>>I not sure I can go back to VFP on the backend. Don't get me wrong, VFP is my tool of choice for COM/DCOM servers doing tier two and three work and there's nothing wrong with it for the UI either. My latest app uses VB, VFP, MSMQ, MTS, and SQL Server so I don't think I qualify as a "tool nazi" <g>.
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>Hi, Bob.
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>How does the raw speed of SQL Server when accessed from VFP remote views compare to using VFP local tables?
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>What are your main reasons for prefering SQL Server over VFP tables for data storage?
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>Peter Robinson
Hello Peter,

With respect to speed, I've never really measured it so all I can do is give you a subjective judgement. Also, I don't remember ever using a VFP local view in an application though I did use remote views for a while before I gave them up and went to SQL pass through.

I don't notice any real speed difference with either SQL or VFP. Having said that, bear in mind that I have very few queries that return large recordsets. I would guess that the majority of my queries return fewer than 100 records. Sorry I can't give you a better answer but I'm kind of a non-user of views.

Security, stored procedures, and native OLE DB are the main reasons I use SQL Server.

SQL security blends seamlessly with NT security so my users don't have to maintain multiple passwords and I can control who goes where in the data. There is also a good built-in backup manager in SQL.

I've using more and more stored procedures. They add to security, speed up response time, and simplify my application code. They also provide for easy change and maintenance. Case in point: yesterday a user asked if we could change the sort order of a data set displayed in a VFP list box. Since the query was executed in a stored procedure, all I had to do was make a change to ORDER BY clause in the procedure and the change was automatically in effect. No code changes in the app, no recompile, no redistribution, etc...

OLE DB, with the ADO wrapper, has made data access a lot simpler. Most of my queries deal with 1:N relationships so I'm always reading, updating, or creating a header record with one or more detail records. The ability to create disconnected hierarchical recordsets lets me do this in one query. I've read threads on the UT about ADO performance issues but I have not experienced any of these yet.

We now have several applications with the capability of using mixed VB/VFP user interfaces talking to VFP DCOM servers using ADO to query SQL Server data. Works like a charm (but a bear to troubleshoot)!

Sorry to have rattled on so, but I really get excited about some of the new tools that are available. Hope I answered your questions.