>For an installed system on a client's PC, I need to change the DBC. I changed a local view. Can I just copy the new DBC & DCT and the data tables will be o.k.? Or do I have to backup the data and then append it back to blank tables?
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It'd be better to send out the necessary alterations as a short program, doing the needed ALTER TABLE, CREATE SQL VIEW and the like on site, so that any other changes made at the site are retained.

You might want to considering using Stonefield's SDT product - it handles changes to DBCs, tables, indexes and the like by maintaining a separate set of tables containing metadata that can be used to create, repair and update systems in the field. It also provides very robust mechanisms that replace the somewhat risky PACK and REINDEX commands, and some rudimentary file repair tools as well. It's saved me countless hours of time; while I might've been able to develop most of the functionality in SDT, it would've cost far more in time and effort, and Stonefield's support has been outstanding. It now handles free tables as well as things in the VFP DBC, making even more valuable. You can distribute the necessary runtime functionality with your source code on a royalty-free basis, and Stonefield gives a discount to PUTM members.