>>learning a framework in VFP is a major undertaking

I would agree with you about that, David, although I'm not entirely sure that FPD 2.6 frameworks were all that easy either. But it seems that the DOS version was useable on a number of different levels, including, to a certain extent by knowledgeable end-users. VFP is almost beyond that I think, the barriers to entry have been raised considerably.

However, this didn't happen only with FoxPro.....I used to do a lot of work in FP Dos as well as Paradox. Once Paradox was converted to Windows, there wasa major re-write of PAL, the Paradox Application Language, and at that point I realized if I had a ghost of a chance, I would have to specialize in just one application development tool.

More insideous however, is the branching out again with multi-tier applications , so that you must also be familiar with back-end databases, the web, networks, client/server, and all that good stuff. So the barrier to entry isn't *just* VFP, it is the whole caboodle. That may be an explanation for people turning to VB, because it looks so much easier, although, I would argue that by the time you actually end up doing anything with VB plus the necessary connections to a back end database, you could have had it done on Visual FoxPro and native FP tables by last Tuesday.

--- Larry