Hi Mike --

>>IMHO, the biggest limitation in VB - when compared to VFP - is the containership model. In VB, you start with a usercontrol - much like our container - and drop objects onto the design surface. The user control can have nested user controls as well. The user control in turn can be dropped onto a form. Here is where things get different. In the form, you can only interact with the user control interface. If you need to interact with the contained objects, you need to surface those various parts of those interfaces to the outer container - the user control.<<

Argh!!! Is this what Mike was talking about?!? Good grief, that's a horrid example of a broken interface, imo. We pounded on this, in pre-alpha discussions with the VB5 dev team, and everyone agreed that the contained controls should most definitely not expose themselves other than through properties designed and controlled by the author. This was an excellent decision, in hind-sight, and one that I think everyone's more than happy with.

>>Bascially, it behaves just like the Control Class in VFP. How often do you use that class? I suspect not a lot of people do.<<

Without knowing more of the details than what you provide above, I'd say they're seriously handicapping themselves and their products if this is the case.

>>If the containership model in VB was a little more flexible, I think you would start seeing more VFP folks giving VB a serious look.<<

Flexibility is good. Free access stinks.

>>The inheritance issue. Well, the time I spent over on DevX gave a good perspective on that whole issue. Yes, the way things in VFP are done with regard to inheritance is nice. But in all fairness to Karl, Zane, Kathleen, Phil, and the rest of the folks on DevX, they made a compelling argument for the way things are done in VB.<<

Actually works pretty well for most folks. :-)

>>The book I am reading and going through now - Professional VB 5 Business Objects - does a great job of illustrating how OO design principles can be implemented in VB. I did'nt think it was possible, but it is.<<

Told ya. ;-)

Later... Karl