When Visual Foxpro was introduced there was a lot of talk from various developers about using VFP as the server in n-tier applications. They made it sound as though it was just a few mouse clicks and the job was done. I would like to know how to do it.

I need to configure VFP as a server rather than use SQL Server or Oracle. I have an application using remote views that I built manually and then use ODBC to access the VFP tables. This strikes me as not efficient since the local PC must process both the SQL of the remote view and the application.

Technically I could use Oracle or SQL Server as the network server but I ran into tremendous political problems at my client's site and so those options are out. Now my approach is to use VFP itself for the server and I can then avoid the IS department entirely. Plus the minimum licensing cost and the use of a DBA to build the data base will come to $25,000. My client has better uses for his money.

Can someone point me to any articles on this topic or have personal experience with it and be able to get me started?