Microsoft KB Archive/92966

HOWTO: Using a FoxPro Database in a Word for Windows Mail Merge

Q92966

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The information in this article applies to:

• Microsoft Visual FoxPro for Windows, versions 3.0, 5.0, 6.0
• Microsoft FoxPro for MS-DOS, versions 2.0, 2.5, 2.5a, 2.5b, 2.6, 2.6a
• Microsoft FoxPro for Windows, versions 2.5, 2.5a, 2.5b, 2.6, 2.6a
• Microsoft Word for Windows, versions 1.0, 1.1, 1.1a, 2.0, 6.0

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Information from a Microsoft FoxPro database file can be converted for use in the mail merge feature of Microsoft Word versions 1.x, 2.0, and 6.0 for Windows.

NOTE: Memo fields convert as blank fields. If the data in the memo field is required for the mail merge, you must write a program to convert the data. Only Word versions 1.x and 2.x for Windows require that memo fields be converted.

Word Version 1.x

To convert a FoxPro database for use with a mail merge in Word version 1.x for Windows, issue the following commands in the FoxPro Command window: '

   USE <database>
   COPY TO <newfilename> TYPE DELIMITED 

Here <database> is the name of the existing database and <newfilename> is the name of the intermediate format file. FoxPro automatically appends the .DBF extension to the filename.

Word Version 2.0

To convert a FoxPro database for use with a mail merge in Word version 2.0 for Windows, issue the following commands in the FoxPro Command window: '

   USE <database>
   COPY TO <newfilename> TYPE FOXPLUS 

where <database> is the name of the existing database and <newfilename> is the name of the intermediate format file. FoxPro automatically appends the .DBF extension to the filename.

Word Version 6.0

In Word version 6.0, you can use ODBC to directly read in the FoxPro database.

NOTE: See Q157767 for information on downloading the ODBC driver for Visual FoxPro.

1. Start Word version 6.0.
2. From the Tools menu, choose Mail Merge. Then choose the Create button under Main Document. Edit your main document as needed.
3. From the Tools menu, choose Mail Merge, choose the Get Data button under Data Source, and then choose Open Data Source.
4. Select "MS FoxPro Files (*.DBF)" from the List Files Of Type box, and then select the FoxPro database.
   

NOTE: If "MS FoxPro Files (*.DBF)" is not available, you must install the data access (ODBC) utilities using the Word Setup program.

REFERENCES

For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q157767 PATCH: Vfpodbc5.exe Visual FoxPro ODBC Driver Version 5.0

Additional query words:

Keywords : kbODBC kbvfp kbvfp300 kbvfp500 kbvfp600
Issue type : kbhowto
Technology : kbWordSearch kbVFPsearch kbAudDeveloper kbFoxproSearch kbZNotKeyword2 kbZNotKeyword3 kbWord600 kbWord200 kbWord100 kbWord110 kbWord110a kbFoxPro200DOS kbFoxPro250DOS kbFoxPro250aDOS kbFoxPro250bDOS kbFoxPro260DOS kbFoxPro260aDOS kbFoxPro260 kbFoxPro250 kbFoxPro250a kbFoxPro250b kbFoxPro260a kbVFP300 kbVFP500 kbVFP600

Last Reviewed: October 20, 2000 © 2001 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Terms of Use.