Aim: Initiation to VFP programming and the Internet using WebConnect from West-Wind.
Presentation in french, by Mark Derail, bilingual presentator. Questions addressed in English will be answered in English & French.
Level: VFP=intermediate Internet=beginner
1st half
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Prerequisites --VFP / West Wind
--Equipment
--Operating system NT 4 and IIS 3.0
--Networking
--HTML langage (beginner level)
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Where did I start --I actually followed Rick Strahl's instructions to the letter!
--The NT environment
--Configurating IIS
--Configurating Internet / WebConnect through a Firewall. The company --Ramp Networks offers a low-cost hardware solution.
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Problems and frustrations --Intranet / Internet, how do you make both work for your site at the same time (domain names, .COM or .QC.CA?).
--Finding a sympathetic ISP (
http://www.iq.ca) in order to get a fixed IP address, not easy!
--The montain of possibilities and configurations - I just want one that works, is reliable, and easy!
--Technical support. Thankfully, West-Wind's support is wonderful.
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West-Wind's Framework. --The cost $$$ (expensive once converted to $Can)
--The tools
-The WebConnect demo web-site (a little something to make sure you come back after the break...)
2nd half
- Demonstration of my very first site created using WebConnect, which is an adaptation from the the source code of the WebConnect demo page created by Rick Strahl. I created this site to give me confidence and 'break the ice'.
- The specs of this site
- How much it cost and the monthly fees
- The different types of connections that we can use to create a Web serveur with data access and VFP.
- The tools that West-Wind provides that I haven't even used yet, but they are there...
- The VFP code behind it all. I will access my serveur via PcAnywhere, do some code changes, and the the results "live" on the Internet.
- We have to leave because four hours just isn't enough time...time for a beer!
Mark Derail
markd@dmib.com