PRB: Remote View Displays Empty Date Fields with 12/30/1899

• Microsoft Visual FoxPro for Windows, versions 3.0, 3.0b, 5.0

SYMPTOMS

If a Remote view accesses a table with an empty date field, then that field is displayed with a value of "12/30/1899."

CAUSE

The ODBC driver has to return a value since it does not have a concept of "empty" data. So, a default constant is a better choice than NULL in this case. The date 12/30/1899 is the default value used in OLE and Microsoft Access.

STATUS

This behavior is by design.

MORE INFORMATION

Steps to Reproduce Behavior

1. Using the 32-Bit ODBC Driver Manager create a datasource to access the Labels.dbf table in the Visual FoxPro 3.0 or 5.0 directory. You want to use the Visual FoxPro Tables (Microsoft Visual FoxPro Driver) and select the Free Table Directory as the Database Type.

2. Run Visual FoxPro and Browse Labels.dbf using the following:

         SET CENTURY ON
         USE HOME()+"Labels.dbf"
         BROWSE
   

3. Look at the Update field and note that it is empty for all the records in the table. Close the Labels.dbf table.

4. Open a database or create a new one, then create a remote view based on the Labels.dbf table using the datasource created earlier.

5. In the Fields tab, click the "Add All" button to select all fields for output.

6. Browse the view.

NOTE: This behavior exists with any type of remote datasource that allows the date fields to be empty.