change .dbf without losing data

[tomtagaris]

I would like some help on how to add a type to a .dpf file without losing data through a program
tom Tagaris

[edk]

1. Copy to _temp.dbf
2. Change structure of dbf
3. Append from _temp.dbf
4. Delete _temp.dbf

[tomtagaris]

thanks
tom

[Anand]

1. Copy to _temp.dbf
2. Change structure of dbf
3. Append from _temp.dbf
4. Delete _temp.dbf

This is good when you are adding a new field or deleting a field.
But if you want to change 'type' of a field from say 'number' to 'character' then here you will lose data.
For this scenario I copy to SDF format and then append from this file.

Care should be taken NOT to add/delete field and change type at same time.

Regards,

Anand

[ROBROS]

My way to do this is:

First step:
add a new field to the table.

Second step:
eg: replace newfield with str(oldfield) or val(oldfield) depending on the datatype of new field.

You now can keep the oldfield as long as you like in your dbf.
Regards
Robert

[dragancesu]

This is a problem that has torture me many times, so i wrote a program to help solve it

change1.prg - input of old and new structure
change2.prg - creates a change.prg program that solves the problem

old structure is test.dbf, new test2.dbf