>I switched to a framework a few years ago and most (if not all) my multiuser programs run just fine. I have one with 50 users pounding 12 hours daily. They only reindex once a month. Data is about 6 gigs now. I'm not sure if it's just dumb luck or the framework (codemine). But I can say it works. I use to have a lot of trouble with memo tables and have just stop using them unless it is impossible to avoid.
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>I'm hoping to slowly move to either postgres or MySQL. The real reason is not to support more users or to get stability - but to start working with Linux. I'm hoping that Postgres or MySQL will be the engine to support all my future programming and web projects.
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>My biggest complaint about VFP has been the lack of security on the tables. Several of my users discovered that word and excel could get to the tables (normally I would have thought this was a good thing) and did not use release the connections correctly. This caused me major grief in many ways.
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>John

John,

I suppose I should be fair and point out that the 20-user app I referred to is a Foxpro DOS application on a Win98 platform. I have another app that is simultaneously used by 250+ users in an Insurance claims office, and unless they are suffering silently, they aren't having many index problems...that app was written in VFP6. I think hardware and -controlled- installation (read restricted) of other applications can have an impact as well. In places with trained IT staff (as opposed to Mom-n-Pop shops) the level of trouble is much lower.

I agree 100% with you on the memo fields and data security issues. The insurance claim application mentioned above uses a home-grown memo field approach that has been -very- reliable. As for security, it's not that hard to encrypt data on a field-by-field basis before writing to a table but trying to troubleshoot problems on a system with encrypted data tables is a bear! I'm too used to just opening up the table and browsing around to see what went wrong. That's one of the reasons I started storing dbf files on a Samba box. I've yet to implement it, but my intention is to restrict login access to the Samba drive and perform the login in VFP code. Other applications won't have access unless the user logs in manually ("Password? Why do you want a password?")

My only complaint about MySQL/Postgre, so far, is that I haven't -yet- found a way to package a setup routine where the application can be "no-brainer" installed from a CD like a VFP-only app can. But, maybe I just need to explore more. I set up a VISA processing application for a client a few weeks ago that was written in VB and uses the MSoft SQL Server Personal edition. It was very transparent and required no intervention on my part. I had some apprehension at first about installing the Service (Win2k system) but it's been rock solid and much more responsive than the application it replaced that was designed with Access.

Now that I think about it, switching to a Data Server approach is a step in the right direction...job security.

Mike