Visual FoxPro does not change the structure of FoxPro tables unless you add the table to a database or add a new data type or enable acceptance of null values. Once you change the structure of a table by adding a new data type such as DateTime, or by enabling null values in a field, Visual FoxPro modifies the table file structure, making the file unrecognizable to FoxPro 2.6.
You can create a FoxPro 2.6 table from a Visual FoxPro table by using the COPY TO command with the TYPE clause and the FOX2X keyword, as in the following example:
* A Visual FoxPro table
USE vfptable.dbf
* Creates a FoxPro 2.6 table
COPY TO fp26tabl.dbf TYPE FOX2X
To copy a FoxPro 2.6 table structure from a Visual FoxPro table, use COPY TO and the NEXT clause, as in the following example.
* Creates an empty FoxPro 2.6 table
COPY TO fp26tabl.dbf NEXT 0 TYPE FOX2X
Visual FoxPro changes all null values in NULL-enabled fields to either 0 or blank, and creates a structure recognized by FoxPro 2.6. For details on Visual FoxPro table structures, see Table Structures of Table Files.