Can't Find FoxFont File; Can't Output Report to a File

The information in this article applies to:

• Microsoft FoxPro for Windows, versions 2.5 and 2.5a

SUMMARY

There are two operations where Windows, not FoxPro, limits the length of filenames (including the full path) to 31 characters:

• Finding FoxFont in the FoxPro home directory
• Outputting a report to a file

FINDING FOXFONT IN THE FOXPRO HOME DIRECTORY

To find FoxFont, the FoxPro home (program) directory (the directory where FOXPROW.EXE is located) is searched for a file called FOXFONT.FON (or FOXFONT.850, FOXFONT.852, and so on, depending on the current code page). If the full name of that file is longer than 31 characters, FoxFont cannot be found or loaded. For example, C:\MYAPPS\MICROSFT\FOXPROW\FOXFONT.FON is too long. This can be a particular problem on a network where the drive name can be translated to the full name, for example, F: becomes \\MYSHARE\FOXPRO, further compounding the name-length limitation.

To avoid this problem, install FoxPro in a directory immediately off the root directory, for example, C:\FOXPROW. Doing this places FoxFont in the same directory and keeps its full filename under the 31-character limitation.

OUTPUTTING A REPORT TO A FILE

When FoxPro is outputting reports to a file (graphics mode reports only), Windows limits the length of the output filename to 31 characters. For example, the following command is too long for Windows:

REPORT FORM MYREPORT TO FILE C:\MYAPPS\MICROSFT\FOXPROW\MYREPORT.LIS

The only way to work around this problem is to use a shorter name.