Editing XBase (section)

==Standards effort==
By 1987 various "clone" software products mimicked dBASE. Each of these products had its own unique set of supported language features and syntax. As such, it was often very difficult to move code developed with one dBASE-like product to run in another one. (This was in contrast to older programming languages such as C or COBOL where due to published official standards, carefully developed code could possibly be run in a wide range of software environments.) While there were many cries for a standard for the dBASE programming language syntax, nothing would happen as long as Ashton-Tate asserted ownership of all-things dBASE.

Several dBASE-related companies formed a committee in 1987 to standardize the language. Members included Wallsoft, Fox, Nantucket, RSP (run by dBASE creator [[C. Wayne Ratliff]]), and dBASE application developer SBT. They said that Ashton-Tate was losing control of the software because of infrequent enhancements.<ref name="mace19870713">{{Cite magazine |last=Mace |first=Scott |date=1987-07-13 |title=Software Companies Organize Dbase Group |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xzAEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA7&pg=PA7#v=onepage&q&f=false |access-date=2025-04-30 |magazine=InfoWorld |pages=1,3 |volume=9 |issue=28}}</ref> Ashton-Tate agreed to send an observer, but before the committee's second phone meeting withdrew the observer and said that its legal department would send a letter objecting to the committee's use of the dBASE trademark.<ref name="mace19870817">{{Cite magazine |last=Mace |first=Scott |date=1987-08-17 |title=Ashton-Tate Threatens Dbase Committee |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2jsEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA3#v=onepage&q&f=true |access-date=2025-05-25 |magazine=InfoWorld |page=33 |volume=9 |issue=33}}</ref> When Borland acquired Ashton-Tate in 1991, the [[United States Justice Department]] required Borland to place the dBASE language into [[public domain]]. Anyone can create software using its features.<ref name="weber19911015">{{Cite news |last=Weber |first=Jonathan |date=1991-10-15 |title=Borland Ordered to Share Key Software |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-10-15-fi-649-story.html |access-date=2025-04-29 |work=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> Standardization efforts were given new life. An [[ANSI]] committee (ANSI/X3J19) was officially formed, and began regular meetings in 1992.  Marc Schnapp was the first chairman, and the first meeting was held at the [[Jet Propulsion Laboratory]] in Pasadena, California which was essentially the birthplace of Vulcan and dBASE II.  The group met on a regular basis in a variety of locations over the next few years, and representatives from most major vendors participated.  But despite lip service from all the vendors on the need for a standard, no one seemed willing to change their product syntax to match that of a competitor.