[GRASSLIST:3927] merging vector attributes from an external .dbf file

[Jed O. Kaplan]

Hello Grass users,

I am struggling to import a .e00 vector map into GRASS and retain 
attributes contained in a separate .dbf file that serves as a lookup 
table.  Here are the details.

I started with an Arc .e00 export file that contains one vector 
coverage.  In addition I received a separate, complementary .dbf file 
that contains several descriptive fields related to the polygons in the 
.e00 file.

Here's what I've done so far:

1. Import the .e00 file into GRASS 5.3 (using m.in.e00).
2. Switch to GRASS 5.7
3. Convert the v5.3 vector to a v5.7 vector

I now have both a GRASS vector file and a .dbf file (that was 
automatically generated during the import).  This .dbf file contains 
two columns: "cat" and "label".

I have a second .dbf file (the one that came with the dataset).  This 
.dbf file has several columns, including a "label" field that matches 
up with the "label", but this file has no "cat" column (i.e. it is a 
lookup table based on the field "label").

Now is where I get stuck. How can I link all of the information that is 
in this second, external table with the table that was generated by 
m.in.e00?

I hope I have been clear enough.  I am fairly new to GRASS and any 
advice you may have would be much appreciated.

Thank you,

Jed Kaplan