>>>>>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
>
>How then can I manipulate the original dat file with variable and very long fields?

I don't understand, is this question related to your first? You can use filetostr() to get the data into the memo field, "replace yourfield with filetostr('yourfile.dat')".