Naming a Table

When you issue the CREATE TABLE command, you specify the file name for the .dbf file Visual FoxPro creates to store your new table. The file name is the default table name for both database and free tables. Table names can consist of letters, digits, or underscores and must begin with a letter or underscore.

If your table is in a database, you can also specify a long table name. Long table names can contain up to 128 characters and can be used in place of short file names to identify the table in the database. Visual FoxPro displays long table names, if you’ve defined them, whenever the table appears in the interface, such as in the Project Manager, the Database Designer, the Query Designer, and the View Designer, as well as in the title bar of a Browse window.

To give a database table a long name

• In the Table Designer, enter a long name in the Table Name box.

-or-

• Use the NAME clause of the CREATE TABLE command.

For example, the following code creates the table vendintl and gives the table a more understandable long name of vendors_international:

CREATE TABLE vendintl NAME vendors_international (company C(40))

You can also use the Table Designer to rename tables or add long names to tables that were created without long names. For example, when you add a free table to a database, you can use the Table Designer to add a long table name. Long names can contain letters, digits, or underscores, and must begin with a letter or  underscore. You can’t use spaces in long table names.