>What I'm looking for is a framework into which I can plug my existing BLL and leave the "routine stuff", data access, UI, and so forth to the framework. So long as the framework isn't too constrained and the resulting screens are decent appearing and efficient I've achieved most of my goals. Reporting in this old app is not a major feature. For marketing purposes I mainly want the app to look modern, not like a warmed over Windows-95 thingy, which it started out as.. Once I achieve that I'm covered for the next five or six years in which time I will (the market place providing) do a rewrite in something else.
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>For sure, I need a framework that has decent support and a good community. Otherwise it'll take me two or three times as long to get up to speed, or longer, and that doesn't make good sense.
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>If I am reading things right it looks like the field to consider is Visual Fox Express, Visual Extend, and ProMatrix.
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Now from that Visual Extend might actually a very good candidate, as the biz layer is minimal...
They also have dbcX / Stonefield support, but that is not used often -
you might have to resolve some kinks at start if you use that extensively.

Uwe is very good at fixing **reproductible** kinks -
but he will ask you sometimes to demonstrate the error in one of the demo apps.
As he knows vfx nearly by heat, he also has a well developed bug radar.

They have workflow components and other not often used stuff in addition to
switchable menu/interface type (even ribbon...) and the routine stuff is errorfree and fast.