Saving, importing, and exporting data > Supported import/export file formats > dBASE III and IV DBF format
 
dBASE III and IV DBF format
You can import, convert, and export dBASE III and dBASE IV compatible DBF files.
Converting DBF files to FileMaker Pro
FileMaker Pro uses field names from the DBF file.
Text, number, date, and time field types convert from the DBF file.
FileMaker Pro imports dBASE memo field data if the memo file (<filename>.dbt) is in the same folder as the DBF file (<filename>.dbf).
Exporting DBF files
To export a DBF file from FileMaker Pro and import it into another application, your database must meet DBF criteria:
only ten characters per field name (spaces are converted to underscores, letters are converted to all uppercase)
no duplicate field names
a maximum of 128 fields
a maximum of 254 characters per field
a maximum of 4000 bytes per record
Only the first value in a repeating field is exported. For more information on exporting repeating field data, search the FileMaker Knowledge Base available at http://help.filemaker.com.
You cannot select Apply current layout’s data formatting to exported data when you export using this format.
Related topics 
Importing data into FileMaker Pro
Exporting data from FileMaker Pro