>>>I am writing a report to a file.
>>> Ex. REPORT FORM report1 NOCONSOLE TO FILE test.txt
>>>Instead of getting an ASCII text file like is expected, I get some gibberish like this:
>>>
>>>%-12345X@PJL SET PAGEPROTECT=AUTO
>>>@PJL SET RESOLUTION=600
>>>@PJL ENTER LANGUAGE=PCL
>>>
>>>E*t600R&u600D*r0F&l0O&l0S&l0H&l2a8c1E*p0x0Y*c0t5760x7656Y&l1X*b0M.....
>>>
>>>Anyone have an idea of what causes this? I am using Foxpro 2.6. Thanks in advance for your help.
>>>
>>>Andy Ahrndt
>>>Systems Consultant
>>>C.M.S.I.
>>
>>You should
>>REPORT FORM report1 TO FILE filename ASCII
>
>In Foxpro 2.6 ASCII is not a valid option in the report command. By default the file created should be an ASCII file.
>
>Andy Ahrndt
>Systems Consultant
>C.M.S.I.
In FoxPro 2.5 for DOS the report file was ASCII anyway, because reports were mostly just text, with fixed lines and everything. In VFP and 2.6 for WINDOWS reports are graphic things, which is why controls can be moved 1 pel at a time. The file you get is a print file which you can send to a printer later.

I'll take this opportunity to pose a question of my own: when I tried to use REPORT FORM ... TO FILE myfile ASCII with a landscape report, it kept truncating lines, no matter what I did with the _ASCIICOLS variable. There seemed to be an optimal value which would reduce the truncation to just a character or two, but it never went away. I didn't want to change the report itself much, spoiling the look of it when it is printed normally. Is there something I could do to make the TO FILE ASCII option work better, or is it just not very good?