>>Dear Universal Thread user's
>>
>>Is it possible to keep and run all files related
>>to an application created in VFP on a web server
>>and work from a browser(Netscape/Internet Explorer) on
>>a remote machine using windows 95/NT.
>>
>>This could be explained as in a peer-to-peer networking
>>if I have installed an application on one machine
>>and on another machine I have just created an shortcut
>>to launch the application.
>>
>
>No something like this isn't possible. What you can
>do is to use vfp as the database backend behind the
>web server software. The www is not a peer to peer
>network, it's only a client server application which
>is sending character strings back and forth.
>

Actually, it can and is done, but the protocol used is the underlying TCP/IP or PPTP protocols rather than HTTP. Rick Strahl gave a very effective demonstration of this at DevCon.

OTOH, such a connection is slow, and not necessarily secure. It'd be insane to try to load the VFP runtime across the Internet, but it can be done. One approach similar to this available to VFP is Active Document, which runs a VFP application within a browser window. Unfortuantely, this requires that the VFP runtime get installed over the connection if the runtime files are not on the target system, and installing a multi-megabyte runtime library across a dial-up, or even dedicated connections at slow to moderate (less than T3) speeds would be an exercise in futility...

Using an XML or HTML-based solution is a better approach in almost all cases, and west-wind is probably the best tool now available for developing this with VFP today from what I've seen. Other options are available as well.

>Have a look at www.west-wind.com. They have a product
>webconnect to connect a vfp app to the web (but you
>have to do some coding). Under some circumstances it's
>also possible to show a vfp form in the browser (only
>ie 4.x and probably also 5.x).
>
>>Also would like to know what does RUN IN BROWSER mean
>>in VFP 6.0. Does it mean what i am looking for.
>>
>
>I don't now about the IN BROWSER clause. Normally with
>RUN you can start a DOS or Windows application.
>
>>Regards
>>(Upendra Nayak)
>>India