>>>I heard of some products named "Visual ProMatrix", "Visual Extend", "Visual
>>>FoxExpress" and "XCase". I would be glad to read some comments by users of
>>>the products mentioned above. Even better would be independent reports of
>>>users who have worked with more than one product. Also I am always open to
>>>recommendations concerning other products. Links to other sources of
>>>information are also valuable.
>>
>>I haven't seen the first 2
>>xCase is a CASE (Computer Aided System Engneering) tool and not a RAD tool
>>VFE is based on CodeBook and as such should be ready for C/S
>>
>>Arnon
>
>I am doing some stuff for the C/S system written using Visual Extend 3.5. (VFX 3.5) It is a good framework, it supports multilingual apps, it has built-in capability of forms and control resizing, for example, and many other things.
>You can download a demo from http://www.devigus.com/products.htm
>
>Nick

Nick,

I looked at several frameworks to add to my development tools. Visual Extend, Maxtech, Codebook 3.0, and Visual ProMatrix.

I chose Visual ProMatrix for apps which lend themselves to data maintenance and lookup applications.

Here are some its strengths:

The data dictionaly is great. Using a part of the framework called the "Data Manager" you can set up referential integrity between all related tables, help text, tool tips, and complete documentation contained IN the data dictionary.

The data dictionary and "related forms engine" are the two most important features of this product. If the relation is set in the data engine, and multi forms are brought up, the relation is automatic to link the forms.

Security down to the field level

Many good ready to use form classes and most importantly a very usable tool bar when a generic but full featured bar will do.

I would suggest going to www.promatrix.com and picking up the getting started user manual for a very abbreviated description.

Weakness:

Learning curve to override existing classes and not much documentation on modifications. You must read the code and learn yourself to correctly override. Learning cure to use is minimal.

If you are experienced then this is just the learning time you would expect to perform maintenance on a system you did not write yourself. I do not believe the inexperienced have any hope to correctly do this.
Also, there is no clear cut way to use the referential engine in non-form based applications, such as massive batch update applications. The Foxpro dbc may be used but that is separate from the ProMatrix dictionary. In this instance the separate dictionary is a weakness.

Overall, I think the prouct is quite worth the money, in that if you do even one fixed bid contract, for which this app is suitable, it will immediately pay for itself within a day.

I won't comment on the others now, only suffice to say this one met my current requirements and schedule better than the others. All have fine features.

- Jeff Oliphant
OSC Company
osccompany@compuserve.com