odbc, foxplus and office desktops apps

When I create a standalone table via copy to ... type foxplus/fox2x, do all
other office apps still use odbc to view the table or do some of them use old
style direct file io? I ask because I'm rewriting an older app & the previous
developer believes that the foxplus/fox2x tables can always be opened by
other office apps regardless of odbc version/install issues. I find this
difficult to believe. Anyone know for sure?
-Lew

RandyBosma
Thu Sep 06 12:51:26 PDT 2007

Lew,

To the best of my knowledgem the FoxPlus, FoxPro2x, and earlier dBase files
(aka, the DBF format) are a common and well known structure that many
applications can read natively, e.g. without the need for ODBC drivers.

HTH,
Randy Bosma

Lew wrote:
>When I create a standalone table via copy to ... type foxplus/fox2x, do all
>other office apps still use odbc to view the table or do some of them use old
>style direct file io? I ask because I'm rewriting an older app & the previous
>developer believes that the foxplus/fox2x tables can always be opened by
>other office apps regardless of odbc version/install issues. I find this
>difficult to believe. Anyone know for sure?
>-Lew

--
Message posted via DBMonster.com
http://www.dbmonster.com/Uwe/Forums.aspx/foxpro-general/200709/1

Dan
Thu Sep 06 12:59:14 PDT 2007

Foxplus is probably safest since it's the last version that was truly
dbase-compatible so any lingering code in the Office apps that saw dbf as
"dBase" will still work.

As you know, the VFP ODBC driver hasn't been updated since VFP 6 so any
table using any of the database features added since then will be unusable
to *any* app trying to come in via ODBC.

Dan

Lew wrote:
> When I create a standalone table via copy to ... type foxplus/fox2x,
> do all other office apps still use odbc to view the table or do some
> of them use old style direct file io? I ask because I'm rewriting an
> older app & the previous developer believes that the foxplus/fox2x
> tables can always be opened by other office apps regardless of odbc
> version/install issues. I find this difficult to believe. Anyone know
> for sure? -Lew

Lew
Thu Sep 06 16:50:26 PDT 2007

Hey Dan:
Are you sure the "unusable" glitch applies? I think I remember from last
year that I tested this idea by creating a dbc trigger that would prevent a
test table from being opened at all, under any circumstances. This "worked"
fine in VFP9, but I believe that excel and word were able to access the
table just fine. I don't remember whether or not I was able to write to the
table, however.

"Dan Freeman" <spam@microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:OBnSnBM8HHA.1204@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> Foxplus is probably safest since it's the last version that was truly
> dbase-compatible so any lingering code in the Office apps that saw dbf as
> "dBase" will still work.
>
> As you know, the VFP ODBC driver hasn't been updated since VFP 6 so any
> table using any of the database features added since then will be unusable
> to *any* app trying to come in via ODBC.
>
> Dan
>
> Lew wrote:
>> When I create a standalone table via copy to ... type foxplus/fox2x,
>> do all other office apps still use odbc to view the table or do some
>> of them use old style direct file io? I ask because I'm rewriting an
>> older app & the previous developer believes that the foxplus/fox2x
>> tables can always be opened by other office apps regardless of odbc
>> version/install issues. I find this difficult to believe. Anyone know
>> for sure? -Lew
>
>

swdev2
Thu Sep 06 20:42:46 PDT 2007

Lew -
Ya - I know for sure.
I've done extensive testing on this , published my results on the Yoo Tee -
but I'd be surprised if you can find it there anymore.

In the numerous apps I've written -
IF I make an output file in Fox2X format -
guess what ?
anything from Office 97, forward,

I NOT HAVE TO WORRY about which set o drivers from MDAC are installed
on the client machine. I've lived through numerous MDAC revisions from
Microsoft,
and always, type Fox2X works. MDAC is an acronym for Microsoft Data Access
Components -
and ALL of them, regardless of version, understand Fox2X format .

Repeat for emphasis -
'ALL of them, regardless of version, understand Fox2X format '

ODBC, ADO, RDO, OLE/DB -
ALL understand Fox2X format.

I used to make the distinction -
IF you use MDAC v2.4 or greater, Fox2X always works.
That was 8 years ago.

