Hi Doug..

Yes, it was Earl Grey! < bg >


IMO, there are two important messages that have to get out:

1. It is just fine nor should there be any worry about using VFP for application
development today.

2. When the VFP developer *IS* ready to make a move or when he is ready to
contemplate a move, valuable resources and assistance will be there for him.

Your points about Macro Substitution are important. It is a widely used feature that will not be in .Net. It is a gap that must be bridged. Whether it was/is smart to use Macro Expansion is not the issue. The bottom line, macro expansion is a feature of VFP. Like all features, they are fair game to be used. They key is in creating strategies that bridge the gap.

As far as SQL Server is concerned, there is one other point I forgot to point out. When the next version of SQL Server (YUKON) is released, it will have the ability to host the CLR. What does this mean? It means you can write VB/C# components and host them in SQL Server. This is an important step to modernizing the language of SQL Server. Eventually, you will be able to use the same language across all tiers of an application...

As for scaleability and whether SQL can keep up with Oracle, I guess it depends on the scenario. Everything I have read leads me to believe that SQL will scale just fine. My experience leads me to that conclusion as well..