dBASE II was the first version of dBASE, a 16-bit command-driven program for CP/M and subsequently DOS. In 1984, dBASE III upgraded the DOS version with more features and support for larger databases.

Ratliff, at the time a programmer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), was accustomed to innovation. He also designed MFILE, a data management system that was developed to assist in the support ...