What is the SPR file format?
.spr is a developer file format used to store generated screen program code for a FoxPro form. Rather than being hand-written, an .spr is produced automatically by the GENSCRN code generator from the visual screen design stored in an .SCX file. The generated file contains xBase commands - @ row,col SAY/GET layout statements, a READ command to activate user input, and window definitions - that together implement the form's behaviour at runtime. FoxPro screens can be invoked directly or called from a FoxPro menu or application. The companion compiled output is an .SPX file.
Visual FoxPro was developed by Microsoft, originally created by Fox Software. The package includes a fully-functional programming language, an SQL-compatible database engine, and several database communication interfaces. The .spr workflow was introduced in FoxPro 2.x (early 1990s) and was superseded in Visual FoxPro 3.0 (1995), which adopted native .scx-based form objects without a separate code-generation step. Visual FoxPro's extended support officially ended in 2015, making .spr a legacy developer artifact. Being plain ASCII text, it can be opened in any text editor.
Security & safety
RISK: LOWA FoxPro .spr is plain-text source code - it cannot execute on its own (it needs the FoxPro runtime to run), so opening one in a text editor to read it is safe. The only real caution is the heavy extension overloading: a file named .spr might actually be a game sprite image or other binary, so confirm what you have before treating it as FoxPro code. As with any source, review it before running an unfamiliar legacy app it belongs to.
Format details
in a nutshell- Sprite / bitmap image (.spr) - Several games and graphics engines (e.g. GoldSrc/Half-Life, Capcom tools) use .spr for sprite images - a binary image format unrelated to the FoxPro source file.
- Lotus / WordPerfect spreadsheet-print or DESQview file - Older office software used .spr for assorted print/spreadsheet data; obsolete and unrelated to FoxPro.
Programs that open SPR files
Windows2 apps
Visual FoxPro
Paid Open the .spr in the VFP IDE to view/edit the generated code; use DO file.spr to run it (legacy 2.x project). Note VFP is discontinued (support ended 2015). 
Any text editor (Notepad++ / VS Code)
Open-source Open the .spr as plain text to read the generated FoxPro/xBase source - best free way to just inspect it. 
macOS1 app
Any text editor (VS Code, BBEdit)
Free Open the .spr as text to read the FoxPro source. (No native FoxPro runtime on modern macOS.) 
Linux1 app
Any text editor (VS Code / gedit)
Free Open the .spr as text to inspect the code. To run a legacy FoxPro app, use a DOS/Windows emulator (DOSBox/Wine). Technical details
deep spec| File class | Plain-text xBase/FoxPro program source code |
| Generated by | `GENSCRN` - FoxPro's screen code generator; produces `.spr` from a `.scx` screen design file |
| Character encoding | ASCII / OEM code page (DOS-era FoxPro; typically CP437 or CP850) |
| Line endings | DOS CRLF (`\r\n`) as produced by FoxPro 2.x on MS-DOS and Windows |
| Compiled counterpart | `.spx` - the compiled FoxPro object produced from the `.spr` source |
| Visual design source | Binary `.scx` (DBF-format table) + `.sct` (memo) file pair - the inputs to `GENSCRN` |
| Key xBase commands | `@ row,col SAY/GET` (field layout), `READ` (activates input), `DEFINE WINDOW`, `ACTIVATE WINDOW` |
| Typical file size | A few KB to tens of KB depending on form complexity |
| Runtime invocation | `DO formname.spr` from the FoxPro command window or a calling program |
| Supported platforms | MS-DOS, Windows (3.x / 9x / NT), classic Mac OS (FoxPro for Macintosh) |
| Superseded by | Visual FoxPro 3.0 native `.scx` form objects - no separate code-generation step required |
| MIME type | `text/plain` (informal: `application/x-foxpro`) |
| Binary signature | None - `.spr` is plain text with no magic bytes; typically begins with a generated comment header |
| File pairing | One `.spr` pairs with a `.scx`/`.sct` design pair and a `.spx` compiled object |
| Technology lineage | Part of the xBase family (dBASE → FoxBase → FoxPro); screen-generation syntax compatible with earlier xBase dialects |
| Released | Early 1990s (FoxPro 2.x screen designer / GENSCRN generator) |
| Latest version | FoxPro 2.6 (1994); deprecated in Visual FoxPro 3.0+ in favor of native .scx forms |
| Specification | en.wikipedia.org |
SPR conversions
Community Q&A
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