DBTCNVT DOC - June 1990



DBFCLEAN
Erik A McBeth

INTRODUCTION


DBFCLEAN is designed to help in the diagnosis and cleaning
of DBF files which are giving problems for the user. Because it
works on live data you should always MAKE A BACKUP OF YOUR DATA
before you begin. Neither Ashton-Tate nor its author assumes
ANY responsibility for damages incurred as a result of using
DBFCLEAN.

DBFCLEAN's option can correct such problems as bad record
counts, corrupt headers, End-Of-File markers, and NULLs in the
data. Its functionality combines the features of two other
utilities, HEADFIX and XLATE, into one stand alone package.
Severe DBF corruption should be relegated to such products as
dBASE File Recovery from Ashton-Tate (authored by Keith Mund).
Please read the instructions regarding DBFCLEAN syntax and
possible error messages for a better understanding of how to use
the program.





























DBFCLEAN INTRO





DBFCLEAN DOC - December 1990



DBFCLEAN SYNTAX


DBFCLEAN file name [/C /O /H /2 /3 /4 /X /Jx /Vx /Rx]
where:

file name = the dBASE file you want converted/packed

/C = Perform the cleaning, also use to make the /H, /V,
and /R parameters permanent (say if you used the /R
parameter with a value of 5 then the resulting file
would have a record count of 5). You must use this
parameter if you want data errors in the database
file to be corrected.

/O = Output file name, use this if you want to create a
second file that looks like the original but with
the fixes added. Hint: if you use this option with
a /R0 you will create an output file with just the
structure of the original. Similar to COPY
STRUCTURE TO

in dBASE.

/H = Specify an alternate file to be read in and used as
the structure of the database. Do this when the
field lengths, types, etc. have become corrupted in
the original file. Use with /C to copy good header
on top of bad one.

/2 = Make the resulting file (used with /O) have a dBASE
II format. Handy for quick data conversion from
dBASE III/IV to dBASE II .

/3 = Make the resulting file (used with /O) have a dBASE
III format. Handy for quick data conversion from
dBASE II to dBASE III/IV.

/4 = Make the resulting file (used with /O) have a dBASE
IV format. Handy for quick data conversion from
dBASE II to IV. Only useful when memo fields are
in the structure.

/X = Check for extended ASCII characters with value 127
and above. Handy if garbage is found in data.

/Jx = Jump to record x, use when data file is huge and
you just need to look toward the end of the file.





DBFCLEAN SYNTAX





DBFCLEAN DOC - December 1990



/Vx = Read file as version x dBASE file (x=2,3,4).
Helpful when getting "Not a dBASE database" error
message. Use with /C to make permanent.

/Rx = Set record count to x. Useful when the record
count does not seem to reflect the size of the
file. If you do /R? then DBFCLEAN will guess the
number of records based on file size. Use /C to
make permanent.

Examples:

DBFCLEAN test /C
Analyze and clean-up data like NULLs and EOF markers in the data.

DBFCLEAN test /C /Hnewhead /R?
Read the good header 'newhead' and overwrite the bad header for
this file, check for data problems, and set the record count
based on file size.

DBFCLEAN test /C /Onewfile /R0
Create a new file called 'newfile' with the same structure as
test but don't copy over any records.

PLEASE NOTE: For speed of processing DBFCLEAN will only show
every 50th record as it is analyzing, unless of course an error
occurs before then.
























DBFCLEAN SYNTAX





DBFCLEAN DOC - December 1990



DBFCLEAN ERROR MESSAGES

DBFCLEAN will show an error count for each record in finds with
problems. If an End-Of-File (EOF) marker is found then a 'Y'
will appear under 'EOF Marker?'.

Error in closing file
Had some trouble closing the file.

Error in creating file
Had some trouble creating a fresh file, check for files
with the same name that may be READ-ONLY.

Error in deleting file
Had some trouble deleting the file.

Error in finding size of file
Couldn't figure out how big a file was.

Error in memory allocation of
Ran out of memory to allocate memory for this object.

Error in opening file
Had some trouble opening the file, check for files that
may be READ-ONLY.

Error in parameter passed
You specified an unknown or incorrect parameter.

Error in reading from file
Trouble reading from file, may be sign of file
corruption.

Error in seeking in file
Trouble moving around in file, may be corruption or bad
disk.

Error in value of parameter passed
The value passed may be too high or low.

Error in writing to file
Trouble writing to file, may be corruption or bad disk.

Error file exists
Unable to create a new file since a file already exists
with this name.

Error must stop



DBFCLEAN ERROR MESSAGES





DBFCLEAN DOC - December 1990



Some fatal error occurred and the program cannot
continue.

















































DBFCLEAN ERROR MESSAGES