How to open fox pro database

[psteja2000]

Hi,

I am totally new to fox pro. No clue whatsoever. I am given two files, a.dbf,a.cdx.

assuming they both represent a table "a".

since it is a microsoft product, I tried opening it in msaccess. Looks like it opened, I see the table with 0 rows. I don't know if it is really empty.

What is the proper way to learn about fox pro?
What all do I need to install to start using it properly?

regards,
Teja

 

[TamarGranor]

Access or Excel should be able to open FoxPro tables. Yes, both a.dbf and a.cdx represent a single table called a. The DBF is the data and the CDX contains indexes.

If you want to look at this in FoxPro, the first question is what version. You posted here in a section aimed at old versions of FoxPro, dating back more than 10 years. The current version is Visual FoxPro 9. It's included in MSDN, so if you have a subscription, you're set; otherwise, you can buy it from the usual places.

To learn Visual FoxPro, check out the books at

http://www.hentzenwerke.com.

Tamar

 

[rgbean]

Teja,
What version of FoxPro are you using? FoxPro for DOS (1.0, 1.1, 2.0, 2.5 or 2.6), FoxPro for Windows (2.5 or 2.6) or Visual FoxPro (3.0 -> 9.0).

There aren't many resourses available for the older versions, everything now online is more for Visual FoxPro.

Rick

 

[psteja2000]

Tamar and Rick,

Thanks for your responses. The files I have are visual fox pro files, so I assume, it is not old version. Don't know how to check the version. But I noticed that my Microsoft Visual Studio has Visual fox pro 6. Looks like I am good to go with what I have. Also I was able to open the .dbf file in ms-vfp6.0

regards,
Teja

 

[severach]

Excel will open any DBF directly. Excel will truncate to 16384 or 65536 lines depending on the version.

Access will not file-open a DBF but it will import it. Create new or open an existing database. Select IMPORT TABLE and the option for DBF will be shown. The DBF will be imported as a table in your database.

In Foxpro use File Open or in the command window
USE A
BROWSE

Foxpro is primarly a programming language and is designed so that most commands are short and are easily typed into the command window so that you may view and change your tables easily. Foxpro isn't very visual so isn't user friendly when you first start out. If you want to use Foxpro, expect to learn a good part of the Foxpro command language before you can do many things.

 

[alvechurchdata]

Access will not file-open a DBF

Importing a table gives you a separate copy of the data in the Fox table. You can also open the Fox file and share it:

[TT]
Right-click in the Tables pane of the Database window
Select Link Tables
Choose Files Of Type FoxPro or dBase
Select a Fox table and click Link button
[/TT]

This gives you a live link to the Fox file so Access can share data with existing Fox apps.

Geoff Franklin

http://www.alvechurchdata.co.uk

 

[Stella740pl]

Teja,

What is the proper way to learn about fox pro?
What all do I need to install to start using it properly?

Since you have VFP6 installed, you probably have Help files installed, too. (If you don't, look for MSDN CDs that came with it and install Help files from there.) They will provide you with wealth of information. You can also search on Tek-Tips for threads where VFP books and sites were recommended - some are really good. You can also subscribe to all 5 VFP forums:

Microsoft: VFP - Automation, Mail & 3rd Party Svcs - forum1251
Microsoft: VFP - Databases, SQL&VFP, and Reports - forum1252
Microsoft: VFP - Forms, Classes and Controls - forum1254
Microsoft: VFP - Web Related Issues - forum1253
Microsoft: VFP -General Coding Issues - forum184

 

[psteja2000]

Thank y'll for the replies, I am now busy studying VFP
I really appreciate all your help..


regards,
Teja