PRB: Error "File Does Not Exist" When Appending from a Cursor

• Microsoft Visual FoxPro for Windows, version 3.0

SYMPTOMS

After using a SQL SELECT command, the temporary cursor created remains open and active but is read-only. Attempting to append records from this cursor by using the APPEND FROM command into a read/write Cursor or Table generates this error:

   File does not exist

CAUSE

SQL cursors are temporary files residing in memory. When the APPEND command is issued, Visual FoxPro searches for the file in the default directory and along the search path. When the file is not found, the error is generated.

RESOLUTION

To correct this problem, issue the APPEND FROM command with the DBF() clause, and pass the name of the cursor to the DBF() function as in this example:

   APPEND FROM DBF("<Read-Only Cursor name>")

STATUS

This behavior is by design.

MORE INFORMATION

Steps to Reproduce Behavior

Type each of the following commands in the Visual FoxPro Command window:

   CREATE CURSOR Temp ( Cust_id c(5),Title c(30))
   ** Creates a read/write cursor called Temp
   SELECT * FROM C:\VFP\SAMPLES \DATA\CUSTOMER INTO CURSOR Test
   ** Creates a read-only cursor called Test, open and active.
   SELECT Temp      && Selects the read/write cursor
   APPEND FROM Test  && Generates an error "File <path> does not exist"
   APPEND FROM DBF("Test")
   ** Append records from read-only cursor into the read/write cursor.