My first PC was a 80286 which has 40 MB HDD, 12 MHZ cpu and 640KB ram when I was a probationer. But I used 8086 + 20 MB HDD PC later too. At University our computer programming laboratory just has IBM 4380 mainframe dummy terminals.

>John;
>
>Pickles and Trout! You have brought back memories. IEEE-488 instrument interface using the S-100, which used Pascal to program it. I knew Greg Pickles and Dona Trout. The HP and John Fluke equivalent controllers cost $12,000. For $750 you got a great card to control electronics equipment.
>
>My first computer was an S 100 IMSAI computer, built from blank boards. I got parts from JDR Microdevices, blank cosmetic reject boards from California Computer Systems, and the IMSAI parts through a surplus store. I can no longer find electronics surplus stores in Silicon Valley. I guess they moved to China too!
>
>When my company Vice President saw what I had constructed in my garage, and the dBase II program I wrote to run our laboratories, he had me purchase two S-100 Computers from California Computer Systems, and purchase a 10 Meg Hard Disk. The 10 Meg Disk cost $5000! Everyone said (this is 1982), “How can you ever use a 10 Meg Hard Disk? That is too much storage space”! I used CPM and MPM, and we had three computers hooked up talking to each other.
>
>The S-100 Computer ran circles around the IBM’s, but the cost was too much. By the way I was NASA Certified to solder, and people could not believe how fast I could solder the hundreds of connections on each S-100 circuit board. We had to make each connection perfect when I was working under NASA, and they were inspected under a 20 X eyepiece.
>
>I could build a $700 16 K (yes that is correct!) RAM Card for about $50, 64 K for about $120. I had 256K Banked Memory. My Z 80 was cool. Just imagine all these computer hardware/software companies in my backyard!
>
>Tom
>
>
>>Thomas,
>>most likely born after they came out with the 3.5" "Floppies" I still have a box of double sided double density still in the shrink wrap. Just 'cus.
>>
>>I made a lot of money in the mid 80's transferring data from Radio Shack Model II 8" floppies to IBM PC 5 1/4" with Pickle & Trout CPM and TRIS-DOS on the Model II and a Heathkit Model 100 running MS-DOS. The Pickle & Trout CPM could read the TRIS-DOS floppies and transfer the data to CPM. The Heathkit had 5" internal drives and I had an external 8" box and could copy between CPM and MS-DOS. Even did a conversion from CPM to MS-DOS for Johns Hopkins University.
>>
>>>Goodmorning John;
>>>
>>>A few years ago I mentioned that I had my 8” dBase II, CPM (and MPM) disks. One of the UT’s “resident experts” (one of those who God has endowed with infinite knowledge and the ability to charm anyone) explained to me that “there was never any such thing as an 8” floppy disk”!
>>>
>>>By the way I had 4-8” Shugart Drives on a chassis labeled A, B, C, and D. I ran the calibration and metrology labs for Ampex Corporation and we controlled over 30,000 pieces of measurement and electronics test equipment. It took six months of spare time to write the program, and each time Ashton Tate came out with a new product it took a rewrite. Finally, I went to Fox, and gave up on Ashton Tate.
>>>
>>>When electronics manufacturing left Silicon Valley, I went from electronics engineering to programming, put my kids through school and survived.
>>>
>>>
>>>Well, I still have my 8“ floppies, but I got rid of the S-100 Computer. :)
>>>
>>>Tom
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>I believe you are confusing dBASE II with dBASE III. Big difference. dBASE II had no memo fields. However, I do believe that VFP should be able to read them and it looks like someone did something with these files that trashed the headers. So... Off I go with low level file reading.
>>>>
>>>>By the way, I still have my original 8 inch CPM dBASE II floppy around here somewhere from 1983 I believe. It's how I got started in this business.
>>>>
>>>>Thanks everyone for the input.
>>>>John
>>>>
>>>>>VFP will read these files without any problems. If memo fields are involved, VFP will convert them, I seem to remember that it's the same for mdx files (dBase version of cdx index files) . In other words, most likely you won't be able to use the files from dBase afterwards.
>>>>>
>>>>>>Hi folks,
>>>>>>I can't believe someone just gave me a set of dBASE II tables. I don't have anything that will read them anymore. Can anyone point me to something that will? Even if I can just export to text would be a start. I know I could write a prg using fopen and fread and decipher the headers then read them but that would take more time than the job is paying.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Thanks,
>>>>>>John.