John,

you made me smile for the first time in this thread. :)

Lianja database is cached in memory with delayed, transactional writes. A bit different from VFP, eh? Oh, no 2 GB limit of course. Indexes are self-repairing.

And VFP data commands have been extended a bit, e.g.:

use <<table>> CONNSTRING <<connection string>> WHERE << your SQL-based filter expression here>>

And it's updatable.

Then there's the Lianja SQL Server. Clusterable, built-in failover (as is the data engine itself). Queries are cached and returned for new queries if underlying tables have not changed in any way. Rather use SQL Server, MySQL, PostGreSQL? No problem. You can change backends at any time by changing the datasource.

The simplicity and directness of data-handling is maintained, while moving forward to meet today's Enterprise requirements.

BTW: can I quote your last paragraph in the book?

H

>>>If people want to desperatly cling on to the old days because they refuse to move on for whatever reason, they can fade into obscurity as they wish.
>
>I know that some people used to enjoy describing VFPers that way (though you left out "head in the sand") but have you considered that there may be another target group today- a group that seems completely out-of-sync with the direction mobile is going?
>
>>>Trying to do mouth to mouth on the dead horse's skeleton is pretty sad.
>
>If you want a dead horse, try "Hi Ho Silverlight" ;-)
>
>>>VFP's database was useful until real databases became commonplace... >>VFP's interface (windows only) is out of date on Windows... VFP's data handling is an anachronism when using a server based database.
>
>Even if everything you say is true: IT'S NOT TRUE IN LIANJA. Bringing VFP code into Lianja doesn't mean it suddenly turns into VFP.
>
>>>VFP's language was really slick when it was one of the few higher level OOP languages. It's not anymore, and languages like C# provide far more flexibility and capability with modern operating systems.
>
>Even if everything you say is true, where is the victim if you are able to import working code into a modern IDE rather than rewriting it all?
>
>More to the point: I was around when dbase and then FP ate traditional database developers' lunch. In 2012, that's Lianja or something like Lianja that allows niche experts to create their own useful apps for whatever platform makes sense. Sheesh, this is something Dr Dave might have said: "The Lianja App Builder helps you solve specific business needs by enabling you to quickly create professional-quality business applications regardless of your development skills on Windows, Linux and Mac then deploy them on desktop, web and mobile devices." Seems to me that this description *nails* the expectations of legions of business users out there just as products like Lotus 1-2-3 and Fox once did. But C#? If you think so, then go to it.