XIX. dBase functions
    These functions allow you to access records stored in dBase-format
    (dbf) databases.
   
    There is no support for indexes or memo fields. There is no
    support for locking, too. Two concurrent webserver processes
    modifying the same dBase file will very likely ruin your database.
   
    Unlike SQL databases, dBase "databases" cannot change the database
    definition afterwards.  Once the file is created, the database
    definition is fixed. There are no indexes that speed searching or
    otherwise organize your data. dBase files are simple sequential
    files of fixed length records. Records are appended to the end of
    the file and delete records are kept until you call
    dbase_pack()().
   
    We recommend that you do not use dBase files as your production
    database. Choose any real SQL server instead; MySQL or Postgres
    are common choices with PHP. dBase support is here to allow you to
    import and export data to and from your web database, since the
    file format is commonly understood with Windows spreadsheets and
    organizers. Import and export of data is about all that dBase
    support is good for.