Guy,
Views sound like what you're looking for.
Cetin

>Hi,
>
>I need to interact with the data from an older application (FPW2.6). I cannot change or affect the existing application, but I will use VFP8 to work with the data. And I believe I can even add some fields without disrupting the existing app.
>
>I vaguely remember some issues (restrictions) when working with FOX2X tables. There are certain things you could do in VFP that would unintentionally convert the tables to VFP instead of FOX2X. For example, I believe (??) issuing an ALTER TABLE command would convert the table on the fly and render it unusable to the FPW application.
>
>I know that if I screw up I can always issue COPY TO ... TYPE FOX2X and convert the table back, but I can't do this in a live production application.
>
>I was looking through the help file trying to figure out just what my limits are when working with these tables and I haven't found any discussion about this.
>
>So let me ask...
>
>What table operations can I do without converting these FOX2X tables to VFP tables? (i.e., keep them FOX2X)
>
>Using VFP8, can I...
>
>ALTER TABLE?
>
>MODIFY STRUCTURE?
>
>REINDEX?
>
>INDEX ON...?
>
>
>Any other pitfalls or advice on this subject?
>
>Thanks,
>Guy