ParadoxReader 1.0.0

Paradox Reader

A .NET library for reading and writing Borland/Corel Paradox database tables (.DB, .PX, .Xg#, .MB) without requiring the Borland Database Engine (BDE) to be installed.

Targets .NET 10, .NET Standard 2.0 (covers .NET Framework 4.6.1+ consumers), giving you a dependency-free, cross-platform way to work with legacy Paradox data from modern .NET applications.

Features

• Read Paradox tables — parses table headers, field definitions, and record data directly from .DB files.
• Write support — append, update, and delete records, with automatic AutoInc field handling.
• Index management — reads and maintains primary (.PX) and secondary (.Xg#) index files, keeping change counters and table versions in sync so BDE doesn't consider the table out of date.
• BLOB/Memo support — reads and writes .MB blob files for memo and BLOB field types.
• Table rebuilding — includes a TableRebuilder for rebuilding/repairing tables and indexes, similar to pdxrbld.
• Table creation — create brand-new Paradox tables and schemas from scratch via TableCreator.
• SQL-like querying — a lightweight SQL layer (ParadoxReader.Sql) provides ParadoxConnection/ParadoxCommand/ParadoxDataReader, including basic joins and WHERE clause translation, for querying tables with familiar ADO.NET-style code.
• Password-protected tables — supports reading/writing tables secured with a Paradox table password.

Installation

dotnet add package ParadoxReader

Or via the NuGet Package Manager in Visual Studio, search for ParadoxReader.

Quick Start

Reading a table

using ParadoxReader;

using var table = new ParadoxTableFile(@"C:\data\CUSTOMER.DB");

foreach (var record in table.Records)
{
	Console.WriteLine(string.Join(", ", record.DataValues));
}

Appending a record

using var table = new ParadoxTableFile(@"C:\data\CUSTOMER.DB");
table.AppendRecord(new object[] { 1, "Jane Doe", "jane@example.com" });

Querying with SQL

using ParadoxReader.Sql;

using var connection = new ParadoxConnection(@"C:\data");
connection.Open();

using var command = new ParadoxCommand("SELECT * FROM CUSTOMER WHERE Id = @id", connection);
command.Parameters.AddWithValue("@id", 1);

using var reader = command.ExecuteReader();
while (reader.Read())
{
	Console.WriteLine(reader["Name"]);
}

Rebuilding a table

using ParadoxReader;

var result = TableRebuilder.Rebuild(@"C:\data\CUSTOMER.DB");

Project Structure

Contributing

Issues and pull requests are welcome. Please open an issue describing the problem or feature before submitting large changes.

License

MIT