Historical Source Lineage

This page starts the source museum for the x64base / DotTalk++ line. It does not replace Git history and it does not make product claims by itself. It preserves evidence about code families, dates, checksums, verification level, and the difference between original source, recovered builds, AI-assisted false starts, and the modern DotTalk++ implementation.

The public rule is simple: originals stay preserved, analysis stays labeled, and current product claims must be backed by modern source or runtime proof.

SelfDoc and MDO support this rule. They grew partly from the need to keep AI-assisted work from damaging source, HELP data, generated manuals, diagrams, and publication artifacts without review. AI-shaped material can be preserved and studied, but it must remain labeled and separated from runtime truth until it is reviewed.

Why this matters

The older xBase code is compact and, in some places, more complete than the recent AI-assisted recovery attempts. The recovered xbase2 line contains real index work. The later buildable DotTalk recovery folders contain useful command and DBF shell evidence, but their index layer is stubbed. The modern DotTalk++ tree is much larger in scope: DBF flavors, DBF_64, VFP compatibility, LMDB/CDX indexing, table buffering, dirty/stale state, GUI/TUI workbench surfaces, SelfDoc, manualgen, and the Laboratory Campus documentation system.

That contrast is important enough to preserve as a first-class documentation lane.

Recovered simple family tree

The concise hierarchy has been recovered from the preserved xbase.zip archive and restored here. The first three branches are exact archive siblings; later recovery and modern-continuation edges are labeled separately so the diagram does not manufacture a single linear history.

xBase source family
├── xbase/ — core C DBF, command, and index source (1993)
├── xdll/ — XDLL / “xBase DLL” export-oriented branch (1993–1996)
└── xbase2/ — extended source branch (1995)
    └── DOTTALK.C — DotTalk 1995 command shell

Later preservation and recovery
├── xBase2 no-touch MSVC bring-up
├── gTalk / DotTalk recovery
└── DotTalk old-code recovery

Modern conceptual continuation
├── x64base engine
│   ├── xbase.lib — physical DBF and record behavior
│   └── xindex.lib — optional index provider
└── DotTalk++ runtime
    ├── dottalkpp.exe — command-language host
    └── pydottalk — Python 3.12 extension surface

What “xBase DLL” means here

The remembered name survives as the archive's xdll/ branch. Its source has LibMain, WEP, and extensive FAR PASCAL _export declarations, so DLL-export-oriented branch is source-evidenced. A reviewed portability copy documents a build to xdll.lib.

No historical file named xbase.dll was located in the reviewed roots. The tree therefore preserves the familiar “xBase DLL” label but does not claim that the original DLL binary itself survives.

Relationship and proof labels

The archive SHA-256 is F4ABE4EBA8C71DE36880C4AB95E1BDB9B0D693D62B8FF7FB48E36910EBC3BD4A.

• Open the dedicated family-tree page.
• Inspect the preserved historical source files.
• Download the machine-readable family-tree CSV.

Preservation layout

Use a small archive structure rather than a loose pile of folders:

archive/source-lineage/
  1993-xbase/
    original/
    analysis/
    MANIFEST.json
    NOTES.md
  1993-1996-xdll/
    original/
    analysis/
    MANIFEST.json
    NOTES.md
  1995-xbase2-dottalk/
    original/
    buildable-msvc/
    analysis/
    MANIFEST.json
    NOTES.md
  2025-dottalk-recovery/
    original/
    ai-assisted/
    analysis/
    MANIFEST.json
    NOTES.md
  2025-ai-assisted-false-starts/
    gemini/
    grok/
    chatgpt/
    copilot/
    unknown/
    MANIFEST.json
    NOTES.md
  2026-dottalkpp-modern/
    references/
    analysis/
    MANIFEST.json
    NOTES.md

Do not edit files under original/. Put build fixes, adapters, and notes in side folders.

Manifest fields

Each artifact should be described with a small record:

First source families

Index lineage correction

The recovered DotTalk folders under archive/source-lineage/dottalk-old-code and archive/source-lineage/2025-gtalk-recovery have index vocabulary but stubbed index behavior. However, archive/source-lineage/1995-xbase2-dottalk contains real historical index work:

• archive/source-lineage/1995-xbase2-dottalk/XBINDEX.C implements block-oriented index routines such as make_index, first_key, next_key, find_key, add_key, openix, creatix, block retrieval, free-list handling, insertion, split, and search helpers.
• archive/source-lineage/1995-xbase2-dottalk/XBCMDS.C wires that index engine into open_index, build_index, find, and relation positioning.

Website and manual copy should say the older index engine exists in the historical xBase2/XDLL line, while later AI/recovery-era DotTalk copies often stubbed it out.

AI-assisted artifacts

The AI-assisted folders are recent but often primitive relative to both the original C code and the modern DotTalk++ tree. They are still valuable because they show recovery attempts, naming drift, build shims, generated wrappers, GUI/TUI experiments, and false starts.

Use these labels:

Seed manifest

The first checksum manifest is published as a website artifact:

• source-lineage-seed.csv
• xbase-product-family-tree-v1.csv is a machine-readable download, not a rendered page. It preserves the recovered hierarchy, edge types, evidence labels, and missing xbase.dll binary boundary.
• historical-source-files-v1.json and historical-source-files-v1.csv bind the 21 inspectable source files to their archive members and hashes.

This seed should be expanded by a report-only script that scans known folders, hashes files, detects duplicates, inventories functions, and writes reviewable CSV/JSON output before anything is promoted to the manual or website.

Website presentation

This page belongs under Developer Resources, not on the homepage. The homepage can link to the broader documentation summary, but the detailed history should remain here with proof labels.

Public wording should be conservative:

x64base/DotTalk++ descends from historical xBase/DotTalk experiments and recovered C-era source. The archive includes original code, modern recovery work, and AI-assisted false starts. Each artifact is labeled by verification level so documentation reflects actual behavior, not aspiration.