>I'm taking a different tact and using the new VFP 9 report architecture to build my own report preview window. I think this may solve the problem and give me a print preview that integrates seamlessly with the rest of my application's interface. I'm just getting my feet wet and I'm very excited by the possibilities.


Good luck to you with that. I can't wait to see what we are all making the report writer do a year from now. Possibilities are just being scratched by many different developers. Let me know how the experience was for you and any gotchas you run into.

>On a seperate note, I enjoyed your ideas on a version of VFP that could download its runtime files from a remote site.

Yeah, I was thinking that there might be a way to hack/encase the exe within a VC++ exe (put it at the backend of the PE and extract it) Once it is extracted the VC++ could check for necessary VFP runtimes on machine, alert the user if they aren't present then downloaded and execute the required runtime install. Then either use the registry "run once" or VFP app to delete the original VC++ exe when it's done it's job. The VC++ portion would be minimal... less than 100kb with all the bells and whistles. Could use projecthook to encase the vfp exe after it is built if the developer chooses an option or puts command in config.fpw.

It would have been cool if MS was with the idea, but it's ok... the Fox Team probably has their hands full with tons of stuff that is a higher priority at this point and that is more in line with their primitive vision for Sedna or furthers their goals to get more VFP-like functionality into .NET datacentric features. Might be fun to tinker with it at some point.

Judging by his response, it looks like it will be a number of years before Ken or MS will change their minds, and by that time VFP releases from MS will be named after planets that are in other galaxies, and 10,000 GB of storage space will fit on the head of a pin, and there'll be a huge server somewhere with every application, runtime, line of code, and OS that ever existed that uses the earth's magnetic field for storage and we can accesses remotely via a chip implanted in our head or a pair of those funky colored glasses they handed out when Jaws 3-D was showing at the movie theatre. The machines we have now will be considered relics and put on diplay at museums where people walking past are heard to snicker and utter phrases like "How quaint." So, I probably won't even care then... when offered, I'll just take the blue pill like a good boy.

I've been programming for just over 36 hours straight (can you tell?). I think I might go read a few chapters from my VC++ library and catch some zzzz's.