¶ Description
Load a .dbf, .dbfs, .xbf, .dbt file.
¶ Parameters
Parameters:
- Input file
- Encoding
- Level 7 or more DBF file
- Load everything into memory (Memo/DBT/FPT)for a faster processing
- Minimal memory buffer size
¶ About
The ReadXBF action is used to load data from legacy database file formats into the ETL pipeline. It supports a wide range of DBF-related formats, including files with associated memo storage.
¶ Supported Formats
This action can open and parse:
- dBase III / IV / V
- dBase Level 7
- Visual dBase
- Paradox
- FoxPro / Visual FoxPro
- Clipper DBF (and associated
.DBTmemo files) - ESRI Shapefiles (.shp, .dbf)
.XBF,.DBF,.DBFS,.DBTfile extensions
¶ Parameters
-
Input file
Path to the DBF/XBF file to be loaded. Files can be selected from shared folders or assets. -
Encoding
Defines how text fields are decoded. Options include:Latin1– local 8-bit encoding without BOMutf-8– Unicode support for international characters
-
Level 7 or more DBF file
Toggle this on if your file is in dBase Level 7 or newer format. -
Load everything into memory (Memo/DBT/FPT) for faster processing
When enabled, loads associated memo files fully into memory to speed up access. -
Minimal memory buffer size
Sets the minimum buffer size (in MB) to allocate during file reading. Default is 1 MB.
¶ Use Case
This action is designed for ETL processes that need to extract data from legacy database systems or geographic files. It is particularly useful for:
- Migrating old systems into modern data warehouses
- Reading shapefiles as part of GIS data processing
- Working with archived Paradox or FoxPro databases
Notes:
- Ensure the encoding matches the character set used in the source file.
- If the DBF file references memo fields, the associated
.DBTor.FPTfiles must be present and correctly linked.
