Opening and converting a DBF file to EXCEL. Open and convert dbf file to EXCEL Convert dbf file to xls

Date: 31.07.2021

DBF Converter is a universal solution to all your DBF format conversion needs. Whenever you need to extract data from a DBF file to CSV, XLS, XLSX, SQL or plain text, the software delivers a straightforward way to do this with minimum efforts. DOWNLOAD for FREE

3-Steps conversion

Working with DBF Converter is easy. You specify a DBF file or a folder with DBF files you want to convert, select fields and filter out records you need. Then it "s just a matter of one click for DBF Converter to turn source files into the format of your choice.

Powerful data filtering

Data filtering in DBF Converter is visual. This means the program takes a sample of records in the DBF file and allows you to apply custom filter rules and masks and instantly see the sample changes according to your choice.

Batch conversion for multiple DBF files

When you have dozens of those DBFs, converting them could be tricky. But thanks to DBF Converter there "s no difference whether you need to process one file or a hundred. The program accepts a folder containing your source DBF files and converts them all one by one. And thanks to the low-level access to data the conversion remains fast and accurate.

Key Features

Convert DBF to XLSX
Convert DBF to XML
Convert DBF to TXT
Convert DBF to SDF
Convert DBF to HTML
Command line support

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Options for opening dbf with excel
There are several of them. Note, the dbf format comes in several modifications: dBase II; dBase III; dBase IV; foxpro and several others.
What else can affect the neat opening of dbf files? it types of documents... And here excel takes a leading place among other programs, and for its ability to open any type of document in dbf format.
In terms of opening, it is unique for this format, but preservation requires additional explanation.
One way to open dbf file this is to use the window through which we open the file, in the file menu. This is a fairly simple way, and even without special knowledge, you can safely use it.
First action - open excel, go to "file", then "open" in the drop-down menu.

Further "open" in the drop-down menu.

Thus, we see a familiar window for opening the desired file. We find the file we are interested in, and at the bottom right, we put the dBase files, or dbf, if the file is still poorly visible, we put “all files”. In this mode, you will find the desired file in the folder where it should be.
Selecting the file - click "open".

As a result, we will get in the excel file our already open dbf file on sheet1.

You can open the file and double-click on the file itself.
However, this is possible if you saddle certain settings in excel. And so with the left mouse button we double-click on the file that we want to open in dbf format.

As a result of this action, we will receive a message in which the program will tell us that the result is negative when opened in this way, and will offer its own options for opening the file.

This is either a search for a solution to the problem on the Internet, or select the desired program from the proposed list. We activate the program by clicking on "ok" using the proposed list of programs. It is possible that the dbf file may already have been previously opened by another program. And we need to run the file in excel, then we use the right mouse button, hovering over the dbf file, and in the menu we look for "open with" we find this tab, click on it and get the proposed range of programs. We are looking for excel and click on the program shortcut.

And if we do not see the excel program, then click properties, find the shortcut "general" and in the application parameters click on "change", respectively, select excel.

And so we considered several options for how to open a dbf file in excel.
It should be noted that when working with any of the described methods, you see a window for opening a file. If there is excel in the list of programs, then click on it. Otherwise, we are looking for a "review",

we activate it and do the manipulations described above. However, a situation may arise when we activate the "open with" window and see the explorer window.
In this case, you should go to the folder where the Microsoft Office program is and look for excel in it. It's usually easy to find. Changes can only be due to versions of excel itself. Path C: Program Files Microsoft Office office # and for different versions we supply the number of the office you have installed instead of the # icon. We got into our directory, we see the excel file there. exe.

With the mouse, point to this file and activate it. We will be transferred to the already familiar selection list, and here excel will certainly be visible.

As a result, we get the open dbf format in Excel.

For further opening of dbf files, by simply clicking on it with the mouse, we put a checkbox in the list of suggestions "use this program always to open these files".
We press "ok" and the next time, by double-clicking on the file with the mouse button, you will automatically receive the opening of the dbf excel file.
As you can see, everything is quite simple and is clearly shown in the pictures.

DBF Converter is a program for converting (including batch) data in DBF (Data Base File) format into files of various formats for viewing in standard text and spreadsheet editors. The application is shareware, allowing you to convert the first 50 lines of a DBF file as an introduction to the possibilities.

DBF Converter is designed to work in all versions of Windows, from Win 95 to the latest version of Win 10 (full support for 32 and 64 bit). The application does not support Russian language (only a few control buttons have translation).

