Questions about VFP 8

[kelunaboy]

I am the lone Progammer/Network Admin at a small goverment agency with a custom FPW 2.6 application. The actual source for the compliled .exe is lost but I do have a "version" of the source to work from. After nearly a year of documenting the undocumented database structure and writing small programs that operate on the orignal database I am ready to proceed with a complete rewrite over the next year. My questions relate to what version of VFP would be best.

1) Does VPF 8 come with written documentation, or does it only have online docs? Are there any good development and language reference books for VFP 8?

2) Can I still compile to a single .exe and distribute that to my users, as I can with the FPW 2.6 license and dev kit I have now?

3) Is it possibile to have both FPW 2.6 and VFP 8 accessing the same tables, or is there a conversion process that alters the table format?

4) Can VPF 8 do any server side processing?

5) Arem there any known problems between VFP 8 and Citrix MetaFrame?

Thanks in advance

 

[Mike Lewis]

Kelunaboy,

First, welcome to the world of Visual Foxpro, and to this forum.

Second, may I suggest that, in general, you start a new thread for each of your questions. It is not essential, but you will probably get better answers that way.

Having said that, I'll have a go at answering all your questions:

1) Does VPF 8 come with written documentation, or does it only have online docs? Are there any good development and language reference books for VFP 8?

No written docs. The last version of VFP where the docs were in printed form was 6.0. However, VFP 8.0 does have a very extensive and informative help file.

There are many good books on VFP available. Many of them are published by a firm called Hentzenwerke (

http://www.hentzenwerke.com).

I suggest you take a look at:

http://www.ml-consult.demon.co.uk/MLCBooks.htm

where there are objective reviews and recommendations for VFP books, plus links for the best places to buy on line.

2) Can I still compile to a single .exe and distribute that to my users, as I can with the FPW 2.6 license and dev kit I have now?

Yes. You don't need a separate dev kit. Just buy a copy of VFP.

3) Is it possibile to have both FPW 2.6 and VFP 8 accessing the same tables, or is there a conversion process that alters the table format?

VFP supports two types of tables: Free tables, which are backward compatible with 2.6; and database bound tables, which aren't. Database bound tables have many additional features, such as the ability to store validation rules and default input masks in the database, but at the expense of compatibility.

If you use free tables, there is no problem in VFP and 2.6 apps accessing them at the same time. The same types of locks are supported.

4) Can VPF 8 do any server side processing?

You can use it to write DCOM components which can be run on a server. No doubt other folk here will help you with the details.

5) Arem there any known problems between VFP 8 and Citrix MetaFrame?

Many VFP shops successfully use Citrix. No doubt there are problems, but it is certainly possible. Again, others will give you the benefit of their experience.

Finally, be sure to come back with further questions as your project develops.

Mike


Mike Lewis
Edinburgh, Scotland

http://www.ml-consult.demon.co.uk

 

[rgbean]

I'd just like to add to Mike's excellant response. In 3). there are actually 3 types of tables - 2.x free tables, VFP free tables and VFP tables that are part of a database (.DBC). As long as the tables are of the 2.x free table type, you won't have any trouble sharing them. Just make sure that you don't add any new VFP field types (e.g DateTime, Integer, etc.) because this will convert the 2.x table to a VFP table and your FPW 2.6 app won't be able to even USE it! (You'll get the dreaded "Not a Table" message.)

Rick

 

[Mike Lewis]

Rick,

Thanks for amplifying my response.

I would add one more point.

You said: Just make sure that you don't add any new VFP field types (e.g DateTime, Integer, etc.) because this will convert the 2.x table to a VFP table

In addition, don't let any of the fields contain NULLs, for the same reason.

Mike

Mike Lewis
Edinburgh, Scotland

http://www.ml-consult.demon.co.uk

 

[kelunaboy]

Just wanted to say thank you and mahalo for everyones response. Most helpful!

Alan Smith
Honolulu, Hawaii