I read in a Visual FoxPro book that there is a COPY command that will copy a .DBF file and the resultant copied .DBF file becomes independent of its originating database (resulting in a free table?).

Would that be the COPY FILE command or the COPY TO command?

What I am trying to do is take a .DBF file that I created on a stand-alone PC, PKZIP it using VFP, file transfer it to a server via modem using VFP, PKUNZIP it using VFP, then merge it into an exisiting VFP database using some kind of batch processing idea or maybe a Remote View?

I have everything working except the file transfer via modem (init, dialing, etc. from VFP using CommTool 3.0 VFP add-on from Avanti Software) and the merge portion. I think I can use a Remote View for merging, but I thought if I did a COPY command I could make the table a free table and that would be even easier than a view.

I guess what I really want to know is how to make a .DBF that is part of a .DBC a free table, not associated with the .DBC any longer.

Any ideas? I'm confused. I can't find a good example of how to make this work yet. Thanks for your help.