Features of DBF Converter

DBF Converter is a highly specialized software product without any frills. The main task of the program is to convert DBF files (one of the most common formats for storing data in a DBMS) into formats that can be opened in text and spreadsheet editors more accessible to ordinary users.

DBF Converter allows you to convert DBF data to the following file formats:

XLS and XLSX - spreadsheets for editors Microsoft Excel, LibreOffice Calc, OpenOffice Calc and others.
CSV and TSV are text files for the presented tabular data.
RTF - Meta-tagged text files that also allow the display of tabular data.
XML and HTML are the most popular file formats based on their respective markup languages.
SQL and SDF - database files for MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server Compact, SQL Server, Oracle, etc.
PRG is a file format used in computer-aided design programs (various CADs) to represent input tabular data.
And also in specialized DBF-formats for further use in Clipper, DB2K, VFP, FoxPro and others systems.

One of the features of DBF Converter is its ease of use. To convert DBF files, the user just needs to follow a few simple steps:

Specify the location of the DBF file (or group of files).
Specify the folder to save the results.
Select the format for saving files.
Set (if necessary) additional conversion options: skipping empty records, sorting data, and others.
Convert by clicking on the appropriate button.

The program also supports control via the Windows console (command line). For a list of console commands, see Help (F1).

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ATTENTION!!! If the reporting period of the file to be converted is from January 2019 (inclusive), then you need to convert it in the XDConverter7 program. If the reporting period of the converted file is from November to December 2018 (inclusive), then you need to convert it in the XDConverter6 program. If the reporting period of the converted file is from July to October 2018 (inclusive), then you need to convert it in the XDConverter5 program. If the reporting period of the converted file is from June 2017 to June 2018 (inclusive), then you need to convert it in the XDConverter4 program. If the reporting period of the converted file is from January 2015 to May 2017 (inclusive), then you need to convert it in the XDConverter3 program. If the reporting period of the converted file is from April 2014 to December 2014 (inclusive), then you need to use the XDConverter2 program to convert. If the reporting period of the file to be converted is before March 2014 (inclusive), then you need to convert it in the XDConverter program. XDConvert uses a directory package named usl_pack _ *. Rar. XDConvert2 uses a directory package named usl_pack2 _ *. Rar. XDConvert3 uses a directory package named usl_pack3 _ *. Zip. XDConvert4 uses a directory package named usl_pack4 _ *. Zip. XDConvert5 uses a directory package named usl_pack5 _ *. Zip. XDConvert6 uses a directory package named usl_pack6 _ *. Zip.

A package of reference books for the functioning of the converter can be downloaded from the site, section "Technical support - Reference books - Reference package USL_PACK for the XDConverter program".

In the XDConverter program you need to go to the "Download References" menu, then select the downloaded file of the form usl_pack_yymmdd.rar (yymmdd - year \ month \ day) and click the "Open" button. References will be loaded.

Converting XML-> DBF in manual mode

Go to the Service-Settings menu, check the correct path to the data file and click OK.
From the menu, select Convert - XML to Native.
In the window that opens, in the Input file section, specify the path to the data file (zip archive).
In the Output file section, check the Name and, if necessary, specify the path.
Click the Process button. The progress of the conversion is displayed in the log window below.

Converting from DBF to XML manually

For manual conversion mode, go to the "Convert - Native to XML" menu. Next, select the required Native file and click the "Open" button. The source / destination selection window appears. It is necessary to indicate where the file is sent from and to. From healthcare facility to MHIF or CMO (or from CMO to healthcare facility, if the program is installed in CMO). Then press the "OK" button. Conversion will start and a report on the result will be issued at the end.

Command line launch options

"XDConverter.exe 1 2 3 4", where

1 - The name of the converted file (with the path)

2 - Directory for the created file

3 - Source (M, T, S)

4 - Recipient (M, T, S)

3, 4 - only for converting DBF-> XML \

Converter starter (for single installation and start-up)

1. Install and run StartConvert.
2. In the menu, select the reporting period for the pers. accounting.
3. The program will automatically launch the required converter (XDConverter, XDConverter2, XDConverter3).
4. Then convert as usual.

XDConverter7

XDConverter6

XDConverter5

XDConverter4

DBF is a popular format for storing and exchanging data between various programs, and primarily between applications that serve databases and spreadsheets. Although it has become obsolete, it continues to be in demand in various fields. For example, accounting programs continue to actively work with it, and regulatory and government bodies accept a significant part of reports in this format.

