I started to work at MGM 6 months or so after the Gartner report came out that slammed VFP. Imagine my surprise when one of the check marks on the install sheet for new users was access to the Gartner Report thru Lotus Notes. I also heard that they were evaluating what toolset to use in the future. I don't know how far they got in this. But I do know that they hired consultants to make recommendations...Gartner. And guess what their recommendation was, VB.

I don't understand why so many developers find it hard to believe that VFP is not the end all for everyone. It is true that as an ISV the tool choice is yours. I don't know if they haven't worked in larger companies to see the process.

Mike, in many companies large enough to have an IS shop, there is an approved list of languages outside developers are allowed to use. I've been involved in meetings where a department has decided to go outside for whatever reason. Typically, the final signoff for the outside firm comes from the internal IS department. And choice of development tool is a prime reason for being denied.

Until about 4 years ago, I was always met with enthusiastic response to my resume. Starting 4 years ago was when I was met with the response, "You do know that most Foxpro work now is to help a company port their software to VB?"

As far as .Net, a couple friends of mine who work in VB shops are looking forward to it. I would expect a certain amount of fallout because of the changes from VB 6 to VB.Net. But I just don't expect the percentage to be hugh. Much like the percentage of folks who never upgraded from FP Dos to Windows, let alone to VFP. I don't know of a compelling reason for someone to look for another toolset besides VB 6, if they felt that they didn't want to become part of the .Net framework.

As far as Web Services, I too feel that they won't become as important as some folks feel. I've done a lot of work in the last couple years involving 3rd party data. The percentage of people who provided their data in XML was incredibly small. I can see services like UPS or FedEx. But of all the work I've done in the last couple years, other then shipment tracking, I just can't remember a discussion about how all our problems would be solved if we could get data from another companies website.

PF

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>The fact is, many companies take their que from Gartner Reports. Rightly or wrongly, this is how many decsions get made. Having worked for and with several Fortune 100 companies, I know a thing or two about this issue...