I think the last time I looked at dBase it was dBase VII which had some nice things but it continued to use the old style indexes which meant they were very large and consequently very slow on a network ( what in VFP are idx files without the compact keyword). The support people seemed to be very proud that they had complete compatability back to dBase III. Too bad...
A problem is a problem only as long as it has a possible solution. Lacking that, it becomes a FACT!