>Let me also assume that your 3 tiers are to be (at least) VFP in #2 and #3. Isn't it a real pity that you have to rely on string functions to pass/parse DATA between the tiers??? Wouldn't we all be far better off if the VFP team had spent some time making it so that recordsets could be passed as needed????

You don't have to - you can pass objects. And you can pass recordsets
with ADO.

>Finally, your statement '... which alot of our 16-bit/.DBF file clients are afraid of, and don't think they are ready for, or even need to move to.' can include a whole lot more small/mid-sized businesses (not only 16--bit folk) and it is THIS market - the BIGGEST by far) which now has really *no* MS product targeted at it and which is where VFP should be aimed.

Please. If people stick to Win16, then they're stuck with Win16 development
tools. Why should MS waste money on a dead platform that is never going
to bring a return on investment. If you run Win16 - use Fox 2.6 - it works
well in that environment.

As to low end markets - I don't understand that debate either. Just
because VFP is aimed at middle tier by MS doesn't mean you can't build
quality single user or network applications with VFP. I do it all the
time, both for personal use and for use by other small businesses.
The point there is that the feature enhancements on the high end always
always also benefit the low end, even though that point is never pushed.

+++ Rick ---