I know exactally where you are at Michael, Been there, experienced that buffereing mode ... where is my data actually ? Need I say more. I figured out that sometimes data was kept local on a local machine, and tabelupdate(.t.) never really can be counted on and so on.

You are not the first person to notice that file sharing with windoz is not the best thing use for +10 users at the same time.

That is one of the big reasons I never write anything anymore with dbf's only, DBF's do make good local uniqute metadata (like temp files) but once two or more users could need that exact data,. Server it up. ! use a server. When you write to server, its there. If the remote user crashes, so what... it doesnt corrupt the server in any way... the server keeps plugging along.

Bob Lee



>>This is one of my favorite VFP functions to comment on.
>>
>>6 It is not as powerful / Features as Postgresql + VFP, but you can expect it
>> to be better in many ways than using VFP tables.
>>
>>Bob Lee
>>
>>>Hi,
>>>I'm considering using VFP with a backend of MySQL. Does anyone have any comments?
>>>John
>
>Bob, John,
>
>I suppose this is a safe place to expose my disappointment with VFP's multi-user data handling abilities.
>
>After 16 years of the Fox and dbf files, I for one would be happy to NEVER again have a client call with reindexing problems. If it's not files that -need- to be reindexed, it's file handles that aren't released when the application fails for some reason...and the files can't be opened exclusively.
>
>Yes, I confess, my Fox applications crash on occasion...depending I think on moon-phase. And, more often than I'd care to admit, the application (or Windoze) leaves file handles open to one or more of the dbf files. If the computer locks up (Windoze again) and no one is using it at the moment...or if there's a power outage...or someone flips the power switch off. My primary application has 20 users pounding away 9 hours a day. I guess if you compare the total-number-of-hours-active to the failures, the percentage is low. I just wish it were a non-issue.
>
>All that to say that while I love the other 99.99% of VFP, in my experience, multi-user access to the same data files is fraught with peril. Especially when you get above 10 active users. My choice is for a good data manager/server that will arbitrate data access instead of the "serve yourself" buffet approach with dbf files.
>
>Hey, I feel better already.
>
>Mike