xBase (DBF)

Long name xBase Table
Short name DBF
File extension(s) .dbf

xBase is a database (attribute table) format supported by many PC applications, and is a standardized form of the DBase IV file format. It is supported for import and export by the GDB library, and is treated as a single vector layer with no vertices.

xBase files have no concept of a georeferencing system, and the produced attribute layer will be marked as being in the METRE georeferencing system.

xBase files are written from a vector layer, but ignore any vertex, or georeferencing information, writing only the attribute information.

All attribute types except CountedInt are supported for write in xBase files; however, all fields are assign a maximum width when written based on the field formatting information. This means there is an upper limit on the size of string that can be written to a .dbf file, though this limit is established according to the field format width in the source layer.

The field name has a limit of 10 characters.

Only one vector layer can be written to a .dbf file, and no other datatypes can be written.

Export of xBase files is supported. xBase files are exported with a type of "DBF".

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