>Basically I need to get tables' structures, relationships, and views (if there's anything like that in the db-2/as400 world).

You might try using IBM iSeries Navigator portion of Client Access...it has a feature that lets you browse tables. You can also see the indexes, and if they have put them in, the file descriptions.

I believe this comes free with the AS/400...should be somewhere on the IFS of the machine you are working with.

Client Access also has an ODBC driver that works well with VFP...for passthrough queries anyhow. You can even get at old System 36 format files with it, which is very handy if you are working with a cruddy old app from the days of yore.

As for why they won't show you the schema, I would consider the possibility that they dont have one drawn up. Of 4 or 5 AS/400 apps I have had a good close look at, none have had any kind of documentation of the schema. These guys seem to like to do things the hard way.