Microsoft KB Archive/213942

= XL2000: Certain ODBC Drivers Do Not Support Long File Names =

Article ID: 213942

Article Last Modified on 8/5/2004

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Excel 2000 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Query 2000

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This article was previously published under Q213942





SYMPTOMS
In Microsoft Query 2000 or Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications, when you attempt to open a file saved in one of the following formats
 * dBASE
 * FoxPro
 * Paradox
 * Text

you may receive an error message if the file name contains more than eight characters (not including the characters that comprise the file name extension).

In Query 2000, you may receive the following error message:

Invalid string or buffer length.

When you use Data Access Objects (DAO) in a Visual Basic for Applications macro, you may receive one the following error messages

Run-time error '3011': The Microsoft Jet database engine could not find the object ' '. Make sure the object exists and that you spell its name and the path name correctly.

-or-

Run-time error '3011': Couldn't find object ' '

where the file being accessed is named .dbf. The object name in the error message that you receive may be different from those described in this article.



WORKAROUND
If you need to open dBase or Microsoft FoxPro files with long file names in Microsoft Query or DAO, install the Microsoft Visual FoxPro Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) driver.

The following file is available for download from the Microsoft Download Center:

Download Vfpodbc5.exe now

For additional information about how to download Microsoft Support files, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

119591 How to Obtain Microsoft Support Files from Online Services

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MORE INFORMATION
The Microsoft ODBC drivers for dBASE-formatted files that are for use on the Macintosh operating system do support long file names. However, it is still necessary for these names to remain compatible with MS-DOS-based versions of dBASE software products. For this purpose, the driver mentioned in this article supports only file names that conform to the 8.3 MS-DOS file-naming convention.

Additional query words: LFN XL2000

Keywords: kbdownload kbgraphxlink kbfile kbprb KB213942

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