John,

>First off Ken I'd like to say that I'm impressed with what you, Mike and Garret
>have been doing here. It's very encouraging for the future.
>
>As to your message, I started with Visual FoxPro 3. There were a lot of
>bugs in it and the documentation was often unclear and wrong. I sent Mike an e-mail pointing out what I believe to be one such error.
>
>Also, it is hard to learn and there really haven't been a lot of good resources available to people.
>
>A lot of people wrote it off for that reason and that perception has to a great extent stuck. We all know the product has greatly improved since then.
>The challenge is to get people to look again
>

An excellent message and I am in full agreement, but I want to comment on the issue quoted above.

My circle of programmers friends is small, but a couple that I suggested to try VFP several years ago did.
Both told me, after what I felt was a reasonable period of time to give it a fair shot, that they found it 'just too complicated'. In each case, when I probed a bit, they said that it just didn't do like it was documented. They got surprises all over the place, unexpected restrictions (not documented) and generally COULDN'T learn it! These were competent programmers who knew how to "do data" in the first place. They both pegged it squarely on the documentation.

Now I look at my own very recent experience. Until October last I had not done a VFP project for around 3 years. When I finally got one I was up to my kazoo learning Web Connection and a couple of other things related.
That's over now, I have a lull, and I want to learn about the brand new Web Services capabilities of VFP. I think that I have a case where it might be the best solution (thinking of the future and the specific business involved) for the next new application.
The white paper is a step-by-step for a very simple example. Helpful, to be sure. But... where can I learn of the PROCESSING CHARACTERISTICS of Web Services?? Is 'statelessness' still the norm? (I can assume so, but look what I'd be missing if it isn't). Where does XML fit in all this (excluding the (VFP-generated stuff) - must use for specific things or optional? What are the performance characteristics/penalties of a Web Service? Am I better having a single Web Service app. with lots of methods or is a small method count per Web Service more advntageous? What is a "listener" and does it come automatically with IIS or do I have to get/make one? Is MSMQ a factor here and, if so, how do I set it up or make use of it? I haven't found anything regarding these issues. I simply can't go forward with a production application without this information!

Regards,
Jim Nelson