Foxpro tables not linking

[Ian Tranter]

I have a problem linking an dos based Foxpro table, I
managed to link the DBASE.DBF file from our server by
telling Access that the INDEX file is of type CDX,only
problem with this is that you can see the table in the
tables window but will not be able to open it to look at
the data. I know that the memo file for old dos FOXPRO is
of type FPT but Access is looking for a type MDX do you
know how to tell Access to look for the FPT file?

The 3 files I have on the server are
M_WML.cdx
M_WML.dbf
M_WML.fpt

 

[Joe Fallon]

Make a copy of two of them: the .dbf and .fpt.
Omit the .cdx file.

Now link to the .dbf file.
It should work fine and automatically bring in the .fpt file.

I avoid Foxpro indexes when linking.

 

[kirk k]

Hi.

Do you know how to link to dos foxpro files still being
used by a dos foxpro program where some of the tables
don't have index files ?

My mdb file is linked to our dos foxpro program tables. I
only pull info out of the tables. I do not update them. I
had this working in access 2000. When i converted my mdb
to 2002, i lost my links. They show in the mdb file, but
the links don't work.

When i try to link them over again as dbase tables, it
won't link a table with no index. If i try to refresh the
existing links in Linked Table Mgr, i think i don't have
the right data source type. It tells me i can't use odbc
to link the tables.

I remember having to download an MDAC to get the link to
work in Access 2000.

 

[Joe Fallon]

Some general tips:

Originally posted by Cindy Winegarden Microsoft Visual FoxPro MVP:

Start with the latest ODBC driver for FoxPro and Visual FoxPro, available
from
http://msdn.microsoft.com/vfoxpro/downloads/addons/odbc.asp. Download and
install it. (If you have trouble doing this, post back.)

You will need to determine whether you have FoxPro "free" tables or a
"database container" (contains metadata about the tables themselves). To do
this, navigate to your data directory and look for the presence of a DBC
file. If it's there you have a "database" otherwise you have free tables.

Now open up the ODBC dialog. In WinXP it's Start | Administrative Tools |
Data Sources (ODBC). Choose either the User DSN or the System DSN. (The
difference lies in whether you want other people to be able to see it if
they use your machine.)

Click Add... Scroll down to the Microsoft Visual FoxPro Driver. Scroll over
to verify that it's version 6.01.8629.01. Click Finish.

Now you're at the ODBC Visual FoxPr Setup dialog. In the first box (Data
Source Name) enter a friendly name that you will use to recognise this data
source - My FoxPro Data Source. You can add more text in the description
box.

Below are two options. Choose Visual FoxPro database (.DBC) or Free Table
Directory - whichever you have determined is correct.

Browse to locate your directory, or your specific DBC file.

You can click the Options>> button for more choices. The defaults should be
ok. "Exclusive" refers to whether you want to have exclusive access to the
data while you're using it. "Null" allows you to enter Null values or not.
Older FoxPro tables do not allow Nulls. "Deleted" means to hide deleted
records. This one's important if you are working with primary keys - more in
a minute. "Fetch data in background" will allow you to see the first few
lines of a large tablel while the rest is being retrieved. You can also
indicate a collating sequence if you're using a non-English alphabet.

Click OK and you're done.

Now, about deleted records. When a record is deleted in a FoxPro or Visual
FoxPro table it's merely marked as deleted and filtered out, but is still
physically present in the table. If you have a unique index and you delete
the record with a key value of 123 you can not enter another record with
this value, even though you can't see the record. To get rid of records
entirely, you must issue a PACK command. However, the best rule to follow is
to not reuse primary keys.