MSQuery: Invalid Column Number Adding Fields from Table

• Microsoft Query for Windows, version 1.0
• Microsoft Query for Windows 95, version 2.0

SYMPTOMS

In Microsoft Query, if you save a query result set as a Microsoft Access, FoxPro, or dBASE table with an index, when you open the newly created table and add all the fields from the table to the query window, you may receive the following error message:

   Invalid column number

CAUSE

Microsoft Query supports up to 256 columns in a table. When you save a table that contains 255 columns as a Microsoft Access, or FoxPro table, and you add an index on a field in the table, the saved table exceeds the 256-column limit, but you do not receive an error message.

WORKAROUNDS

When you save a query result as a Microsoft Access, or FoxPro table, to avoid receiving the error message above when you use the table, do one of the following:

• When you save a query that contains 255 fields as a table, do not add an index to the table.

  -or-

• Before you save a query as a table, make sure the query window contains fewer than 255 fields.

  -or-

• When you open a table that has been saved in Microsoft Query with 255 fields and an index, add only the necessary fields to the query window.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.

REFERENCES

For more information about the Create Index Dialog Box or how to Save A Query's Result Set As A Table, choose the Search button in Help and type:

   indexes: creating