How to Create or Modify a Database in an Application

• Micorsoft Visual FoxPro for Windows, version 3.0
• Microsoft FoxPro for Windows, versions 2.5x, 2.6x
• Microsoft FoxPro for MS-DOS, versions 1.x, 2.0, 2.5x, 2.6x
• Microsoft FoxBASE+ for MS-DOS, version 2.1

SUMMARY

In FoxPro 2.x, to create or modify a database under program control, you can use the COPY TO <name> STRUCTURE EXTENDED, the CREATE <name1> FROM <name2> command.

In Visual FoxPro, you can use the ALTER TABLE command.

Also, you can use the CREATE TABLE command in any version of FoxPro.

MORE INFORMATION

The following code examples create a new database named TEMP that contains one field. The field is named LASTNAME and is 30 characters long.

FoxPro 2.x

   USE anyfile
   COPY TO temp STRUCTURE EXTENDED
   USE temp

   APPEND BLANK
   REPLACE field_name WITH 'lastname'
   REPLACE field_len WITH 30
   REPLACE field_type WITH 'C'
   REPLACE field_dec WITH 0
   CREATE newfile FROM temp

The COPY STRUCTURE EXTENDED command creates a new database file that describes the structure of the original database. Each record of the new database describes a field of the original database.

NOTE: The COPY STRUCTURE EXTENDED and CREATE FROM commands also work in stand-alone applications created with the FoxPro Distribution Kit.

Visual FoxPro

   USE anyfile
   ALTER TABLE Temp  ADD COLUMN  "Lastname" C(10)

CREATE TABLE Command

You can also use the CREATE TABLE command to modify or create a database. Its syntax is as follows:

   CREATE table <dbf_name>(<fname1> <type> [(<precision>[,

      <fname2> ...]])

   CREATE Table employee ;
      (name C(20), addr C(30), city C(30), zip C(5), salary N(8,2), ;
         comments M)