>Hello all.
>
>I do business development with a consulting firm that has expertise in VFP. I currently have a prospective corporate client that has some VFP and FP DOS applications and they are considering rewriting in VB and/or DotNet.
>
>Can anyone provide direction as to why VFP/SQL is a better solution VB/SQL or DotNet/SQL?
>
>For starters, I can come up with the following:
>
>1. VFP is OOP which is a more efficient model (easier to build with and maintain).
>2. VFP version 7 is released and is built on a solid foundation. VB is going through a major rewrite. DotNet is in beta.
>3. VFP has 3rd party tools that enable web interfaces now.
>4. VFP is flexible with nTier (can build COM/DCOM - or it can use VB COM/DCOM)
>5. VFP is data bound which makes it easier to build against databases.
>6. VFP has a more robust development language.
>
>Question, How is VFP's performance against an MS SQL database vs. VB's performance?
>
>Thanks in advance for some feedback here.
>
>Regards,

1. VFP has the ability to create desktop or web applications – NOW!
2. It takes less time to create an application using VFP 6.0 (or VFP 7.0) than VB 6.0
3. VB .NET VB 7.0 is not released. The final feature set is not established. It is not a proven product. Few developers used the Beta 2 product so it will be a learning experience for anyone involved. Learning something new while being paid is a great combination!

A Company will make business decisions good or bad. If I wanted to be successful I would ask myself several questions.
1. When is this due?
2. Budget?
3. Web or Desktop?
4. What tools are available and developer resources?

Speaking from experience be careful of web based solutions. They may not have all the features you require and will take longer to create. Browser problems are another issue. VFP and West Wind Connection allow quick solutions to web application creation. Visual Interdev with ASP, ADO, etc. takes a lot of time to do anything and Visual Interdev is a technology that will be obsolete with the introduction of Visual Studio 7.0.

So I guess you have a choice. Obsolete technology (Visual Interdev 6.0), unknown technology (Visual Studio 7.0) or Visual FoxPro 7.0. Now what would I choose if I were running a business? Maybe I could go Linux and avoid these questions?

By the way VFP and SQL Server are a great combination! At work I use whatever tool I am told to use. VB, VFP, Delphi, Visual Interdev. At home I use VFP and a framework because my consulting time is limited and I want to complete projects quickly with professional results. I like the idea of having time with my family and myself.

Tom