>I have a desktop VFP application written in VFP 6.0 that a client has requested be transformed into a web application. The app is a glass (window) unit ordering system with a complex database of parts and options. The user's options change with each selection they make so the app requeries the database to present the user's next options based on the user's last selection.
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>Although I am a seasoned VFP developer and can learn any new development language quickly, I have no web experience and need to know where to start. How do I port a desktop application to the web? Is there a way to 'scrape' the GUI from VFP into a webpage or does it need to be rewritten in HTML? What tools would be the best to use to accomplish this? How does it all work???? Any help will be greatly appreciated!!!!

Erin,

There's really no way to take an existing VFP application and run it as is on the Web, not do you really want to. The Web works differently and it really needs a different type of UI.

FWIW, our product Web Connection includes a utility - wwForm - which lets your render Fox forms into Dynamic HTML. Not everything works in that respect but many common forms will actually render into Dynamic HTML. Even so I don't recommend an approach like this because often this results in a very un-Web like interface.

So you need to redesign for the Web.

If you want to stick with Visual FoxPro you can do so by using tools that Microsoft makes available (ASP.NET + COM Interop - http://www.west-wind.com/presentations/VfpDotNetInterop/aspcominterop.asp) or you can use third party tools like the aforemetioned Web Connection (my company) as well as others like ActiveFoxPro Pages and ActiveVFP.

The advantage of the third party solutions is that they provide you with FoxPro specific functinoality. For example, in Web Connection there are constructs that make it real easy to bind a foxpro cursor to a DataGrid or Drop down list, support databinding to controls etc. Other tools do other things but all work iwth the FoxPro developer in mind, which is important if you plan to use Visual FoxPro.


The other alternative - as suggested by others - is to go straight to something like ASP.NET and use .NET code to access your data. Accessing VFP data through .NET is - less than optimal, but it works. A better choice is to use a dedicated SQL Server like SQL Express/Sql Server. If you use pure .NET and Visual Studio using SQL will make things much easier as tools are built in for those data sources and those tools work universally.


I do a mixture of both and depending on what your back ground is both approaches work well. Native ASP.NET works real well, but it's very unfoxpro like and there's a fair learning curve.

Using VFP tools works well especially if you need to access FoxPro data and want to reuse existing FoxPro business logic.


Hope this helps,

+++ Rick ---