FIX:GENDBC Error: Command contains unrecognized phrase/keyword

The information in this article applies to:

• Microsoft Visual FoxPro for Windows version 3.0

SYMPTOMS

The following error occurs on DBSETPROP() when a program created by GENDBC.PRG is run:

   Command contains unrecognized phrase/keyword

CAUSE

A comment for a field in a table contains a Carriage Return.

WORKAROUND

Use the following steps to modify GENDBC.PRG located in the Visual FoxPro TOOLS\GENDBC directory so that it adds the CHR(13) as a character in the Comment field.

1. Type the following command in the Command window to open the GENDBC program:

   MODIFY COMMAND SYS(2004)+"TOOLS\GENDBC\GENDBC.PRG"

2. Choose Find from the Edit menu and type the following in the Look For box including the quotation marks:

   "comment"

3. Add a new line to the program below the following line of code, which is two lines below the line that was found:

   cTemp = STRTRAN( cTemp, ["], ['] )

4. Type the following command on the new line created in Step 3:

   cTemp = STRTRAN( cTemp, CHR(13), ["+CHR(13)+"] )

5. Save and close the program file.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. This problem was corrected in Visual FoxPro 3.0b for Windows.

MORE INFORMATION

GENDBC.PRG is located in the Visual FoxPro TOOLS\GENDBC directory. This tool generates a program that can re-create a database. It can be used to:

• Generate code you can analyze to learn how a database is created via program code.
• Generate code that can be placed in your program code to eliminate the need to ship your databases with your application.
• Generate code that can be placed in your program code to re-create the database if a customer's data is corrupt.

1. Type the following commands in the Command window:

   OPEN DATABASE SYS(2004)+"samples\data\testdata" USE customer MODIFY STRUCTURE

2. Type the following lines in the comment "Field Comment" box, pressing ENTER between each line.

   This is the customer's id. This field should be unique.

3. Click OK in the Table Designer dialog box. Click Yes when prompted to save the structure changes.

4. To ensure that none of the sample files are overwritten, make sure that your Default directory is not the Visual FoxPro SAMPLES\DATA directory. This can be verified by choosing Options from the Tools menu, and then selecting the File Location tab. "Default Directory" is the first option in the list.

5. Type the following command in the Command window to create a program that will re-create the TESTDATA database and its tables.

   DO SYS(2004)+'tools\gendbc\gendbc' WITH 'testdata.prg'

6. Now type the following command to run the program that was created in Step 4, and display the error message:

   DO testdata.prg

REFERENCES

Visual FoxPro Help File, Topic "GENDBC.PRG."