>>>>>>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')".

I have tried that

My problem is that each dat file consists of a single entry of several hundred characters - how do I get that into a VFP table?