>>>I have a file called datconv with a memo field into which I have appended the data from dat files
>>>
>>>But when i try to process the memo fields much of the data is missing - my reasoning is that I am missing data because reading the dat file into the memo field in the first instance had created 2-3 lines in the memo field because of its length
>>>
>>>On the assumption that the dat files have very long lines lets say over 500 characters how can I create a dbf file from them - the data has no formatting
>>>
>>>Hope this is understandable
>>
>>The only important factor I see, is that the memo field is "memo binary".
>
>what does that mean and what do I do?

Binary memo fields won't get translated according to the code page, as opposed to normal memo fields.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-US/library/65sc733b(v=vs.80).aspx