Still, I think we should be able to create a table with any funny name we want, as long as Windows is able to create a file with that name. The problem may be that Fox is trying to use that name as an alias, and then it can't.

No, I just tried to use spaces and minuses and stuff. As long the minus sign was absent, the alias was assigned by replacing the spaces with underscores, and it was all OK. When I tried to create a table with a minus sign inside the name, I got a default alias of B, but the table still got created.


x='a very long file name with spaces'
create table (x) (c l)
?alias() && gives A_VERY_LONG_FILE_NAME_WITH_SPACES

x='a very long - file name with spaces'
create table (x) (c l)
Alias is A_VERY_LONG___FILE_NAME_WITH_SPACES

x='a very long-file name with spaces'
create table (x) (c l)
Alias is now just E - but I still got the table created. Though, this behavior is sort of funny to observe, the way it handles the spaces and stuff which won't fit into an alias, sometimes it handles it in one way, and sometime in another.

One way for the initial poster, if he doesn't need long field names, is to create a cursor with the desired structure, copy that to a table with a filename of his choice (with or without any records), and then Use that table with an alias he will control - not an automatic one.