How repair dbf file?

Question

I have a 2008 server setup for testing, we have a FoxPro database that is
served off a server share on this box. It is simply files ( .dbf + index files ) that
exist on a normal share, not DFS, just plain old share. This application
was living on a 2003 server, but testing it on the 2008 server - we are
getting corruption. The indexes will randomly corrupt about 10 times a day.

I have RDC turned off, it really is just a plain jane server. What changed
with plain old file servering between 2003 and 2008?

The client PCs are either XP or Vista.

Answer 1

This application was living on a 2003 server, but testing it on the 2008 server - we are getting corruption.>



Please contact this application provider to make sure this application is compatible with Windows Server 2008. If you test it on Windows server 2003, may I know if this issue still persists? Besides, could you please explain to me more about the file corruption? It's better to give an example and descript the symptom when corruption occurring. Is there any error messages in the Event viewer?



http://goo.gl/GbKRrc



There some significant improvement about file service on Window server 2008, such as use SMB (Server Message Block)2.0 protocol, Transactional File IO etc.



Prior to Vista, SMB has an architectural limitation in the form of a 64KB buffer size limit which cannot be overcome through the use of TCP window scaling. SMB 2.0 in Vista is a new and redesigned protocol which removes this limitation (Vista is also backwards-compatible with SMB1).



About more improvement about file server on Windows server 2008, please take a look at the following resource:

If anything is unclear, please post back.

Answer 2

VFP Tables are extremely sensitive to severed network connections and timeouts. We've had many problems with this on newer versions of Windows servers, and fixing it is now always easy. Take a look at your workstations and make sure encryption is not turned on in the nic settings. Look at the server for file timeout settings - a running VFP app will keep file handles active for hours, and windows server likes to terminate these after a while, virtually guaranteeing file/index corruption.



The best solution I've found for hosting VFP tables and apps is to stick with what works. Yes, Windows server 2003 is over ten years old and Microsoft would dearly love it if you gave them more money for the same bloated crapware that as you can see doesn't work any better than the old version did. Stick with Server 2003 until you replace your VFP apps. Microsoft abandoned Visual FoxPro a few years ago, and you really need plans to replace any existing apps.



I worked with VFP for twenty years. Now I replace VFP apps with LAMP solutions (Linux, apache, MySql, PHP). It gets rid of the file corruption problems, and it also gets Microsoft crapware out of the picture as well.

Answer 3

Rule #1: Attempt recovery only on a *copy* of the damaged file.



Can you be more specific about the database "corruption"? Does A4 just fail to open the bare .DBF file? Or does it open, but then shows gibberish in some of the records? Are the data "skewed" so that field data seems to spill over into an adjacent field? Can the corrupt .DBF file be successfully and accurately copied to another disk or directory?



There are numerous utilities around that can automagically repair .DBF files, but you can still do some header repairs manually with a hex editor. In my experience, more often than not, the .DBF header gets corrupt, while most of the data are intact.



In one application that I used to maintain (not an A4 application, but one that also used a .DBF file), its favorite way of corrupting the database was to fail to save a valid record count in the header, making the database appear empty. Correcting the record count easily repaired this kind of database damage.

Answer 4

Perform these actions to resolve this issue



You need to create an environment under which the table is NOT validated when it is opened. This can be achieved by the command -SET TABLEVALIDATE TO 0. Now you can easily open your tables.



These are some “Prevention Steps” to prevent your data from corruption:



Try to put a code in your program that automatically creates a duplicate copy of your tables (columns & rows), index files and databases.

Set-up a back-up routine.

Inform the user to properly shutdown the computer and regularly perform back-up.

Use UPS for power back-up.

Please click accept and leave feedback if you are satisfied with my answer.

Answer 5

I would like to suggest you to use Kernel for DBF Repair tool is ideal software that allows you to restore store the database information such as indexes, tables, unique keys, etc. within DBF files. The software performs through scanning and in few minutes extracts and restores the corrupt DBF files effectively. The software is very easy to operate and support all versions of DBMS applications such as DBASE III, IV, V, VI and VII. To get familiar with software functions, one can buy its trial version at free of cost. Get info, visit here: http://www.repairdbf.net

Answer 6

Open a damaged DBF file and you'll often see only error messages or gibberish. In minutes, DBF Doctor fixes headers in your file and more - analyzing data structures deep within your file. The automated recovery process, powered by a unique artificial intelligence, restores and repairs your damaged files as accurately as possible. Or, you keep complete control by working manually with the damaged data in the file.

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