It is compatible with indexed sequential access method (ISAM), Structured Query Language (SQL), and ActiveX Data Objects (ADO) data access methods, reads and writes several flat file desktop database formats including ASCII, comma-separated values (CSV), DOS (binary), FoxPro, Clipper, dBase, and some relational databases via ODBC, Microsoft SQL Server, Sybase SQL Anywhere, and Oracle Database through the use of accelerated native database drivers, and XML, Clarion can be used to output to HTML, XML, plain text, and Portable Document Format (PDF), among others.
Clarion was created by Bruce Barrington, one of the founders of healthcare firm "HBO & Company" (later acquired by McKesson Corporation,[1]) and a small team of developers.
Version 1 produced pseudocode; the initial release included a screen designer, an interpreter, an editor, and a debugger.
In 1991 Barrington licensed compiler technology from a company named Jensen & Partners International (JPI).
Employees at the TopSpeed Development Centre in London went to work on CDD and resolved many of the bugs.
As of August 2023, A Clarion 12 release is expected by the community, but so far there is no official comments on confirmed future features.