>For C/S with VFP you must use ODBC (OLEDB will be available in VFP7) and a connection (in code or DSN) pointing to a database server. VFP works through ODBC but it is not that great. A true C/S database like SQL Server (or MSDE, Oracle, etc.) is needed. Then processing is done at the server and the only records that travel through the wire are your record sets (results).

I think the situation and project probably dictate what technology will connect the client to the data. I don't C/S. I don't mind making sure DBAs are fully employed. But sometimes C/S and a DBA is not required.

I understand C/S is certainly necessary in many cases. But I don't think it's necessary in every case. Imagine how expensive turbo-tax or quick-books would be if they required an Oracle license at purchase. Those mono-lithic drive mappers can still deliver quick real-time data to the user (perhaps faster than C/S). But C/S is quick. I like C/S! Stored procedures scream. But,if you draw a parallel with the automobile market, then maybe you've noticed there are a lot more Carollas than Lexuses puttering around on the street. Just as every solution may not work with Drive Maps, not all solutions will necessarily need an ODBC socket and server side processing. Maybe it depends on the requirement, client, depth of pocket, etc.

Look at what's happend.
Oldest story: There were big mainframe central storage and processing.
Here come PC's: We get distributed or individule processing.
Here comes internet: We go back to central storage and processing
Here comes whats next: Maybe we get back to individual or distributed processing.
It always seems, that whenever the market is saturated with a particular technology, a new story is born, and the market moves in another direction.

When a saturation is reached, and all we've come to hold reverent, is yesterdays news, things will change. Not because the new stuff is better or cooler, but because IT SELLs. All the technology we work with did not evolve because it made sense or would save the world. It came about because someone figured out how to sell it. Someday, C/S architecture may become old news. And yet, mom and pop are still doing their books on quicken (on a standalone PC), never knowing (or caring) about the importance of C/S or Drive Maps, or our little chat here on the UT.

Rock `n Roll