>The solution is to automate the deployment process - I use a launcher app that checks a central repository at startup, and if it finds new components in the repositry, copies them in place to the local system before running them. The process of deployment is completely automaticthis way - as soon as someone goes to run the app,the latest version is instlaled to their system. Doug Hennig did an outstanding article on implementing a launcher application for FoxTalk magazine a couple of years ago; you can access and download the article and source from FoxTalk's web site for $5; the site is www.pinpub.com/foxtalk


I had this article in my hand when it came out and it's been in the back of my mind to pull it out and go over it again. But now I can't find it. (Old Mr. Murphy must have beat me to it.) Shaishav here is the reference on the web site;

Newsletter: FoxTalk
Issue: FoxTalk, October 1, 1997
Article: Reusable Tools: STARTAPP: The Best of Both Worlds , $5.00

You don’t have to sacrifice performance for ease of installing new versions
of applications. Doug Hennig shows how using STARTAPP, you can run
applications from local drives for best performance, and yet have them
automatically updated from a common server directory when you install a new
version. This solution also gives a secondary benefit: You can easily
change where your data files are located without rebuilding your
application.



There is also a discussion of this same issue in the January 2000 VFUG newsletter:

>How To Always Get The Latest Program Version To The Client Computer
By Vladimir Zhuravlev

It's online at http://www.vfug.org/vfug.htm

If you are not already a member of VFUG (Virtual Fox Users Group) you may need to join to get access but that's free.


But, Shaishav, IMHO, keeping a local copy of your EXE file will not make a big difference. For that, YOU NEED AT LEAST 32 MB OF MEMORY, preferably 64 MB. I wish this wasn't true about Fox but that's my experience.

Check out the new Compaq Ipaq computer. For $500US you get 500 mhz Celeron, 64 MB RAM, 4 MB HD, Win 2000, and USB. No CD-ROM or legacy ports at this price but you may not need them for a business network environment.

I would predict (again based on my experience with faster machines, more memory and Win NT) that this machine would execute your FoxPro app at least TEN TIMES faster than the P133 you describe.

Peter Robinson