Thanks James, Naomi, and Gary,

The call to CURSORSETPROP("MapBinary", .T., 0) seems to have done the trick. Under the debugger, I now see that VARTYPE(BlobData) = "Q". And, if I loop over the size of the blob, I can use SUBSTR(BlobData. nInc, 1) to transfer all of the bytes into my array.

So, that seems to have answered that question. I'm not completely sure until I can check this with the client that actually processes the byte array. I'll let you know.

Thanks again,
Jim

>You might try this before creating the view
>

>	CURSORSETPROP("MapBinary",.t.,0)
>

>
>>>Are you saying that when you create the VFP remote view and select BLOB as the data type, the view instead creates a general field type when you run the query?
>>>
>>
>>I can use FlameRobin to view the structure of the original database. It is a blob. What I know is that it does contain binary data collected from a measurement system: all 8-bit A/D values.
>>
>>I create an ODBC data source using a Firebird driver.
>>
>>In VFP, CREATE SQL VIEW, etc. The Select statement in that view just selects that field.
>>
>>I know know in the resulting view, that field is identified in VFP as General.
>>
>>Jim
>>
>>>
>>>>>Where do you get the error? In the substr() loop?
>>>>>
>>>>>Also, have you tried assigning the blob to a variable and referencing the var in the substr()?
>>>>>
>>>>>Gary
>>>>
>>>>Gary,
>>>>
>>>>If I try assigning BlobData to a local variable, I get an error saying that the operation is not valid for a General field.
>>>>
>>>>So BlobData is a general field, not a blob.
>>>>
>>>>I assume that the blob data is in that general field. How do I get it out into a byte array?
>>>>
>>>>Thanks,
>>>>Jim
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>How to copy the contents of a blob field in a table into an array of bytes.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>VFP doesn't have byte data type. Please clarify.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>It does *sortof*. I've defined arrays as byte (DIME aTest[100] as BYTE, aTest = 'X') to pass to COM servers and they are recognized as VT_UI1. TYPE() in VFP returns 'N'. I guess it depends on what the array is to be used for.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>Sergey & Gary,
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>Thanks for responding to my posting.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>Actually, my purpose has to do with COM. I'm developing a COM server. The client will pass a reference (pointer) to a byte array to the COM sever. The COM server will transfer the data from the blob field into the byte array.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>So, how, in my VFP COM server can I transfer the data from the blob into the byte array?
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>Looks like VFP Dimension statement knows about the Byte data type, by the CAST function does not.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>Thanks,
>>>>>>>>>>Jim
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>Does something like the following work?
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>DIME MyPassedArray[LEN(MyBlob)]
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>FOR nInc = 1 TO LEN(MyBlob)
>>>>>>>>> MyPassedArray[nInc]=SUBSTR(MyBlob,nInc,1)
>>>>>>>>>ENDFOR
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>Gary,
>>>>>>>>I just got to try your suggestion. The blob field is part of a view. When I try the code you suggest:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> FOR nIx = 1 TO nBlobSize
>>>>>>>> nBlobData[nIx] = SUBSTR(BlobData, nIx, 1)
>>>>>>>> ENDFOR
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>Where, BlobData is the name of the blob field in the view. I get the following error message:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Function argument value, type, or count is invalid
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>I get the sam error if I use vMyView.BlobData as the first argument.
>>>>>>>>Again, thanks for your suggestions.
>>>>>>>>Jim
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>What is the type of the BlobData field?
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Naomi,
>>>>>>It is a blob in the original database from which I create the view. BlobData is the name of the field in the VFP view. VARTYPE(BlobData) returns "G". Does that mean that it is no longer a blob?
>>>>>>In any case, I am trying to get the binary data out of that blob field.
>>>>>>In the view, I just changed the field to say CAST(myBlobField AS BLOB) AS BlobData.But, VARTYPE(BlobData) still returns "G:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>The original database is Firebird.I use a VFP parametrized view to get a specific record in the table, and now want to get the blob field in that record.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Hmmm
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Jim