WEBSITE ALPHA · AI-assisted, source-reviewed documentation · Full-stack docs reconciled 2026-09-14
64x64base

Getting Started: Overview

What DotTalk++ / x64base is today, what is active, and where to begin.

DotTalk++ / x64base is a working educational and research runtime for xBase-style database ideas. It is an object-oriented hybrid: areas, workspaces, memos, indexes, relations, metadata, and GUI/script surfaces are runtime objects wrapped around DBF-family interoperability.

It is not currently positioned as a finished commercial database product. It is an active beta system that exposes database layers directly: table files, records, fields, work areas, indexes, relations, metadata, HELP, validation, scripts, browsers, and simple UI surfaces.

The central thesis is that x64base is a database system that uses its own metadata and documentation infrastructure to describe, validate, and increasingly prove itself. The 64-bit xBase lineage matters, but the larger project is the feedback loop between runtime behavior, metadata, documentation, proof, and teaching.

The system is being built in co-development with its documentation. SelfDoc and the Master Documentation Organizer are part of the working system: the database engine develops and documents the same structures it is building. The goal is an open, cross-platform architecture that can be studied, extended, validated, and rebuilt across Windows, WSL/Linux, Ubuntu, and macOS.

What the local project contains

  • DotTalk++ command shell - the canonical runtime surface for commands, scripts, HELP, browsing, validation, and workspace state.
  • DotScript - the repeatable script-language product for command files, IF, loops, variables, line continuation, comments, scans, one-level subscript nesting, CSV/DBF import-export, and automation.
  • x64base / DBF runtime - DBF-style table handling across classic/MS-DOS DBF, VFP DBF, and x64 DBF_64 work, cursor movement, record mutation, work areas, and table inspection.
  • xindex - INX, CNX, CDX, and LMDB-backed indexing work.
  • Workspaces and areas - workspace wrappers over active DbArea-style objects, including table state, cursor state, indexes, relations, memos, and metadata.
  • Memo subsystem - object-oriented memo architecture with active canary coverage.
  • Extension hooks - student code hooks plus custom field type hooks for validators, display behavior, import/export semantics, and documentation metadata.
  • Metadata and self-documentation - command reflection, CMDHELPCHK, SYS* metadata work, data dictionary readers, and congruence validation.
  • Table listing and browser surfaces - SMARTLIST, SMARTBROWSE, SM, SMART, SIMPLEBROWSE, SB, BROWSE, BROWSER, BROWSETUI, ERSATZ, and RBROWSE.
  • UI lanes - Turbo Vision-style TUI, wxWidgets workbench work, and Python/Tk preview tools.
  • Python integration - the optional native pydottalk binding, local pydottalk_api bridge, and pycrud teaching surface, each with a separate role and evidence boundary.

Current truth source

This site is aligned to the local checkout at implementation checkout, branch development. The branch name is the durable fact; a commit hash written here goes stale the day after it is typed, so the current baseline is reported by Documentation Progress instead.

See Current Project Truth for the scan snapshot.

Next steps

  1. Read the Quickstart.
  2. Review Engine Architecture.
  3. Browse DotTalk++ Language Guide.
  4. Check Developer Handbook before changing source or docs.
Installation →