>Rick,
>
>>>XBase doesn't fit well with strongly typed languages which may be the main reason why the model has gone away.
>
>There is nothing about XBase that is contrary to strong typing. Heck, storing a "strongly typed" variable as a hidden cursor field would make it easy to implement and enforce in VFP.

I agree. It could have been done, but then you'd make one half of developers happy and then other have seriously pi*sed off...

>>>However, even in that light I know that a very large number of current developers have worked with XBase at some point in time - you hear very few lamenting that they wish they had it back...

>Well, developers are motivated by lots of ideas other than business sense. I thought I was running a cool company-converted-to-Java in 1997 but soon realized I was running a programmer hobby center. Programmer heaven- lots of cool new stuff every day, everybody in "learning" rather than "delivery" mode, lots of opportunity to position oneself as a leading-edge guru and/or write really clever code... ;-)

This is also true, but that's a management issue at that point <g>... I would go with that learning is part of the process and makes for developers who are better at their job... but the line definitely has to be drawn somewhere.


>I'm not too fussed about the XBase language. What I do care about is persistent indexed local cursors that are underrated as a means of working with complex data IMHO. I guess it doesn't matter so much for standard data access stuff (which IMHO is a commodity) but it makes a massive difference when you are really hammering data.

You won't get an argument for me and I've tried very hard to impress that on Microsoft people when I get a chance to talk to them. In fact, YAG who's a lot better connected than me from inside of Microsoft - has been fighting that battle for a long time. There are solutions to this but they don't ship in the box.