Hi Charles,

I've been a big SF supporter (as well as MM.Net). They are both great approaches.

They both do good jobs at making what .Net static languages make a real pain, into something that I would call a lesser pain, and they do so very creatively. If there were only static languages available, I would have difficulty choosing which to use; but I would surely, having looked at everything I know about, choose one of them over all the others. They both get down to the business of writing business apps in a fairly similar conceptual manner, although differently in implementation.

That similar conceptual manner, the Business Object, was (as everyone here probably already knows) born out of the need to separate business logic from UI. That is a good thing.

But a better thing, and the reason I championed (as it were) ProMatrix, IMHO is the use of metadata that follows data to encapsulate business logic. For me, and from what I have heard from those who have used the system, the idea of going back to business objects brings on (speaking for myself) a great ennui, as in, "how could I subject myself to that?"

Any why eTec would blow off Boudewijn (who put a lot more work into VFP.Net than I) and me (who was probably their most vocal supporter in the U.S.) is a real mystery. It's one of the things I've been wondering about. A lot. It was hard to let go. I think they might be continuing development on the product, and I wish them luck. I just can't subject myself, and my clients, to the whims of a demonstrably irresponsible organization. There isn't a day I wish it weren't otherwise. Well, actually, I just found the missing piece of the data layer for the new framework (posted it on the framework group), so I'm a little cheerier. <s> I think that after I get this new piece working in Python (which should be a "gimmee" <s>), I might not miss VFP.Net at all. Well, just a little, probably...

Hank



>>Well, the web site was still up.
>>
>>Phone calls had been made to the office.
>>
>>The emails were not returned (and one individual sent it with return receipt, and it was picked up).
>>
>>If I had only one guess, and it's only a guess, it was "hunker down because we don't have anything good to tell them" behavior, but that's only a guess.
>>
>>Hank
>
>since your background is in psychology I share with you this observation : My biggest reservation about the eTech guys in this circumstance is that they do not seem to understand their own best interest. That makes their behavior unpredictable and that bothers me.
>
>Given your interest and faith in the project, your long track record as being a positive contributor and booster of projects you find worthwhle ( I wonder what Promatrix woud have been without you, for example ) and your profile in the community that should be their target audience, to just blow you off seems dull-witted at best.
>
>Oh well.
>
>Hey, come on over to Strataframe, if only for a visit. Les Pinter's there, some guys you know from Promatrix, and old guys like me and Steve Taylor. <g> They have a pretty balanced approach regarding steak over sizzle and a nice community of developers.
>
>( forgive me if we've discussed this and I've just forgotten but have you looked into the data handling stuff in SF or at their Enterprise Server? )