Mike,

too much emphasis for my taste...

>mDot is specifically manufactured into Fox

? xBase heritage needed to be followed in Fox to stomp dBaseIII, IV, Clipper, dbMan, Quicksilver.

>and was specifically enhanced by Calvin Hsia?

due to above legacy. In my POV still a wart since dBaseII, perhaps JPL Vulcan design

>Is he an idiot? Is Tamar, who agrees with me?

Emphatically not. But borders and rules stem from much farther back.