Editing DBase (section)

{{Short description|Database management system}}
{{more citations needed|date=February 2021}}
{{Lowercase_title}}
{{Infobox programming language
| name =       <!-- otherwise defaults to {{PAGENAME}} -->
| logo =       DBaseLogo BlackWithRed glass 300.png
| logo caption = 
| screenshot = <!-- (filename) -->
| screenshot caption = 
| paradigm =   [[Imperative programming|Imperative]], [[Declarative programming|declarative]]
| family =  
| designer =   <!-- or: | designers = -->
| developer =  [[C. Wayne Ratliff|Cecil Wayne Ratliff]]<ref name="developer">{{Cite web|url=http://www.foxprohistory.org/interview_wayne_ratliff.htm|title=The FoxPro History - Interview with Wayne Ratliff|website=www.foxprohistory.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| first=Susan M | last=Lammers | title=Programmers at Work | publisher=[[Microsoft Press]] |year=1986 | page=110 |chapter = C. Wayne Ratliff|url=https://archive.org/details/programmersatwor00lamm_0/ |url-access=registration |isbn=0-914845-71-3}}</ref>

| released =   {{Start date and age|1979}}
| latest release version = dBASE 2019
| latest release date = {{Start date and age|2019||}}
| latest preview version = 
| latest preview date = <!-- {{Start date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}} -->
| typing = 
| scope = 
| programming language = [[C (programming language)|C]]
| discontinued =
| platform = 
| operating system = [[Microsoft DOS]]<br>[[Microsoft Windows]]
| license = [[Proprietary software|Proprietary]]
| file ext = 
| file format = <!-- or: | file formats = -->
| website =      {{URL|www.dbase.com}}
| implementations = 
| dialects = 
| influenced by = [[RETRIEVE]], [[JPLDIS]]
| influenced = [[Clipper (programming language)|Clipper]], WordTech products, [[Harbour (software)|Harbour]]. [[FoxPro|FoxBASE+, FoxPro, Visual FoxPro]], [[VP-Info]]
}}
<!-- This template uses not applicable field such "Products" and "employees"
{{Infobox programming language
| logo                   = DBaseLogo BlackWithRed glass 300.png
| name                   = dBase
| Prior Owners           = dataBased Intellegence, KSoft, [[Borland]], [[Ashton-Tate]]
| paradigm               = [[Imperative programming|Imperative]], [[Declarative programming|Declarative]]
| released               = {{Start date and age|1979}}
| developer              = [[C. Wayne Ratliff]]<ref name="developer"/>
| influenced             = [[Clipper (programming language)|Clipper]], WordTech products, [[Harbour (software)|Harbour]]. [[FoxPro|FoxBASE+, FoxPro, Visual FoxPro]], [[VP-Info]]
| Products               = dBASE, dbDOS PRO, dBASE CLASSIC, dTransfer, dbfUtilities, dbfExport, dbfImport, dbfCompare, dbfExplorer, dbfInspector
| website                = {{URL|www.dbase.com}}
| employees              = under 20
}}
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'''dBase''' (also stylized '''dBASE''') was one of the first [[database management systems]] for [[microcomputer]]s and the most successful in its day.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-12-15-fi-5823-story.html|title=The Creator of dBase Software Maintains That It Is Original|last=Lazzareschi|first=Carla|date=December 15, 1990|access-date=April 26, 2017|work=Los Angeles Times |url-access=subscription}}</ref> The dBase system included the core [[database engine]], a query system, a [[Form (programming)|forms engine]], and a [[programming language]] that tied all of these components together.

Originally released as '''Vulcan''' for [[PTDOS]] in 1978, the [[CP/M]] port caught the attention of [[Ashton-Tate]] in 1980. They licensed it, re-released it as '''dBASE II''', and later ported it to [[IBM PC]] computers running [[DOS]]. On the PC platform in particular, dBase became one of the best-selling software titles for a number of years. A major upgrade was released as '''dBase III''' and ported to a wider variety of platforms, including [[UNIX]] and [[OpenVMS|VMS]]. By the mid-1980s, Ashton-Tate was one of the "big three" software publishers in the early business-software market,<ref name=":0">{{cite news  |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]  |date=May 10, 1987 |title=ASHTON-TATE : Confronting a Hard Life in the World of Software |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-05-10-fi-6728-story.html|url-access=subscription |first=Victor F. |last=Zonana |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151203112258/http://articles.latimes.com/1987-05-10/business/fi-6728_1_database-software |archive-date=3 December 2015 }}</ref> along with [[Lotus Development]] and [[WordPerfect]].<ref name=":0" />

