>Why does not foxpro include encryption and compression
>in new version when that is the main thing required for
>programming on network.
>Are there any freeware available for this.

I am not sure encryption and compression within VFP is necessary for network development. Granted, Many of us would like to see Oracle or SQL-Server like security for data, but then we would be paying Oracle and SQL-Server like prices for it. I do not know of any other software that does this encryption and compression, including Oracle and SQL-Server. The only exception in Oracle (and SQL-Server I assume) is the password column. All else is not encrypted nor compressed. Compression is usually left for the OS. Novell provides for data compression and has configurable parameters for this. Novell and NT provide for individual and group access rights for directories, etc.

This is how I handle my security with Novell -- via Groups with access rights then I add users as members of the appropriate groups. I rely mainly on the Novell password authentication for access. I did come up with my own scrambling/encryption formula of the Social Security number field in our personnel application.

I am not sure of any freeware for this, but NetLib, Cryptor and some other 3rd parties sell encryption software that works on the field and table levels. More information on these can be found in the Partnership Program area of the UT.