>When we open a Fox table, we instantly know the total records in the table.
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>When I open a SQL remote view it can take several minutes to know how many records there are.
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>How can I determine the number of records in an SQL remote view without waiting for the entire file to load?

You can't. A view in VFP is a SQL query. You don't know the number of records in the result set until you execute the query. Same with SPT. You can fetch in stages if the thing is big and slow, and start showing each batch as it comes, but I don't think you can know the total number until the query is processed.