PRB: Error: "The Fields in Table <tablename> Did Not Match..."

• Microsoft Visual FoxPro for Windows, version 3.0

SYMPTOMS

When opening a database-owned table you receive this error;

   The fields in table "<table name>" did not match the entries in the
   database.

CAUSE

When a database-owned table is opened, Visual FoxPro tries to confirm that each field of the table has a matching field object in the database. When the entries do not match, the error occurs. This error can be caused by a corrupt database or a corrupt table. It may also be caused by having the wrong copy of a table (.DBF) in the same directory as a parent database (.DBC).

RESOLUTION

Begin by using the VALIDATE DATABASE command to check the integrity of the current database. Open the database exclusively, and issue the VALIDATE DATABASE command from the Command window, for example:

   OPEN DATABASE mydata EXCLUSIVE
   VALIDATE DATABASE

For more information about recovering a corrupt database, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q129168
   TITLE     : How To Recover Corrupt Database Container Files

If the wrong version of the table (.DBF) accidentally replaced a previous version, the previous version must be recovered (see the "Steps to Reproduce Behavior" section in this article). Otherwise, the table must be deleted or removed from the database container file and, if desired, added back to the database.

To remove the table, issue the VALIDATE DATABASE RECOVER command or the REMOVE TABLE command and specify the table name.

The VALIDATE DATABASE RECOVER and REMOVE TABLE commands have the same affect on the offending table, the table is removed from the database but remains on the disk. Any field properties and long field names defined in the table are lost when the table is removed.

STATUS

This behavior is by design.

MORE INFORMATION

Steps to Reproduce Behavior

The steps outlined below describe how to generate the error using an incorrect version of a table (.DBF) file.

1. Open or create a new database:

   CREATE DATABASE mydata

2. Add a new table (named mytab1) to the database. Give the table one character field named cField1 with a length of 20:

   CREATE TABLE mytab1 (cField1 C(20))

3. Save and close the table and database.

4. Create a new database. Place the new database into a separate directory from the one created in step 1.

5. Add a new table (named 'mytab1') to the new database, and be sure the table is saved to the same directory as the current database. Give the new table three or four fields of any data type.

6. Save and close the database.

7. Copy or move the MYTAB1.DBF file created in step 5 to the directory where the first MYTAB1.DBF was created in step 2. Overwrite the table created in step 2.

8. From the Command window, open the database created in Step 1 to see the error displayed.