I have written an application that uses Paradox tables.  My application's
data is pretty normalized but part of my application has to send data to
WordPerfect via a mail merge.  For the mail merge to work efficiently, I
need to create a single record flat file table that contains the information
for my current record in Paradox.

Paradox limits tables to no more than 255 fields per record.  Although that
would normally be more than enough, it is causing some problems in the merge
part of my application.  Is there another data storage format that 1. is
widely used 2. that is easy to use from delphi (i.e. natively supported) and
3.  allows more than 255 fields per record (the more the better)?

Thank you in advance.

IIRC WordPerfect supports comma delimited ASCII for mail merge.

--
Bill
(TeamB cannot answer questions received via email)

Thank you for the response.  Although comma delimited is a possibility, it
would not allow me to use named fields.  My merge documents are fairly
complex and it would be very difficult to write the merge form files using
only field numbers.  I would also have to re-write a lot of existing form
files.

"Bill Todd (TeamB)" <bill_nos...@dbginc.com> wrote in message
news:3c75486e$1_2@dnews...

I don't remember what formats WP supports for mail merge but you are limited
to what WP supports. That is the list you need to investigate.

--
Bill
(TeamB cannot answer questions received via email)

Actually, to clarify, I am ultimately using WPFormat.dll to create a
WordPerfect merge .dat file that is WordPerfect's native merge data format.
Before I create the .dat file, I need to use an interim table to store the
data so that I can automatically update the data as data changes in my
application.  The interim data storage table does not need to be supported
by WP (just Delphi).

"Bill Todd (TeamB)" <bill_nos...@dbginc.com> wrote in message
news:3c757bdd$1_2@dnews...

news:3c763ace$1_1@dnews...

Since the interim storage doesn't affect the actual merge
document, why not just use a table with a memo field. Each record
could represent the information needed for each document you need
to create. Store the information in the memo field with each line
consisting of the merge field name and information. Then you can
just parse each memo field when creating the merge file for Word.

HTH

Another cheap alternative might be a type Pascal file of records. Another
alternative would be a ClientDataSet.

--
Bill
(TeamB cannot answer questions received via email)

Hi Trey,

Advantage Database Server will support more than 255 fields/record. They
have a free utility to convert Paradox files to ADTs. They have a native
Delphi solution and Advantage is widely used. This may provide you with a
solution.

http://www.advantagedatabase.com/ADS/default.htm

The maximum record size for an ADT is 65,530 bytes (excluding memo or
BLOBS). So you have up to this amount to store the names of fields
(The record info was provided to me by Advantage power user Karl Perry).

This the Advantage knowledgebase ref:

Maximum Number of Fields in a Table Created Through the Advantage Database
Server (REF#981218-0629)

      DESCRIPTION:

      What is the maximum number of fields that can be created in a table
managed by the Advantage Database Server?
      SOLUTION:

      Maximum Number of Fields in an ADT:
      Each ADT field requires 10 + FieldNameLen bytes to transfer between
the client and the server. In addition, there is some overhead for the file
name and the table header. The length of the file name is variable, but in
general, you can calculate the maximum number of fields with the following
equation:

      65000 / ( 10 + AverageFieldNameLength )

      For example, if the average field name length is:
      10 -> 3250 fields
      20 -> 2166 fields
      30 -> 1625 fields

      Maximum Number of Fields in a DBF:
      The maximum number of fields that can be created in a DBF is 2035.

      http://solutions.advantagedatabase.com/as/advantage_solutions.exe

HTH,

Ken

news:3c7535d7_1@dnews...
WordPerfect via a mail merge.  For the mail merge to work efficiently, I