But, unfortunately, Excel, starting with the version of Excel 2007, has stopped full support for the specified format. Now, in this program, you can only view the contents of a DBF file, and you will no longer be able to save data with the specified extension by the built-in application tools. Fortunately, there are other options for converting data from Excel to the format we need. Let's see how this can be done.

In Excel 2003 and earlier versions of this program, you could save data in DBF (dBase) format in a standard way. To do this, you had to click on the item "File" in the horizontal menu of the application, and then in the list that opens, select the position "Save as…"... In the opened save window from the list, it was required to select the name of the desired format and click on the button "Save".

But, unfortunately, starting with the version of Excel 2007, Microsoft developers considered dBase to be outdated, and modern Excel formats are too complex to spend time and money on ensuring full compatibility. Therefore, Excel still retains the ability to read DBF files, but the built-in software tools no longer support saving data in this format. However, there are some ways to convert data saved in Excel to DBF using add-ins and other software.

Method 1: WhiteTown Converters Pack program

There are a number of programs that allow you to convert data from Excel to DBF. One of the easiest ways to convert data from Excel to DBF is to use the Object Conversion Toolkit with various WhiteTown Converters Pack extensions.

Although the installation procedure for this program is simple and intuitive, we will nevertheless dwell on it in detail, pointing out some of the nuances.

After you have downloaded and run the installer, a window immediately opens Installation Wizards, in which it is proposed to select the language for the further installation procedure. By default, the language that is installed on your Windows instance should be displayed there, but you can change it if you want. We will not do this and just press the button. "OK".

Next, a window starts, which indicates the location on the system disk where the utility will be installed. By default, this is the folder "Program Files" on disk "C"... Here it is also better not to change anything and press the key. "Further".

Then a window opens in which you can choose which directions of transformation you want to have. By default, all available conversion components are selected. However, some users may not want to install all of them, as each utility takes up space on the hard drive. In any case, it is important for us that there is a check mark next to the item XLS (Excel) to DBF Converter... The user can choose to install the remaining components of the utility package at his discretion. After the setting is done, do not forget to click on the button "Further".

After that, a window opens in which a shortcut is added to the folder "Start"... By default, the shortcut is named "WhiteTown", but you can change its name if you want. Click on the key "Further".

Then a window is launched asking whether to create a shortcut on the desktop. If you want it to be added, then leave a check mark next to the corresponding parameter, if you do not want, then uncheck it. Then, as always, press the key "Further".

After that, another window opens. It lists the main parameters of the installation. If the user is not satisfied with something, and he wants to edit the parameters, then press the key "Back"... If everything is in order, then click on the button "Install".

The installation procedure begins, the progress of which will be displayed by a dynamic indicator.

Then an informational message opens in English, which expresses gratitude for the installation of this package. Click on the key "Further".

In the last window Installation Wizards the WhiteTown Converters Pack is reported to have been successfully installed. We just have to press the button "To complete".

After that, a folder will appear on the Desktop called "WhiteTown"... It contains shortcuts to utilities for specific directions of conversion. We open this folder. We are faced with a large number of utilities included in the WhiteTown package for various conversion directions. Moreover, each direction has a separate utility for 32-bit and 64-bit Windows operating systems. Open the application with the name XLS to DBF Converter corresponding to the bitness of your OS.

XLS to DBF Converter starts up. As you can see, the interface is in English, but, nevertheless, it is intuitive.
The tab opens immediately "Input" ("Enter"). It is intended to indicate the object to be converted. To do this, click on the button "Add" ("Add").

After that, a standard window for adding an object opens. In it, you need to go to the directory where the Excel workbook we need with the xls or xlsx extension is located. After the object is found, select its name and click on the button "Open".

As you can see, after that, the path to the object was displayed in the tab "Input"... Click on the key "Next" ("Further").

After that, we automatically move to the second tab "Output" ("Output"). Here you need to specify in which directory the finished object with the extension DBF will be displayed. In order to select the folder for saving the finished DBF file, click on the button "Browse ..." ("View"). A small list of two items opens. Select File ("Select a file") and "Select Folder" ("Select folder"). In fact, these items only mean the choice of different types of navigation windows for specifying the save folder. Making a choice.

In the first case, it will be a regular window. "Save as…"... It will display both folders and existing dBase objects. Go to the directory where you want to save. Further in the field "File name" we indicate the name under which we want the object to appear after conversion. After that, click on the button "Save".

If you choose the option "Select Folder", then a simplified directory selection window will open. It will display only folders. Select the folder to save and click on the button "OK".

As you can see, after any of these actions, the path to the folder for saving the object will be displayed in the tab "Output"... To go to the next tab, click on the key "Next" ("Further").

