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Ok I`m new to C# and new to Programing. I have taken on a small task(goal) for writing my own program for work.

Basically this program will take two databases. One data base will be update weekly (lets call this doctor list) and the other data base will be updated as needed (lets call this employee).

Basically I want to make my program compare the two databases and look for any matching employees on this list doctor list.

I can figure out the code for the searching and basic stuff.. But I have no clue where to begin with databases.

I'm ok with SQL but my problem is that my doctor list comes in a dbf file. I've looked up converting to access and sql but this program needs to be easy to use for our hr department.

Is there away to write the conversion? (again new to this)

What kind of options do I have with just working with programing it to read off an excel sheet?

If I do go the access or sql route do the computers this program run off of need to have access or sql installed?

I`m not looking for someone to write me the code.. just point me in a good directions and answer some questions...

CodingGorilla
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user160605
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    A similar question has been posted here http://stackoverflow.com/questions/11356878/get-data-in-a-dbf-file-using-c-sharp – Sithu Sep 11 '13 at 17:27

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To convert the database to SQL you'll need a third party application.

I'd check out: http://www.whitetown.com/dbf2sql/ because it includes the DLLs for use in your application as well when you buy the site license. If you're receiving a new database each time and need to transform it, that would be the way to go.

Your client should be the one accessing the database, which should (hopefully) be stored on a server. If it's a local database (so not multiple user based) then I'd recommend going SQLite as it's probably the best lightweight standalone database out there. You can also get a good ORM for SQL or SQLite (such as DrivenDB) to be able to access your data.

If you're going to stay in dbf format then you'll need to know if it's a VisualFox Pro, Dbase, etc. type of database and get the appropriate DLLs for accessing it.

Bill Hatter
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  • Great info.. What are ORM's?? lol where would I look for that? If I used SQLite how would I go about putting it on the other computer the program would use? is there away to build that into an installer? How would I know if its fox, dbase, etc? Thanks – user160605 Sep 11 '13 at 19:47
  • ORM is Object Related Mapper. It handles a lot of the mapping work you need when creating classes from data objects and vice versa. Check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object-relational_mapping for more information. I personally use DrivenDb for my work: http://drivendb.codeplex.com/ For SQLite, you just need the .sdf file with the application and the sqlite.net framework to access it. As for how to know what it is, hopefully the person providing the .dbf file can tell you. – Bill Hatter Sep 11 '13 at 21:10