Weird Results w/ Linked DBF

[eyal8r]

I have a software package that uses a DBF file. I am linking to that file in Access 2002. Most of the fields are fine- however- at some point some of the field sizes are cut short. A text field that should have a size of 255 comes in as being a size of 44. This causes weird results in my data- shifting the data that's cut off into other fields and whatnot.

I have tried importing instead of linking- but get the same results. Same w/ copy/paste. The software package runs fine- and doesn't display these odd results. Obviously I can't go in and modify the software package (and I'm not sure that's where the problem is to begin with).

If I EXPORT out of the software package- I have to create an HTML file (I know- LAME!), then import it on into Excel- where, I can put in a dummy record row so that Access declares the right type of field to use for the tables upon importing (PAIN IN THE @$$!)- but- it doesn't cut the fields off. So, I know the problem is in Access linking to this DBF file, and not the DBF file itself.

Does anyone have any solutions here?
Thanks

 

[RuralGuy]

Could it be data related such that you could use Replace() to eliminate/replace the offending character?

 

[eyal8r]

Actually-
Just figured it out. It's 2 problems at once. For some reason, it doesn't like the software's main DBF file. So, I export the records into a new DBF file. The software forces an ALLCAPS.DBF naming convention- which, the Jet Engine doesn't like. So, I rename the file and either link or import it into Access- everything's fine. So, I'm going to look for the update to the JET engine to see if it's fixed the naming conventions problem...

 

[RuralGuy]

Thanks for posting back.