Fox Pro 2.6 to Access

[PMCmike]

What is he easiest way for me to get the data out of FoxPro 2.6 and get it into Access 2003. We are no loger going to use FoxPro. We are going to Access 2003 in place of it. If this can be done will the table structure remain the same?
Thank you

 

[dbMark]

Of course your office wants to move up from old FoxPro. That program is over 10 years old now and even the Windows version was a quick port, a bit of a hybrid. While I don't know how far down you are on the conversion path and I don't know much about Access data structure, my questions is, do you have to go to Access? Is it a mandate? Is it too far along to consider an alternative?

While Access 2003 is newer than the older FoxPro 2.6 and is a step forward, it is a bit of a step down in capability. What about the latest Visual FoxPro 9.0? The commands and functions are preserved and greatly enhanced, with tons of added capabilities. The major obstacle moving applications from the old FoxPro environment is you'd have to redesign your screens (interface) and reports (output). But your data and much of the code could remain virtually unchanged. Also, only developers would need copies of the program, and your applications can be compiled as EXEs, DLLs, etc. for unlimited end users. Wouldn't an upgrade to Visual FoxPro with some rewriting be better than rewriting all your code and data into Access? There are several VFP forums: General, Reports, SQL, Mail, Web. Start with forum184 and search using phrases like conversion or upgrade.

 

[dbMark]

Did you do a search here for Access conversion? I searched and found all these and more in a few moments. Keep in mind that some posts and descriptions are much older than others, so if you see 2 posts describing the same thing, review them closely to be sure you use the most current instructions, methods and links.
thread182-997532
thread182-1000278
thread182-383425
thread182-483869
thread182-451088
thread182-446437

 

[PMCmike]

dbMark, thank you for your quick response. To answer your question, yes I have to use Access. All of our users already have Access 2003 that has just been recently purchased. We are only running one instance of FoxPro and what its used for is realy basic. It is only used for a member directory which contains some personal info and tracks member dues. By converting FoxPro over to Access 2003 and placing it on a network share, all users will be able access this database. Currently only one person is able to use this and must update it for everyone. Thanks for the list of threads you posted, they will defintely be helpful for in learning this Fox Pro to Access conversion.

 

[etymophony]

I don't know about FoxPro Windows versions but here is a very simple, if roundabout, way to get FoxPro version 2.0 (DOS only) DBFs and FPTs into Access 2003. No programming required. We just did this with a large bibliography database that needs to go online.
1. Find an old machine running Windows 98.
2. Install Office 97 on that machine.
3. Run Access v.2 and import the FoxPro databases to Access.
4. Transfer the files, now in Access v.2 to a Windows XP machine (we used CDs).
5. Import the old Access files into Access 2003.
I will spare readers my opinions about lack of backwards compatibility.

 

[golf212]

Another method for transfer would be to use the FOXPRO COPY TO command to copy the DBF tables to and XLS spreadsheet which then can be directly imported into Access 2003.

USE yourtable1
COPY TO sprdsht1 TYPE XLS

Just beware that FPW 2.x has a limitation of coping 16,384 rows (early version Excel limitation). If you use VP6 or higher, the "TYPE XL5" spec row limitation is 65,536.

John

 

[alvechurchdata]

My apologies if you've already tried the obvious but can't you just link the FPW tables into an Access database as dBase files or via ODBC?

Geoff Franklin

http://www.alvechurchdata.co.uk

 

[severach]

All my versions of Access will import .DBF files directly with no loss of data. I don't see a reason to involve .XLS.