FIX: "Line Too Long" Error When Appending Records

MS-DOS    | WINDOWS   | MACINTOSH

The information in this article applies to:

• Microsoft FoxPro for MS-DOS, versions 2.5x, 2.6x
• Microsoft FoxPro for Windows, versions 2.5x, 2.6x
• Microsoft FoxPro for Macintosh, version 2.5x, 2.6x

SYMPTOMS

A "Line too Long" error message will appear when you try to append records containing more than 3998 characters. This was the previous character limit in FoxPro version 2.0 for MS-DOS.

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 3.0 for Windows.

MORE INFORMATION

In FoxPro 2.6a for MS-DOS, this error does not occur when using a tab delimited or comma delimited file. This error only occurs when using an System Data Format (SDF) file.

Steps to Reproduce Problem

1. Create a database of 20 fields with 200 characters each. Call the database REALBIG. The total number of characters per record should be 4001.

2. Add one record.

3. Type the following in the Command window

         USE REALBIG
   

   and then type:

         COPY TO REALBIG1 TYPE SDF
   

   The file should be copied without error.

4. Type the following in the Command window:

         APPEND FROM REALBIG1 TYPE SDF
   

   The error message "Line too long" will appear.

5. Type the following in the Command window:

         MODIFY STRUCTURE
   

6. Change the last field's character length to 197. Make the changes permanent.

7. Repeat step 3.

   Again, the file will copy without error.