Good Luck with your design.

Regards [Bill]
--
===================
William Sanders / EFG VFP / mySql / MS-SQL
www.efgroup.net/vfpwebhosting
www.terrafox.net www.viasqlserver.net

"Lew" <Lew@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:C1DD064D-64AF-41BB-ACA3-547A82D58F08@microsoft.com...
> When I create a standalone table via copy to ... type foxplus/fox2x, do
all
> other office apps still use odbc to view the table or do some of them use
old
> style direct file io? I ask because I'm rewriting an older app & the
previous
> developer believes that the foxplus/fox2x tables can always be opened by
> other office apps regardless of odbc version/install issues. I find this
> difficult to believe. Anyone know for sure?
> -Lew

Dan
Fri Sep 07 08:28:00 PDT 2007

The most I'll commit to is "your mileage may vary".

It depends on the feature and what you're expecting. I wouldn't expect
DBCEvents to work, so I certainly wouldn't expect them to serve their
intended purpose. <g>

I know that I can wreak havoc by accidentally changing a char field to
char(binary) -- the phone immediately starts to ring because external
reporting apps can no longer get to the data. (It's an amazingly easy thing
to do without realizing it -- just bump the keyboard with the MODI STRU
dialog open.)

Dan

Lew wrote:
> Hey Dan:
> Are you sure the "unusable" glitch applies? I think I remember from
> last year that I tested this idea by creating a dbc trigger that
> would prevent a test table from being opened at all, under any
> circumstances. This "worked" fine in VFP9, but I believe that excel
> and word were able to access the table just fine. I don't remember
> whether or not I was able to write to the table, however.
>
> "Dan Freeman" <spam@microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:OBnSnBM8HHA.1204@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>> Foxplus is probably safest since it's the last version that was truly
>> dbase-compatible so any lingering code in the Office apps that saw
>> dbf as "dBase" will still work.
>>
>> As you know, the VFP ODBC driver hasn't been updated since VFP 6 so
>> any table using any of the database features added since then will
>> be unusable to *any* app trying to come in via ODBC.
>>
>> Dan
>>
>> Lew wrote:
>>> When I create a standalone table via copy to ... type foxplus/fox2x,
>>> do all other office apps still use odbc to view the table or do some
>>> of them use old style direct file io? I ask because I'm rewriting an
>>> older app & the previous developer believes that the foxplus/fox2x
>>> tables can always be opened by other office apps regardless of odbc
>>> version/install issues. I find this difficult to believe. Anyone
>>> know for sure? -Lew

Lew
Fri Sep 07 13:00:01 PDT 2007

Guys, guys. We're missing the point. This is not a 'how to' or 'what's best'
question. I'm askiing whether or not *any* odbc driver, no matter how old,
simple, or reliable is used to read/write foxplus/fox2x tables. My opiniion
is that there must be something since direct file io was abandoned a few
windows versions ago. It's a yes/no question. Does anyone know the answer for
certain?

swdev2
Fri Sep 07 22:19:02 PDT 2007

Heya Lew -

I was thinking the same thing after I wrote my reply to you.

I'll run a file i/o test this weekend for ya, using Word 2003 with a mail
merge using a Fox2X file,
and a native 'file open' using Excel 2003 with a Fox2X file, and let you
know if
it's opened directly or if the odbc / ole-db drivers get automagically
called.
I've got an instance of Office 97 floating around here somewhere on one of
the braindead testing machines,
I'll test those versions as well.

Be Good ! [Bill]
--
===================
William Sanders / EFG VFP / mySql / MS-SQL
www.efgroup.net/vfpwebhosting
www.terrafox.net www.viasqlserver.net

"Lew" <Lew@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:85ED91D9-DECE-4629-B9E3-734F6E6A7178@microsoft.com...
> Guys, guys. We're missing the point. This is not a 'how to' or 'what's
best'
> question. I'm askiing whether or not *any* odbc driver, no matter how old,
> simple, or reliable is used to read/write foxplus/fox2x tables. My
opiniion
> is that there must be something since direct file io was abandoned a few
> windows versions ago. It's a yes/no question. Does anyone know the answer
for
> certain?