possible type of database that uses dat, idx files

Question

i have an application that was written in delphi it is fairly recent, running on win32 i want to hook into the database with odbc but i am unsure which database driver to use

the directory with the database has .dat .idx files for each table

it is a standalone database not client server (as far as i can tell) any ideas what type of database this may be so i can find a driver

thanks

Answer 1

Possibly Informix, although there's no guarantee of that. If you look at the first dozen or two bytes with a hex editor does anything jump out at you?

Edit: See http://techrepublic.com.com/5208-6230-0.html?forumID=101&threadID=224583&start=0.

Answer 2

Sounds like an Informix DB. Check out the post here.

Answer 3

I think it's DBISAM, and because the application written in Delphi it more likely to be DBISAM.

and you can download Server Administration Utility from their site (free), so you can open these dat files and check if it DBISAM or not.

Answer 4

Unfortunately .DAT and .IDX are common to many different database engines, including Foxpro/DBase, Advantage, Informix, DBISAM, and even custom solutions. Since it is a fairly recent Delphi application, I would guess Advantage first. I believe the Advantage drivers read/write the Foxpro/DBase format, so I would try a DBase driver (read only of course) and see if that works.