Borland Database Engine (BDE) is the

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ser ...

-based core

database engine A database engine (or storage engine) is the underlying software component that a database management system (DBMS) uses to create, read, update and delete (CRUD) data from a database. Most database management systems include their own applicatio ...

and connectivity software behind

Borland Delphi Delphi is a general-purpose programming language and a software product that uses the Delphi dialect of the Object Pascal programming language and provides an integrated development environment (IDE) for rapid application development of desktop, ...

C++Builder C++Builder is a rapid application development (RAD) environment, originally developed by Borland and owned by Embarcadero Technologies (a subsidiary of Idera), for writing programs in the C++ programming language currently targeting Windows (bo ...

, IntraBuilder,

Paradox A paradox is a logically self-contradictory statement or a statement that runs contrary to one's expectation. It is a statement that, despite apparently valid reasoning from true premises, leads to a seemingly self-contradictory or a logically u ...

for Windows, and Visual dBASE for Windows.

History

Borland’s

Turbo Pascal Turbo Pascal is a software development system that includes a compiler and an integrated development environment (IDE) for the Pascal programming language running on CP/M, CP/M-86, and DOS. It was originally developed by Anders Hejlsberg at ...

had a "database" Toolbox add-on, which was the beginning of the Borland compiler add-ons that facilitated database connectivity. Then came the Paradox Engine for Windows – PXENGWIN – which could be compiled into a program to facilitate connectivity to Paradox tables. The first DLL-based connectivity engine was ODAPI (Open Database API). It represented Borland’s attempt to centralise connectivity in its suite of applications that included the brand-new Paradox for Windows 4 and Quattro. With version 4.5 / 5.0 of Paradox for Windows, this database engine was crystallised as IDAPI. In 2000, Borland introduced a new SQL driver architecture called dbExpress, which deprecated BDE SQL links technology. In 2014, Embarcadero removed the BDE installer from its Rad Studio XE7 install, making it a separate download in order to strengthen the message that the BDE has been deprecated for a number of years. Programmers using the BDE are encouraged to update their software to use newer database connectivity technologies like Embarcadero's FireDAC, or third-party-provided solutions. Replacements for BDE include: *DBISAM from Elevate Software *Absolute Database from ComponentAce * BDE eXpress by Dr. Erhard Regener: an compatible API that uses dBase or

.{{cite web , title=BDE eXpress for Windows 8 / 7 / Vista , url=http://www.drregener.com/en/bde7.php , website=DrRegener.com , access-date=2021-10-11

Design

The included set of database drivers enables consistent access to standard data sources:

, dBASE,

FoxPro FoxPro was a text-based (computing), text-based Procedural programming, procedurally oriented programming language and database management system (DBMS), and it was also an object-oriented programming language, originally published by Fox Softwa ...

Access Access may refer to: Companies and organizations * ACCESS (Australia), an Australian youth network * Access (credit card), a former credit card in the United Kingdom * Access Co., a Japanese software company * Access Healthcare, an Indian BPO se ...

, and text databases. You can add Microsoft ODBC drivers as needed to the built-in ODBC socket. Optionally, Borland's SQL Links product provides access to a range of database management systems (DBMS), including

Informix IBM Informix is a product family within IBM's Information Management division that is centered on several relational database management system (RDBMS) offerings. The Informix products were originally developed by Informix Corporation, whose ...

, IBM Db2,

InterBase InterBase is a relational database management system (RDBMS) currently developed and marketed by Embarcadero Technologies. InterBase is distinguished from other RDBMSs by its small footprint, close to zero administration requirements, and multi-g ...

, Oracle, and Sybase. BDE is

object-oriented Object-oriented programming (OOP) is a programming paradigm based on the concept of " objects", which can contain data and code. The data is in the form of fields (often known as attributes or ''properties''), and the code is in the form of p ...

in design. At runtime, application developers interact with BDE by creating various BDE objects. These runtime objects are then used to manipulate database entities, such as

tables Table may refer to: * Table (furniture), a piece of furniture with a flat surface and one or more legs * Table (landform), a flat area of land * Table (information), a data arrangement with rows and columns * Table (database), how the table d ...

and queries. BDE's application program interface (

API An application programming interface (API) is a way for two or more computer programs to communicate with each other. It is a type of software interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that describes how ...

) provides direct C and C++ optimized access to the database engine, as well as BDE's built-in drivers for dBASE, Paradox, FoxPro, Access, and text databases. The core database engine files consist of a set of DLLs that are fully re-entrant and

thread-safe Thread safety is a computer programming concept applicable to multi-threaded code. Thread-safe code only manipulates shared data structures in a manner that ensures that all threads behave properly and fulfill their design specifications without uni ...

. Included with BDE are a set of supplemental tools and examples with sample code. BDE system is configured using the BDE Administrator (BDEADMIN.EXE). Included with BDE is Borland's Local SQL, a subset of ANSI-92 SQL enhanced to support Paradox and dBASE (standard) naming conventions for tables and fields (called "columns" in SQL). Local SQL lets you use SQL to query "local" standard database tables that do not reside on a database server as well as "remote" DBMS servers. Local SQL is also essential to make multi-table queries across both local standard tables and those on remote SQL servers. The older name for the BDE API is the "Integrated Database Application Program Interface" or "IDAPI".

References

Borland software Database engines Proprietary database management systems