Microsoft KB Archive/140760

= PRB: Invalid Key Length Error When Indexing a Cursor File =

Article ID: 140760

Article Last Modified on 11/17/2003

-

APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Visual FoxPro 3.0 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Visual FoxPro 5.0 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Visual FoxPro 6.0 Professional Edition

-



This article was previously published under Q140760



SYMPTOMS
Indexing a cursor file with a key field that contains more than 240 characters generates this error:

Invalid Key Length

This procedure did not generate an error in FoxPro version 2.6.



CAUSE
This is a deliberate change in behavior. The maximum length for an index key in a compact index is 240 bytes. If a key is longer than 240, FoxPro 2.6 truncates it. Visual FoxPro 3.0, 5.0 and 6.0 display the "Invalid Key Length" error message to protect against the possiblity of generating duplicates.



STATUS
This behavior is by design.



MORE INFORMATION
This error message also occurs with a table.

Steps to Reproduce Behavior
Type the following commands in the Command window: CREATE CURSOR Address (address C(254)) INDEX ON address TAG address The "Invalid Key Length" error message is displayed.