In the last tab "Options" ("Options") there are a lot of settings, but we are most interested in "Type of memo fields" ("Memo field type"). Click on the field in which the default setting is "Auto" ("Auto"). A list of dBase types for saving the object opens. This parameter is very important, since not all programs working with dBase can handle all types of objects with this extension. Therefore, you need to know in advance which type to choose. There are six different types to choose from:
- dBASE III;
- FoxPro;
- dBASE IV;
- Visual FoxPro;
- > SMT;
- dBASE Level 7.
We make a choice of the type that is needed for use in a specific program.

After the choice is made, you can proceed to the direct conversion procedure. To do this, click on the button "Start" ("Start").

The conversion procedure starts. If the Excel book contains several sheets with data, then a separate DBF file will be created for each of them. The completion of the conversion process will be indicated by a green progress indicator. After he reaches the end of the field, press the button "Finish" ("The finish").

The finished document will be located in the directory specified in the tab "Output".

The only significant drawback of the method using the WhiteTown Converters Pack is that it will be possible to carry out only 30 conversion procedures for free, and then you will have to purchase a license.

Method 2: add-in XlsToDBF

You can convert an Excel book to dBase directly through the application interface by installing third-party add-ons. One of the best and most convenient of these is the XlsToDBF add-on. Let's consider an algorithm for its application.

After downloading the XlsToDBF.7z archive with the add-on, unpack an object called XlsToDBF.xla from it. Since the archive has the 7z extension, unpacking can be carried out either with the standard 7-Zip program for this extension, or using any other archiver that supports working with it.

After that, run the Excel program and go to the tab "File"... Next, we move to the section "Options" via the menu on the left side of the window.

In the opened parameters window, click on the item "Add-ons"... Move to the right side of the window. At the very bottom there is a field "Control"... We move the switch in it to the position Excel Add-ins and click on the button "Go ...".

A small window for managing add-ons opens. We press the button in it "Overview…".

The window for opening the object is launched. We need to go to the directory where the unpacked XlsToDBF archive is located. We go into the folder with the same name and select the object with the name "XlsToDBF.xla"... After that, click on the button "OK".

Then we return to the add-on management window. As you can see, the name has appeared in the list "XLS -> DBF"... This is our superstructure. There should be a check mark next to it. If there is no check mark, then put it on, and then click on the button "OK".

So, the add-in is installed. Now we open the Excel document, the data from which needs to be converted to dBase, or simply type them on the sheet, if the document has not yet been created.

Now we need to do some data manipulation to prepare it for conversion. First of all, we add two lines above the table header. They should be the very first on the sheet and have names on the vertical coordinate panel "1" and "2".
In the uppermost left cell, enter the name that we want to assign to the created DBF file. It consists of two parts: the name itself and the extension. Only the Latin alphabet is allowed. An example of such a name is "UCHASTOK.DBF".

In the first cell to the right of the name, you need to specify the encoding. There are two options for encoding using this add-in: CP866 and CP1251... If the cell B2 empty or it has any value other than "CP866", then the default encoding will be applied CP1251... We put the encoding that we consider necessary or leave the field empty.

Next, move on to the next line. The point is that in the dBase structure, each column called a field has its own data type. There are such their designations:
- N(Numeric) - numeric;
- L(Logical) - logical;
- D(Date) - date;
- C(Character) - string.
Also, in the string ( Cnnn) and numeric type ( Nnn) after the name in the form of a letter, indicate the maximum number of characters in the field. If decimal places are used in a numeric type, then their number must also be specified after a period ( Nnn.n).

There are other types of data in dBase format (Memo, General, etc.), but this add-in cannot work with them. However, Excel 2003 also did not know how to work with them, when it still supported the conversion to DBF.

In our particular case, the first field will be a string 100 characters wide ( C100), and the rest of the fields will be numeric, 10 characters wide ( N10).

The next line contains the names of the fields. But the fact is that they must also be entered in the Latin alphabet, and not in the Cyrillic alphabet, as we do. Spaces are also not allowed in the field names. We rename them according to these rules.

After that, data preparation can be considered complete. Select the entire range of the table with the cursor holding the left mouse button on the sheet. Then go to the tab "Developer"... By default, it is disabled, so before further manipulations you need to activate it and enable macros. Further on the ribbon in the settings block "Code" click on the icon "Macros".
You can make it a little easier by typing a combination of hot keys Alt + F8.

The macros window is launched. In field "Macro name" enter the name of our add-on "XlsToDBF" without quotes. The register is not important in this case. Next, click on the button "Run".

