Link to Foxpro 2.6 from Access XP????

  • Thread starter Thread starter 43fan
  • Start date Start date
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43fan

Can it be done? When I try to link using a dBase driver, it doesn't list
the proper type of index file for me to continue the link, and when I try to
use ODBC, it fails there too. If I just try to open a foxpro db that I'd
linked to in the past from Access 97, it tells me the proper ISAM isn't
installed.

How do I go about this?

Thanks!
Shawn


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(307,836), laps led (52,194), races led (599) and consecutive races won
(10 in 1967) of any driver in NASCAR history.
 
In
43fan said:
Can it be done? When I try to link using a dBase driver, it doesn't
list the proper type of index file for me to continue the link, and
when I try to use ODBC, it fails there too. If I just try to open a
foxpro db that I'd linked to in the past from Access 97, it tells me
the proper ISAM isn't installed.
Click to expand...

Hi Shawn,

Here's something I posted earlier on the subject. Some of it may not apply
to you.

You can read your table using ODBC. Here's something I posted previously on
the subject -

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 FoxPro Setup dialog. In the first box (Data
Source Name) enter a friendly name that you will use to recognize 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 table 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.
 
Cindy Winegarden said:
In

Hi Shawn,

Here's something I posted earlier on the subject. Some of it may not apply
to you.

You can read your table using ODBC. Here's something I posted previously on
the subject -
Click to expand...

Cindy,

Thanks!! I printed your post, and I think it'll do the trick. Question
for you though. How stable is this? Meaning, if I'm using Access to read
and update Foxpro 2.6 databases(they're free tables btw), is there anything
I need to worry about when it comes to possible corruption of data, etc.?

We currently have a full system written in Foxpro 2.6 for DOS. I'm wanting
to move to a different interface, something Windows based, and am looking at
using Access or possibly VB. I'd prefer to use our existing db's at least
until I get everything else written, then possibly move it to an Access db,
or who knows, by that time, maybe SQL. I'm a little concerned though as to
whether there are any stability problems doing this.

Thanks!!
Shawn
 
In
43fan said:
Thanks!! I printed your post, and I think it'll do the trick.
Question for you though. How stable is this? Meaning, if I'm using
Access to read and update Foxpro 2.6 databases(they're free tables
btw), is there anything I need to worry about when it comes to
possible corruption of data, etc.?
Click to expand...

I doubt there's any difference in stability between using Fox tables
directly and accessing them through ODBC. The biggest single cause of
corruption in FoxPro tables of all types is disconnecting the machine from
the server, especially if there is a write in progress. By disconnecting I
mean that the user turns the machine off, or there is a power failure, or
the network goes down.

For a good article on preventing corruption see the article on VFP MVP Craig
Berntson's website: http://www.craigberntson.com/articles.htm. Look for
"Avoiding Table and Index Corruption."
 
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