>>Just a thought - If MS has abandoned us, we might have to abandon them and their license and do whatever we want to do with VFP.

Also, with MS it is ALL about Windows. They hurt us when they walked away from VFP, so if VFP apps are installed on Linux OS and run under WINE then MS loses money. Everytime an app is moved to Linux MS takes a direct hit in the wallet. Multiuser client server apps on a Linux system could convert a whole companies OS to Linux and shut out MS.










>>
>
>I think that's pretty much where we are now with VFP. If you own VFP development environment, you can create whatever you want/can with it regardless of what MS does or doesn't do. In the middle tier it doesn't matter what the system "looks like", because nobody will ever see it, so aging UI is not a problem. The only thing the end users will see is super fast data retrieval and processing.
>
>Digression: One great thing about MS is their commitment to backward compatibility. If a Fox 2.6 DOS application can run well under Windows 7, VFP apps should be able to run fine under Windows 8/10/11/12... This is one beef I've had with Apple, by the way. Apple has regularly and unceremoniously cut its ties to the past with major OS upgrades that absolutely and totally killed applications written for the previous OS. This happened with Fox/Mac when Apple released OS9. OS 9 compatible programs choked, for the most part, with OS X. Of course, the other side of the coin is that because Apple did this they could move their OS forward in ways that would have been impossible had they tried to make new versions highly compatible with the previous ones. I think Vista is such a pig-dog partly because of backward compatibility layers.
>
>Pertti
>
>>>I've been using Webconnect on a number of projects quite successfully. The VS.NET IDE designer hook was a major improvement a year or so ago, and it is quite elegant. It is not as "tight" as VS.NET IDE with VS.NET programming, but once you get the hang of it you can really hammer out a data enabled website in a hurry.
>>>
>>>Just recently I created a website for a non-profit (a women's and chilcren's center) that wanted to post a "gift list" of items they need so that people could pledge to get them for the center. I did this successfully in half the time it would have taken me using .NET, but naturally your mileage may vary based on your experience level in each environment.
>>>
>>>The best part of it is the idea that you can use VFP in the middle tier to slice and dice your data, because compared to .NET, that's where VFP really shines. IMHO.
>>>
>>>Pertti
>>>
>>>>It sounds like this product has been around for awhile. Does it work well? Does it have features that compare even to today's web standards? To me it sounds similar to classic ASP except using FoxPro instead of vbscript.
>>>>
>>>>>Even though pure Foxpro code is the core, it is also possible to use the Visual Studio IDE (or Web Developer Express, I think) to design the actualy page layout that you want rendered. I think this is relatively new feature of Web Connect, and I think Rick recently made a few videos about how this works.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>>In short webconnect (like other similar tools - Foxweb) is a service that runs on the server, waiting for strings to arrive from the webbrowser via HTTP. The string contains the prg to call and the parameters. The service then executes the prg with the parameters, and returns a formatted HTML page with the resulting data (or answer). All the prgs are pure foxpro code.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>>As an ASP.NET developer, I've always wondered how webconnect worked. Can you give a high-level explanation?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>Hi Cecil.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>Weather in Pointe Claire this week? Hovering between -1 and -9 (Celcius) and about 1 1/2 feet of snow on my front lawn. Not bad. Maritimes got blasted over the last couple of days with 60cm of snow, and out west they have -30 celcius, so a happy middle.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>I have stopped doing "Free" foxpro projects a long time ago, when I realise I could make a living at it. As for .Net, I had intentions recently to learn it for a particular module I needed to do (Timesheet on the net with SilverLight), but I had a time constraint and the learning curve was too steep, so we switched to webconnect, because there was no learning curve.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>I like your attitude, Mike.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>I am "working" for free on a Visual FoxPro project; the non-profit corp has no revenue stream, yet. I do it as I can, while studying C#, VB.NET and ASP.NET. I still love to develop with Visual FoxPro and would take a paying-VFP-project at any point. :) Taking VFP jobs might not be career-enhancing, but they're fun anyway.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>With the above said, I am finding that with .NET, I especially like C# first, ASP.NET 2nd, and VB.NET 4th. So, why did I skip the 3rd place? VB has never been my favorite anything. Okay, I am joking a little, but not much.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>Hey, how cold is it up there this week in Pointe-Claire?
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>Cecil
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>I used to be a VFP pro, I switched to c# a few years ago and not looking back.
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>So, I had a tought about this place tonight and I was wondering how this whole thing is still holding together...
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>Back for news... no flame please....
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>Stephane, as you know ,I have made a living from Foxpro since 1986 and the more of you leave Foxpro for something else, to more work I have to support what you guys leave behind. So keep on leaving Foxpro, I'll never retire.