Starting in the mid-1980s, several companies produced their own variations on the dBase product and especially the dBase programming language. These included [[FoxPro|FoxBASE+]] (later renamed FoxPro), [[Clipper (programming language)|Clipper]], and other so-called [[xBase]] products. Many of these were technically stronger than dBase, but could not push it aside in the market.<ref name=MKshare>{{cite news  
|newspaper=The New York Times |date=August 19, 1990 |title=The Executive Computer; Can the New dBASE Solve Ashton-Tate's problems? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/08/19/business/the-executive-computer-can-the-new-dbase-solve-ashton-tate-s-problems.html | first=Peter H |last=Lewis |url-access=limited |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150525200633/https://www.nytimes.com/1990/08/19/business/the-executive-computer-can-the-new-dbase-solve-ashton-tate-s-problems.html | archive-date=25 May 2015 |quote=dBASE had 40 percent of the data base market in 1989, compared with 62.5 percent in 1985.}}</ref> This changed with the poor reception of '''dBase IV''', whose design and stability were so lacking that many users switched to other products.<ref name=Chapman1.2006>{{Citation 
|title=In Search of Stupidity: Over Twenty Years of High-Tech Marketing Disasters, Second Edition |last=Chapman |first=Merrill R. |year=2006 |publisher=Apress 
|isbn=1-59059-721-4 
|chapter=The Horror, the Horror |pages=81–83}}</ref>

In the early 1990s, xBase products constituted the leading database platform for implementing business applications. The size and impact of the xBase market did not go unnoticed, and within one year, the three top xBase firms were acquired by larger software companies:
* [[Borland]] purchased [[Ashton-Tate]]<ref>{{cite web 
|url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/worst-tech-mergers-and-acquisitions-novell-unix-borland-ashton-tate/
|website=[[ZDNet]]
|title=Worst tech mergers and acquisitions: Novell and Unix, Borland Ashton-Tate
|quote=In 1995, Novell sold the operating system to SCO. ... In 1991, Ashton-Tate merged with Borland}}</ref><ref>{{cite news  |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]
|title=Borland to Acquire Ashton-Tate in a $439-Million Deal
|date=11 July 1991
|first=Carla |last=Lazzareschi
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151212202958/http://articles.latimes.com/1991-07-11/business/fi-3022_1_borland-international |archive-date=12 December 2015 |url-status=live
|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-07-11-fi-3022-story.html |url-access=subscription}}</ref>
* [[Microsoft]] bought [[Fox Software]]<ref>{{cite news  |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]  |date=March 25, 1992
|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/25/business/microsoft-to-try-new-market-by-acquiring-fox-software.html
|title=Microsoft to Try New Market By Acquiring Fox Software|url-access=limited |first=Andrew |last=Pollack |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150423100746/https://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/25/business/microsoft-to-try-new-market-by-acquiring-fox-software.html |archive-date=23 April 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news  
|newspaper=Los Angeles Times  |date=March 25, 1992
|title=Microsoft to Buy Fox Software to Get Database Line
|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-03-25-fi-4361-story.html
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017065221/http://articles.latimes.com/1992-03-25/business/fi-4361_1_database-software |archive-date=17 October 2015 |url-status=live
|first=Jonathan |last=Weber
|quote=In its first major acquisition, software powerhouse Microsoft Corp. announced Tuesday that it will buy privately held Fox Software for about $173 million|url-access=subscription}}</ref>
* [[Computer Associates]] acquired [[Clipper (programming language)|Nantucket]]<ref>{{cite magazine  |magazine=[[InfoWorld]]  |date=May 11, 1992   |page=8 |volume=14 |issue=19 |first=Mark |last=Brownstein
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7D0EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA8
|title=CA acquisition of Nantucket consolidates XBase arena}}</ref>

By the opening decade of the 21st century, most of the original xBase products had faded from prominence and many had disappeared entirely. Products known as dBase<ref>{{Cite web |title=dBASE® 2019 |url=https://store.dbase.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=68 |access-date=2022-07-13 |website=store.dbase.com}}</ref> still exist, owned by dBase LLC.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About Us |url=https://store.dbase.com/aboutus.asp |access-date=2022-07-13 |website=store.dbase.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=dBASE® the Home of all things dBASE® |url=https://www.dbase.com/company/about/ |access-date=2022-07-13 |website=dBase.com |language=en-US}}</ref>