🗃️ DBFReader — Lightweight Java .dbf File Reader

DBFReader is a lightweight, zero-dependency library for reading .DBF (dBASE/FoxPro/Clipper) database files using Java NIO.
It’s built for speed, correctness, and clarity, fully supporting DBF III–VII variants, including modern encodings and date/time types.

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✨ Features

• 🧩 Reads classic .dbf files (dBASE III/IV, Visual FoxPro, Clipper)
• ⚙️ Fully implemented in classic LTS Java (JDK 8, compatible with JDK 25+)
• 💾 Supports all core field types (CHARACTER, NUMERIC, DATE, LOGICAL, FLOAT, etc.)
• 🕓 Handles binary and timestamp/date-time encodings
• 🌐 Automatic charset detection from LDID (Language Driver ID)
• 🔢 Accurate numeric parsing with BigDecimal (non-scientific)
• 📦 Simple API with immutable object of List/Map and no reflection
• 🚀 Zero external dependencies

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📦 Installation

Add this to your Maven project:

<dependency>
    <groupId>io.github.zazalng</groupId>
    <artifactId>dbf-reader</artifactId>
    <version>1.2.3</version>
</dependency>

Or using Gradle:

implementation 'io.github.zazalng:def-reader:1.2.3'

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💡 Example Usage

import io.github.zazalng.dbf.*;

import java.nio.file.Path;

public class Example {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
        Path dbfFile = Path.of("data/sample.dbf");
        DBF dbf = new DBF(dbfFile);

        System.out.println("Version: " + dbf.getVersion());
        System.out.println("Fields: " + dbf.getFields().size());
        System.out.println("Records: " + dbf.getRecords().size());

        for (var row : dbf.getRecords()) {
            System.out.println(row.asMap());
        }
    }
}

Output:

Version: dBASE IV
Fields: 5
Records: 120
{ID=1, NAME="Alice", SALARY=53250.00, ACTIVE=true, JOINED=2024-01-03}

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🧠 Design Highlights

• Uses SeekableByteChannel and ByteBuffer for efficient streaming I/O
• Clean, modular structure (DBF, DBFHeader, DBFField, DBFRow, DBFUtils)
• Each row and field is type-decoded to the most appropriate Java object
• Supports code pages via LDID → Java Charset mapping
• Throws minimal checked exceptions, keeping reading logic concise

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📚 API Overview

Class	Description
DBF	Main entry point. Loads header and records.
DBFHeader	Parses header metadata and field descriptors.
DBFField	Represents a column definition and its type.
DBFRow	Represents one record (row) as a map of field→value.
DBFUtils	Utility for parsing date/time/numeric formats.
DBFVersion	Enum for known dBASE versions.
DBFEncoding	(Optional) Helper for LDID to charset mapping.

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🧩 Supported Field Types

DBF Type	Java Type	Example
C (Character)	String	"Hello"
N (Numeric)	BigDecimal	12345.67
F (Float)	BigDecimal	3.14
D (Date)	LocalDate	2024-05-21
T (DateTime)	LocalDateTime	2024-05-21T14:20:00
L (Logical)	Boolean	true / false
I (Integer)	Integer	42
B (Double)	BigDecimal	3.1415926
M (Memo/Blob)*	byte[]	(reserved)

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🧾 License

This project is licensed under the Apache-2.0 License

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🤝 Contributing

Pull requests are welcome! If you encounter a file that doesn’t parse correctly, please open an issue and attach:

• A short description (origin software, e.g. Visual FoxPro / Clipper)
• The first 32 bytes of the header (in hex)
• The full stack trace if applicable

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🔗 Links

• 📦 Maven Central
• 🌐 GitHub Repository
• 💬 Author: @zazalng

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❤️ Built for clarity, reliability, and open data preservation.