Foxpro Data Base

[Roger Bell]

I have inherited a data Base designed in foxpro. I would like to import the
Dat into Access. Firstly, is this possible, and how would I proceed?

Many thanks for any advice

 

[Albert D. Kallal]

I have inherited a data Base designed in foxpro. I would like to import
the
Dat into Access. Firstly, is this possible, and how would I proceed?

Many thanks for any advice

Yes, you should be able to import this data...

I would try a file->get external data->import. Try a the dbaseIII, or
IV..that is most easy.

You don't mention is this data base is a older FoxPro, or a later visual
foxpro.

You also don't mention what version of ms-access.

Anyway, try the following if the above don't work:


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.

(the above seems wrong now..try the following <nb: Albert K.>
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vfoxpro/bb190233.aspx

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 its there you have a "database" otherwise you have free tables.

Now open up the ODBC dialog. In WinXP its 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 its 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 ones 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.

 

[Roger Bell]

Thanks Albert for you comprehensive reply. The import did not work, but have
discovered a merge feature in the Foxpro data base that allows you to merge
into a word document and then go from there. However, I have noticed that
one particular field, which appears to be a MEMO field did not transfer the
data contained therein. Do you know if there is a way to solve this as I
need all the Fields in the Access Data Base.
Thanks again for your valuable time

 

[Albert D. Kallal]

if the file->get external data import using dBaseIII does not work, then
using the FoxPro odbc driver should work

(otherwise, how could FoxPro read this stuff???).

Do you know if there is a way to solve this as I
need all the Fields in the Access Data Base.
Thanks again for your valuable time

You should work on using the odbc driver. I would get the odbc FoxPro driver
working and test EXPORT a simple access table out as FoxPro file, and then
test importing that table.

In other words, you need to get the FoxPro driver working so you can import
and work with a FoxPro tables. This is at the very least a starting point.

So, can you EXPORT a simple ms-access table to a FoxPro table using the odbc
driver?

 

[Roger Bell]

Thanks again Albert. Will do as you suggest. Do I need the actual Foxpro
software as the data base is written in foxpro but runs without the actual
software?

 

[Albert D. Kallal]

Thanks again Albert. Will do as you suggest. Do I need the actual Foxpro
software as the data base is written in foxpro but runs without the actual
software?

No, you just need to install the FoxPro drivers on your computer...

(You just need to download and install that FoxPro odbc driver).

Then, you be able to import the data into ms-access.

It is few hoops to jump through to setup that odbc driver, but I do think
this is the best (practical) approach here.