>John, 80% of companies within the U.S. achieve gross income under $20,000,000 >per year (Standard & Poors). These are small to medium size companies that >need custom back office database apps and have been the "life-blood" of the >Fox community for years not to mention the VB / Access guys. The ones that I >have come across that benefited from the Internet required a VPN PPTP >connection to a back end server - nothing fancy, but very effective as well as >economical.

So you are saying that of the small to medium size companies you have encountered, they have benefited from the Internet, tunnel protocol, etc. Does'nt that conflict with your argument about a majority of those companies not requiring such solutions?

>My point here is that there is a HUGE potential market for VFP "solo acts" for >these types of companies.

I agree here.

>John, as an example: 2,000 is a minority of 5,000 but 2,000 is still "many". >C'mon, makes sense to me.

Yes, but you are pulling these numbers out of the air. What published numbers can you cite with regard to your asserstions about Visual Studio????


>John, an important point to consider: Many VFP developers have had to spend >alot of time crawling up the OOP learning curve - there are still many who >have yet to begin.

Thats been a problem and one that 6.0 is addressing. Better to get up an running with the product ASAP, and learn OOP as you go along. Too bad we did not learn that lesson 2 or 3 years ago.

>Then comes Access and Assign methods - great stuff - I've spent alot of my >spare time over the last few months reworking classes to take advantage of >them.

Just curious, what functionality did access/assign methods give you that you could not do before. This is a serious question for research purposes.

>The point I am trying to make is that I have made quite an investment learning >all I can about VFP. I wish I had more time to learn VB, C++, to write >books... like you, John. I quess I've been too busy providing quality VFP >solutions.

Ok, thats a shot you really did not have to fire. If you want to insinuate something, just say it - no need to veil things with me.

FWIW, lets just say that I manage to do the things you don't have time for - in addition to writing appsfor a group of very satisfied clients.

Hows that for a shot?????

Two can lob shots accross the bough. I prefer not to play that game.

>Think of the VFP newbie guys just rearing their heads out of FPW 2.6 snippets >to read that in order for them to survive, they now have to learn all this >stuff you are suggesting. A bit overwhelming don't you think?

Where did this come from? If you check out the Devcon stuff, my sessions are for intermediate to advanced level developers - as is the book that Rod and I have written. Now, you are putting words in my mouth.

>I'm glad you like to play golf, John - maybe some day, I'll have the time.

Somebody once told me that you will never have the time to do the things you either want to do or need to do. Rather, you must MAKE THE TIME. When I first learned Fox, I would often stay up to 2,3,4 in the morning - after a full day of work. Same is true today with new stuff. I suspect this cycle will not change.

So actually, folks, including myself have the time. It is a matter of what you choose to do with your time. This all by the way is in addition to spending lots of time with my family (wife, 2 kids, dog, 2 cats, frog, 2 hamsters, etc).