>Hi Gar,
>
>I cannot speak for all commercial frameworks, just the one that I use.. Mere Mortals. Looking at your list, I would say MMF can handle all of your requirements/questions. IMHO, the key to successfully using a commercial framework is to adapt to the framework's philosophy and approach when solving a business problem. Otherwise you'll find yourself fighting with the framework.
>
>The other approach you could take is to use the framework as a learning tool and incorperate the ideas you like into your own framework. Consider the hundreds (or thousands) of hours that went into developing a commercial framework and the time you'll save by not reinventing the wheel.
>
>HTH
>
>George

There is no question of reinventing the wheel: We are definitely taking the buy rather than build approach on certain things. The question is whether to buy a framework. You also have the option of buying individual components. The disadvantage is that you spend more money buying things separately rather than as a package. If the components are well written the advantage is that you can do things your way without having to reinvent the wheel.

Of course if the framework already does things close enough to how we want them that is great. I just want to confirm: mere mortals already has everything we want: replacement triggers for VPFs with customizable messages, customization of messages on the error routine so that we can handle anticipated errors we know will happen in certain cases, Query by Form navigation of forms replacing the VCR controls where users want it.(Not just query by form available on the toolbar, but Query by Form as the *MAIN NAVIGATION METHOD OF THE FORM*). Also does mere mortals take full advantage of VFP buffering and transaction handling? None of these things fall into the "fighting the framework" category?
Similary, you can plug a completely handcode form -- one which uses no mere mortals classes -- in the mere mortals framework -- without causing problems. Mere mortals has no arrays which every form is supposed to update, or anything of that sort?