>>No matter what version of Fox you're using, this should become a standard programming practice from day one. It improves code readibility and preventgs the above mentioned situation. In fact, I've forced programmers working under me to recode their work if they are not doing this.
>
>Bill,
>You sound like my kinda people! We are having a large debate here as to whether to enforce Hungarian Notation and programming standards (two/three of us use these as standard, the rest don't). If I had my way, ALL programs will HAVE to be written that way but the voices above me are reluctant. We won't give in.


One of the beauties of working for a small company. At one point, I was the only active FoxPro developer in our firm. This time happened to coincide with the time that the company was trying to compile a list of programming standards. Basically, I got to write the standards document for all FoxPro applications. Now that there are more Foxheads on staff, they have to go by my guidelines.

Nothing too demanding; just some rules on variable naming, comment formatting, and code conventions (no 4-character command abbreviations, always use the alias when referring to fields, other common sense stuff). It's made a world of difference, especially when you have to go back to code that you (or anyone else, for that matter) hasn't looked at since Bill Gates was only worth $30 billion.

If you are in a position to do so, take the time to write up and publish a company-wide or department-wide standards document. Give this to every new or experienced Fox developer, and take a hard line on enforcing it. Common sense is open to interpretation, and programming should be a matter of choosing the right algorithm for the job, not a question of style.

Bill