Hi Boudewijn,

As I see it, there is only one form of communication that will be effective in making VFP.Net attractive to developers, whether they are VFP developers or not, and that is the effectiveness of the finished product in efficiently and effectively creating quality software. All the communications up to that point are not going to stop anyone from learning .Net. And learning .Net will only help those who have done so in taking advantage of the the seamless integration of .Net in VFP.Net.

The sum total of VFP, its method of subclassing, visual subclassing, easily extensible IDE including working with active objects in design mode, easy debugging due to dynamic typing, and so forth are the foundation for a system that works "just right" for developing business software. At least that's my experience.

I don't think any communication eTecnologia provides is going to communicate that experience, or change anyone's mind about what they might choose. Now, if this were really a sub rosa project of Microsoft and it became a Microsoft product, that might convince people. But that would be for the wrong reasons, at least from a software development process perspective (although as Pertti points out, it would validate its use from a business perspective). The right software-development reasons for making that choice will only be fully appreciated when the power of this approach is made real.

Those who need the communication you are providing the most are those who have already, on the basis of their commitment to the VFP.Net way of using .Net, decided that this is the way to go. That gives us the ability to plan our work that we want to have ready for when VFP.Net first ships. Knowing that .Net controls will be able to be placed on VFP forms in the next release has, in fact, spurred me on in the design phase for the next version of our xCase integration and Libraries: I need that capability for the new UI we will be using.

So, thanks for what you are doing, as one of those who has already made the choice and needs the information.

Hank


>I have been reading the thread on my post concerning the next update of the Netcompiler for VFP.
>
>There is one thing that strikes me. Most of the repliers seem to curse the darkness but forget to light a candle.
>Of course, eTecnologia could do more in terms of communication. Absolutely.
>I have a regular contact with them, also because I will do a session on the Compiler in Frankfurt and did one in Prague.
>Even more so, this years FoxRockX special will be written by me. About the NetCompiler.
>
>This is a team of 7 to 8 people, and, as Hank Fay said, they have other work to do as well.
>FYI, last DevCon in Prague Ken Levy told that the (V)FP team at MS was not much bigger. And that product took 25 years to mature.
>Since timepressure IS big, if not GIGANTIC, eTecologia is not spending so much time on communication.
>
>They DO spend a lot of time on the product. Examplary is the reply I received yesterday (Sunday, aug 30, 2009)
>I was working on my session on the Compiler and Extender and had a question. I received that question yesterday, on Sunday!
>What were you guys doing on Sunday? Working? At least not all of you I guess (some self employed people maybe).
>They were!
>
>The number one priority of eTec is to release a version 1 somewhere at the end of this year, when the support on VFP stops.
>Looking at how much they achieved in 2 years time, I say they are working like mad to get the work finished.
>
>Therefore I took it upon me to bring out news to the interested groups, such as the UT, on a regular basis.
>Kind of a volunteer job. So, you all can look forward to be bugged by this Double Dutch guy with news on this compiler.
>
>You can all say that you are afraid that there is no support or further development on this product but as far as support is concerned this starts with us, as a community.
>
>But that was a complaint I heard about MS as well, ever since VFP3 came out.
>And guess what, this attitude kept on going and became a self-fulfilling prophecy. Maybe you don't like to hear it, but for a greater part we can blame ourselves, as a community, that MS pulled the plug.
>
>Is this going to happen again? Do we keep on going into this downward spiral, or are we strong enough to put a halt to this attitude and make the fox shine as it should.
>
>I wonder what it will be, do we keep on cursing the darkness? or will we burn a candle?
>Looking forward to your replies.