The macro is processing in the background. After that, in the same folder where the source Excel file is located, an object with the DBF extension will be generated with the name that was specified in the cell A1.

As you can see, this method is much more complicated than the previous one. In addition, it is very limited in the number of used field types and created object types with the DBF extension. Another drawback is that the directory for creating a dBase object can be assigned only before the conversion procedure, by directly moving it to the destination folder of the original Excel file. Among the advantages of this method, it can be noted that, unlike the previous version, it is absolutely free and almost all manipulations are performed directly through the Excel interface.

Method 3: Microsoft Access program

Although newer versions of Excel do not have a built-in way to save data in DBF format, nevertheless, the option using Microsoft Access comes closest to being called standard. The fact is that this program is released by the same manufacturer as Excel, and is also included in the Microsoft Office package. Plus, it's the safest option since you won't need to mess with third-party software. Microsoft Access is specifically designed for working with databases.

After all the necessary data on the sheet in Excel are entered, in order to convert them to the DBF format, you must first save in one of the Excel formats. To do this, click on the floppy disk icon in the upper left corner of the program window.

The save window opens. Go to the directory where you want the file to be saved. It is from this folder that it will then need to be opened in Microsoft Access. The book format can be left by default xlsx, or changed to xls. In this case, this is not critical, since anyway we save the file only in order to convert it to DBF. After all the settings are done, click on the button "Save" and close the Excel window.

We start the Microsoft Access program. Go to the tab "File" if it opened in another tab. Click on the menu item "Open" located on the left side of the window.

The file open window starts. Go to the directory where we saved the file in one of the Excel formats. To make it appear in the window, move the file format switch to the position "Excel workbook (* .xlsx)" or "Microsoft Excel (* .xls)", depending on which one the book was saved in. After the name of the file we need is displayed, select it and click on the button "Open".

A window opens "Link to a spreadsheet"... It allows you to move data from an Excel file to Microsoft Access as accurately as possible. We need to select the Excel sheet from which we are going to import data. The fact is that even if the Excel file contained information on several sheets, then you can import it into Access only separately and, accordingly, then convert it into separate DBF files.
It is also possible to import information of individual ranges on sheets. But in our case it is not necessary. Set the switch to the position "Sheets", and then select the sheet from which we are going to take the data. The correctness of the information display can be viewed in the lower part of the window. If everything satisfies, click on the button "Further".

In the next window, if your table contains headers, you need to check the box next to "The first row contains the column headings"... Then click on the button "Further".

In the new Spreadsheet Link window, you can optionally change the name of the linked item. Then click on the button "Ready".

This will open a dialog box with a message stating that the linking of the table to the Excel file is complete. Click on the button "OK".

The name of the table, which we assigned to it in the last window, will appear on the left side of the program interface. We double-click on it with the left mouse button.

After that, the table will be displayed in the window. Moving to the tab "External data".

On the ribbon in the toolbox "Export" click on the inscription "Additionally"... In the list that opens, select the item "DBase file".

A window for exporting to DBF format opens. In field "File name" you can specify the location of the file and its name, if the default ones do not suit you for some reason.
In field "File format" choose one of three types of DBF format:
- dBASE III(default);
- dBASE IV;
- dBASE 5.
It should be borne in mind that the more modern the format (the higher the ordinal number), the more opportunities there are for processing data in it. That is, it is more likely that the file will be able to save all the table data. But at the same time, it is less likely that the program where you are going to import the DBF file in the future will be compatible with this particular type.

After all the settings are set, click on the button "OK".

If after this an error message appears, then try exporting the data using a different type of DBF format. If everything went well, a window will appear informing you that the export was successful. Click on the button "Close".

The created file in dBase format will be located in the directory specified in the export window. Then you can perform any manipulations with it, including importing it into other programs.

As you can see, despite the fact that in modern versions of Excel there is no possibility of saving files in DBF format with built-in tools, nevertheless, this procedure can be carried out using other programs and add-ins. It should be noted that the most functional conversion method is to use the WhiteTown Converters Pack. But, unfortunately, the number of free conversions in it is limited. The XlsToDBF add-in allows you to do the conversion absolutely free, but the procedure is much more complicated. In addition, the functionality of this option is very limited.

The "golden mean" is the method using the Access program. Like Excel, it is developed by Microsoft, and therefore you can no longer call it a third-party application. In addition, this option allows you to convert an Excel file to several types of dBase format. Although in this respect Access is still inferior to the WhiteTown program.