how can I open a dbf file in mac?

As you have posted in the AppleWorks forum one assumes you have Appleworks: this may be able to import .dbf files (these are dBase II format) - please see this thread:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/355585?answerId=1705077022#1705077022

If you have Numbers it's possible you may be able to import it there, but only if it's a fairly simple database.

Numbers won't import it, but any of OpenOffice.org, NeoOffice or LibreOffice should be able to. The links will take you to the home page for the named application, from which you can get to the download page.

Regards,

Barry

I can confirm Apache OpenOffice (free) will open a dBase file. You can then proceed to save as Excel, CSV, HTML, .dif or even pdf.

DBFView in the App Store is a free very basic utility that will preview a dbf file, but no 'find' feature is available.

regards

Malcolm

Filemaker Pro and Bento also have some DBF support if you want a true database. Same with MySQL and PHPMyAdmin you may look at those solutions as well. The Entropy Swiss website has some cool SQL directions. The key is to export to tab or command delimited data first, if the database doesn't support it by default. I don't know all the limitations myself, I just know their availability.