PRB: _Tally System Variable Reports Incorrect Record Count

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

SYMPTOMS

When using a SEEK command in the FOR clause of the APPEND FROM command, the _TALLY system variable does not reflect the additional records added to a table.

CAUSE

The SEEK command is moving the record pointer in the table while the APPEND FROM command is adding records. This prevents the _TALLY from returning the proper count.

RESOLUTION

Place the SEEK command, or any other command that may move the record pointer, outside of the APPEND FROM command. Use a FOR...NEXT or an IF...ENDIF loop structure to process and limit the records.

MORE INFORMATION

The code example below creates two tables and populates them with one and three records, respectively. After creating an index on the second table, the APPEND FROM command adds records based on the results of the SEEK command. The SEEK command, however, moves the record pointer while records are being added, which causes _TALLY to return an incorrect value.

Steps to Reproduce Behavior

Create a program with the following code and run it:

   CREATE TABLE test1 (fld1 c(10))
   CREATE TABLE test2 (fld1 c(10))
   INSERT INTO test2 (fld1) VALUES ('AA')
   INSERT INTO test1 (fld1) VALUES ('AA')
   INSERT INTO test1 (fld1) VALUES ('AA')
   INSERT INTO test1 (fld1) VALUES ('BB')
   SELECT test2
   INDEX ON fld1 TAG fld1
   APPEND FROM test1 FOR NOT SEEK(fld1,'test2')
   ? _TALLY

REFERENCES

For more information about updating master and transaction tables, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q98355
   TITLE     : How to Update a Master File from a Transaction File