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Migrating Microsoft Works databases to OpenOffice Base
A reader asks for advice on migrating from Microsoft Works databases to OpenOffice's Base.
I have a Works database-to-Open Office Base conversion question. I have several simple flatfile databases in Works 7.0 that I find Works 8.5 does not consistently open. This concerns me, so I am interested in migrating these to OpenOffice Base. They have five or six fields of text and values. I have struggled with OpenOffice help. Is there a procedure available for doing this?
It sounds like you should export them from Works into .csv files, comma-separated files or plain text files. Use the export feature in Works; it should be under File > Export or somewhere similar. Be sure that you know what the separator between each column is; it will probably be a tab or a comma.
Once you've got the Works databases in text files, follow the instructions here for creating a database that connects to text files. The instructions cover connecting to spreadsheets or text files, so follow the individual notes in the procedure that specify what to do with text files.
