Trouble saving .dbf file from OO 2.4

This is clearly closely related to, or identical with, the problem reported at

https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/openoffice.org/+question/27604

Using Hardy (8.04) and OO 2.4, I can open an existing .dbf file Into a spreadsheet and edit it, but when I try to save it as .dbf I get the same error message as in #27604: [error saving document XYZ: connection to the file could not be established]

I can open, edit, and save .dbf files by going into OO Base and connecting to an existing database, but the editing window in Base, though it looks like a spreadsheet, isn't. You can't, for example, highlight a range and copy/paste it, not even into an OO Spreadsheet. Also, in an OO Spreadsheet, when you set up a "simple filter", it shows you the various field values to choose from, but in OO Base, you have to know what they are!

Even something as basic as Undo works differently. If opened as a spreadsheet, it's the usual ctrl-Z, but in Base there is no such shortcut - you must click Edit > Undo.

All very unsatisfactory.

The question is, then, does anyone know how to open a .dbf file, edit it with spreadsheet functionality (not as a Base table), and save it?

I probably need to add that one of my .dbf files has something on the order of 40,000 records in it.

Also, #138686 implies that being able to directly open and save .dbf in OO Spreadsheet is a functionality that has come and gone with the release of various versions. This implies that switching from OO 2.4 to a later version may not solve the problem.