Approach creates and uses these files

Approach creates and uses these files: dBASE III+ and dBASE IV
File extension: .DBF
Network: You can share Approach dBASE files on a network.

Viewing dBASE files in Approach

These are the main differences between viewing dBASE files in Approach and in other dBASE applications:

• In a dBASE file created in Approach, you can use field names with any characters, up to 32 characters long. If you view the file in other dBASE applications, you may see a modified version of your field names.
• Memo fields greater than 5,000 characters cannot be viewed in the internal memo editor for dBASE III+.
• Memo fields greater than 64,000 characters cannot be viewed in the internal memo editor for dBASE IV.
• Approach PicturePlus fields cannot be viewed in other dBASE applications.

Restrictions on field names

Maximum length of field names: 32 characters
Permitted characters: Any, including letters, whole numbers, spaces, commas, periods, arithmetic signs
Other dBASE applications have more restrictions on the length of field names and on the characters you can use. For field names that do not satisfy other applications, Approach saves both the name you give the field and a modified name that other applications can read. If you open the database in another dBASE application, you see the modified field names.

Restrictions on field lengths

You must specify a field length for text and numeric fields. Other fields are fixed in length or do not require a specified length.
Maximum length for text fields: 254
Maximum length for numeric fields: 19. You can specify up to 15 decimal places, but the total cannot exceed 19.

Index files

Approach uses its own indexes for keeping track of records in a dBASE file.

Limits on files, records, and fields

File	Limit
File Size Database files open Records per database Record size Fields per record Fields used in a sort Size of a memo file Size of a PicturePlus file Indexes per database	2 Gegabyte Up to 30, depending on memory 1,000,000,000 4,000 bytes 128 (dBASE III+) 255 (dBASE IV) 255 Limited by disk space Limited by disk space 255