It is just as powerful as you say. When developing a VFP/Word OLE Automation project, I wondered how I could protect my Word templates from users eyes and the inevitable tampering. I thought of FileToStr() and storing the DOC in a memo field. Then creating a temp Word DOC on the fly using the StrToFile function. It works brilliantly!

I am using this technique to create installation files for a PDA in a project I am working on now. Files include tables, runtime PDA files and an EXE file. Again, this all works flawlessly.

At this point in my development life, those are the 2 most useful VFP functions ever invented.

>Hi Mark,
>
>Off topic, but what the heck. . .
>
>FILETOSTR()/STRTOFILE() fascinate me. They appear to be a whole lot more "powerful" than the documentation betrays.
>
>VFP Help mentions virtually nothing of this "power" and Hacker's happens to mention that these can be used to duplicate a .DBF.
>
>Reading the Help I come to the conclusion that FILETOSTR() puts data into a memvar. That's all. In fact, since it specifically says "into a character string" I jump to the conclusion that it will be 1 very long string of character data.
>BUT it actually does much more than that. I would never have guessed that it "preserves" the original "structure" of the information, letting STRTOFILE() make an exact duplicate of the original file! Yes, Hacker's and posts like yours clued me in, but this capability has (in my opinion) far-reaching value and ought to be documented right in the VFP Help. Sadly even the VFP 7 Help doesn't expand on this.
>
>No reply required - just wanting to comment.
>
>JimN