Erik,

>>Maybe you're not aware that the VFP elite is mainly american, and therefore the american culture is emphasized here. And that's not what everybody likes to see here.

>I would submit that the ratio of the American to non-American VFP 'elite' is probably the same the ratio of the American to non-American VFP developers. There are lots of acknowledged non-American VFP experts.

Yes, I agree, but this does not change the observation above. It's not that this can be avoided, but it would not hurt to remind people that much of the emotions and the way people are communicating is driven by cultural aspects. I've been working for an American costumer for about 7 years now, and I know there are significant differences between the American and Dutch (and other) cultures. Much of the veign in my messages may be due my Dutch culture (I can't stand hierarchy).

>> (maybe a VFP developer should look outside the american box < g >)

>Are you implying that best practices depend on your nationality?

Not at all, its about culture. The more you know about other cultures, the better you're able to understand what other people (from other cultures) are saying. Much of the messages have another 'message' if you take the culture of the writer into account.

>>I know that my words don't mean much to the VFP elite (after all, I tend only to disagree with them), but i've seen too much nonsense spread over here. There are things that are historicly accepted which don't make sense at all (use of the DELETED() TAG, Forced use of generated PKs, check uniqueness with SQL or SEEK in stead of using Primary or candidate indexes, MVPs who are proven incorrect and reacting in insults or silence)

>Walter, you have brought a few important valid points to light, and everybody appreciates that. But some of the things that you disagree with the 'experts' on amount to little more that differences of opinion.

Yep, I agree. It becomes worse if this is not recognized as 'Hey, there are others who have another opinion, which I should pass to people who ask questions about this topic'. It really hurts to see that when someone asks how to overcome the "Uniqueness of PK violated" errormessage, it is only answered by "Don't reuse primarykeys. Use generated PKs". I don't have to point out that
this has occured frequently by people who should know better.

>You get all upset one someone asserts a 'best practice' that you disagree with, even though you might be the only one carrying the battle flag for the opposition.

Well, someone has to do this ;-) and i've done that succesfully in the past. I rarely get real upset, though the veign in my messages might say otherwise (Again this might be cultural, personality or lack of the american language).

>Believe it or not, the majority might disagree with you because their experience has shown them differently, not because 'your words don't mean much to them', or because they are blindly following the 'elite'.

I don't really rely much on experience (except on areas where I don't have a clue about). I've seen much developers with 15 to 30 years of experience that could not write one piece of decent code within VFP. Further I don't care if people have another standpoint on things, but get anoyed when people refuse to respect my standpoint. I'm trying to tell people that there are other viewpoints and that 'general accepted' principals might actually be narrow minded.

Further, I know for sure that there are people blindly following the elite (If you've got no clue about the field, this is an attractive option).

>Every time someone asks about best PK practices I am going to tell them what I think is the best practice. If I am aware of a single voice that disagrees with my opinion, I don't find that sufficient cause to sufface my every post with "But Walter disagrees".

Hmmm, maybe you should add "and Joe Celko disagrees". (Joe Celko, www.Celko.com, is a member of the X3H2 Database standards commitee, has written several books and articles (Intelligent Enterprise, former DBMS) and is an recognized SQL specialist). I know that I'm not the only one with this standpoint, I merely the one who raises his voice up here. I've written quite a few messages about this topic and even posted some cases and never got a satisfying answer or solution to that (hmmm, I wonder why cascading updates are worse than cascading deletes ??).

Further I must note that I know ERP software which relies on both intelligent and generated PK's (Navision, www.navision.com) and has a good PK administration. I could simply ask: Well, why aren't those developers as smart as we are ??? B.t.w. Looking at navision is a real great learning book at software development (both DO's and DON'Ts).

I agree that you should post whatever you think are the best practices, but it might not hurt to tell all the options and tell that there are other viewpoints also. I find it simply unacceptable to be narrow minded. IMO narrow views and ignorance is the biggest thread to VFPs future.

Erik, please, don't see this as an attack on your standpoint. Personally I do see you as one important expert on this forum (and this is not based on you GURU or MVP status) on which my much of my standpoint does not apply.

Walter,