Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

I found a few interesting commands about code page :
getcp() : displays all code page available
cpdbf() : displays code page of a table, can be seen also with DISPLAY STRUCTURE
cpconvert(): converts a string to another code page
and
CPZERO : a program in vfp50/tools/ that converts code page of a table

My table had the wrong code page. I used cpzero and everything looks fine now.
Thanks.


>Claude --
>
>This has to do with the fact that VFP5 relies on code tables for interpretation of ASCII codes. USE the table EXCLUSIVE and MODIFY STRUCTURE....you should be propmpted to select a codetable....Look at VFP help for more commands related to code tables: You may find one that conforms to the way your data is stored.
>
>
>>I have a table of French word which may contain accents.
>>For example : "étudiant"
>>This table was create with a previous version of Foxpro and I cannot see accented character properly with FoxPro 5.0. Instead I see a strange symbol or a black sqare.
>>
>>I verified the ascii code of the "é" character and I get 130 for words already entered in the table and 233 for new words I input.
>>
>>Can someone explain me the reason of this.
>>and
>>Do I have to convert all "old" accented characters to "new" characters?
>>
>>Thanks.