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Q123006: PRB: ODBC to Lotus Notes Does Not Bring in Numeric Data

Article: Q123006
Product(s): Microsoft FoxPro
Version(s): 2.50 2.50a 2.50b 2.60 3.00
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kb3rdparty
Last Modified: 10-MAR-2000

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Visual FoxPro for Windows, version 3.0 
- Microsoft FoxPro for Windows, versions 2.5, 2.5a, 2.5b, 2.6 
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SYMPTOMS
========

Under certain conditions, you may not be able to use ODBC to retrieve numeric
data. Null values are returned when you try to bring numeric data into a FoxPro
cursor or table by using the Lotus Notes ODBC driver to connect to a Lotus Notes
database from FoxPro for Windows. Text and date data, however, are brought in
successfully.

NOTE: Lotus Notes is manufactured by a vendor independent of Microsoft; we make
no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding this product's performance or
reliability.

STATUS
======

Microsoft is researching this problem and will post new information here in the
Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.

MORE INFORMATION
================

A Lotus Notes numeric data type will be mapped to an ODBC SQL SQL_FLOAT data
type. This is the same data type the SQL Server FLOAT data types are mapped to
and FoxPro is able to successfully bring down FLOAT data from an SQL Server.
This would indicate that FoxPro might be able to bring in numeric data
successfully from Lotus Notes.

Mapping SQL Tables, Views, and Indexes to and from Notes
--------------------------------------------------------

When connecting to a Lotus Notes database, it's helpful to know the following
information:

- Each SQL table is derived from a Notes form.

- Each SQL index is derived from a Notes view. Sorted columns in the Notes view
  map to fields in a single form. A Notes view selects documents from that
  single form.

- Each SQL view is derived from a Notes view that selects documents through a
  single form.

Steps to Reproduce Problem
--------------------------

1. Set up the Lotus Notes ODBC driver through ODBC Setup. See the Lotus Notes
  help file for more information.

2. Using DBConnect (SQLCONNECT in Visual FoxPro), connect to a Lotus Notes
  database (.NSF File) that has a form with a numeric field on it. The User
  identifier and Password may be an empty string (specified by "").

3. Issue a DBExec from FoxPro(SQLEXEC in Visual FoxPro), passing a simple SQL
  SELECT command to the database file. Notice that the results from this
  command indicate that records have been selected even though the command
  returns an error number of -1. Using DBError (AError in Visual FoxPro)
  returns neither an error number nor an error message.

The commands for steps 2 and 3 will be similar to this:

     handle = DBCONNECT("<Data Source Name>","","")
     && handle = SQLCONNECT("<Data Source Name>","","") in Visual FoxPro
     ?DBEXEC(handle,"<Form Name>")
     && SQLEXEC((handle,"<Form Name>") in Visual FoxPro

<Data Source Name> is specified in the Lotus ODBC Setup and <Form
Name> is a Form that was created inside Lotus Notes. The records will be
blank for the numeric field in the cursor that was returned.

REFERENCES
==========

Lotus ODBC Driver help file (NOTESSQL.HLP).

Additional query words: VFoxWin FoxWin 2.50

======================================================================
Keywords          : kb3rdparty 
Technology        : kbVFPsearch kbAudDeveloper kbFoxproSearch kbFoxPro260 kbFoxPro250 kbFoxPro250a kbFoxPro250b kbVFP300
Version           : 2.50 2.50a 2.50b 2.60 3.00
Issue type        : kbprb

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