Want to export data from multiple similar DBF tables to one TXT (“|” pipe delimited text) file?
Try Withdata DBToFile, a DBF to TXT converter for Windows, Linux, and macOS, Export DBF data to TXT, Easy and Fast.
- Can run in GUI mode, Step by Step, just a few mouse clicks.
- Can run in Command line, for Scheduled Tasks and Streams.
- Support Windows, Linux, and macOS.
Download Withdata DBToFile
Windows 64 bit
Windows 32 bit
Linux .deb (For Debian, Ubuntu) 64 bit
Linux .rpm (For Red Hat, Fedora, SUSE) 64 bit
MacOS 64 bit
Export multiple similar DBF tables to a single TXT (“|” pipe delimited text) file
Login to DBF -> Select DBF tables -> Set TXT (“|” pipe delimited text) file options -> Export DBF to TXT
Choose DBF and logon.
Click “Export Similar Tables” at task dialog.
Select TXT file type.
1. Select similar DBF tables.
2. Set TXT (“|” pipe delimited text) file options.
3. Set rows options.
4. Export multiple similar DBF tables to a single TXT (“|” pipe delimited text) file.
After exporting, you can view output TXT (“|” pipe delimited text) file.
More about DBF to TXT converter
Download Withdata DBToFile
Windows 64 bit
Windows 32 bit
Linux .deb (For Debian, Ubuntu) 64 bit
Linux .rpm (For Red Hat, Fedora, SUSE) 64 bit
MacOS 64 bit
See also:
- Export DBF table to TXT (pipe delimited text)
- Export DBF query results to TXT (pipe delimited text)
- Batch export DBF tables to TXT (pipe delimited text) files
DBF → Pipe-delimited reference
Type mapping
| Value kind | in DBF | in Pipe-delimited |
|---|---|---|
| Int | Numeric(10,0) | 1234 |
| Bigint | Numeric(19,0) | 9007199254740993 |
| Decimal | Numeric(p,s) | 1234.56 |
| Float | Float | 1.234e+10 |
| Text | Character(n) | quoted only when it contains a pipe or a quote |
| Long text | Memo | must be quoted; line breaks inside force multi-line records |
| Date | Date | 2026-09-18 |
| Datetime | (none) | 2026-09-18 14:30:00 |
| Binary | (none) | not representable - base64 or hex string |
| Boolean | Logical | TRUE / FALSE, or 1 / 0 depending on the writer |
| JSON | (none) | the whole JSON value quoted, with internal quotes doubled |
Dialect differences
DBF is a database server and Pipe-delimited is a file format, so the gap is wider than a dialect difference - the rows below are where values and structure stop lining up.
| Property | in DBF | in Pipe-delimited |
|---|---|---|
| port | (file-based) | — |
| identifiers | — | Double quotes; a literal quote is doubled ("" ) |
| row limit | (driver dependent) | — |
| dates | Date (D) | Conventional text: 2026-09-18 or 2026-09-18 14:30:00 |
| long text | Memo (M) | — |
| binary | — | Not supported |
| separator | — | Pipe "|" |
| encoding | — | No declaration - UTF-8 works only with a BOM |
| typing | — | None - every field is text |
| shape | Tables of rows and columns | Flat table, optional header row |
| ceiling | — | No formal limit; row count bounded by memory |
No counterpart
- Pipe-delimited has no equivalent for Date and time - it has to be flattened or dropped.
- Pipe-delimited has no equivalent for Binary - it has to be flattened or dropped.
- Pipe-delimited has no equivalent for JSON - it has to be flattened or dropped.
DBF to CSV without the manual work
For batch jobs, large files and scheduling use the DBF to CSV converter — an offline desktop app for Windows, Linux and macOS. Free trial.