMY)

  • "." (German)

  • "-" (Italian)

  • "/" (Japan, YMD)

  • "-" (USA)

A value of 0 specifies that the system should use the separator usually associated with the selected date format.

The default is 0. Values are of type DWORD for Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0, and of type REG_DWORD for Windows NT 3.51.
Exact A binary indicator for string comparisons. A value of 01 corresponds to the dBASE command Set Exact On. A value of 00 corresponds to the dBASE command Set Exact Off. The default is Off. Values are of type Binary for Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0, and of type REG_BINARY for Windows NT 3.51.