Victor,

Not every VFP Users group is fortunate enough to have a cross-section of members that use each of the available frameworks on the market.

>Yes, ProMatrix users to separate themselves.<
If you are drawing a conclusion about ProMatrix users, it is a flawed one. ProMatrix users do not separate themselves from any other part of the FoxPro community with the possible exception of newsgroup participation. The ProMatrix Newsgroups are free and open for anyone to join and post questions or comments. The ProMatrix Priority newsgroups are for those users who wish to pay for priority support from the ProMatrix staff.

>1) Not flexable at all<
I have developed in ProMatrix (VPM 6.0b and now in WPME 7.0a) and found that once you learn how to make modifications and enhancements to their base classes and project-level subclass templates, you can extend their framework quite a lot. I have customized the ProMatrix default functionality and incorporated ActiveX controls and Win API functions. I find that their framework has an elegant, well conceived design and they make use of a logical naming convention for objects, controls, and programs.

>2) It doesnt even use the VFP DBC!<
It uses the VFP DBC and extends out from there with more capabilities using the ProMatrix Data Manager which relies on ProMatrix's active data dictionary tables.

>3) It prevents you from using many of VFP features.<
I have used every feature in VFP that I have ever wanted to use, when developing in ProMatrix.

>I think that the author (or authors) of the thing were really more 2.6 foxpro people - they didnt grasp the concept >of DBC and views - and therefor left them out....and looking a ProMatrix to fix that problem is a complete re-write.<
The chief software programmer of Visual ProMatrix is Steve Smith. As I have just recently attended a four day Mastering VPM class and workshop taught by him, I can say that he 'grasps the concepts' quite well.

>Heck you can't even use Source Safe with it unless you blow more $ on some stupid program they sell you so you can.<
This is also inaccurate. I have used Visual Source Safe with my ProMatrix applications for three years now. Never did I have to use the VPM Source Code Control Kit to accomplish source code control with VSS.

>How about most ProMatrix users are hobbiest, not professionals - that would be more fitting.<
I do not speak for the ProMatrix Corporation but I have never heard them say that they had made a conscious decision to separate themselves from the rest of VFP developers. The comment about "hobbyists" was an unfortunate choice of words made by one of their employees, Max Goebel, in a private email to the originator of this thread. Max should have known better to measure his words more carefully for public consumption <bg>. Joe Lawson, the President of ProMatrix, would not have publicly made this distinction nor do I think that he would privately hold that opinion of anyone who might someday purchase one of his products.
Joe has said that he made a conscious decision not to exhibit at FoxPro Devcons or other VFP conferences because the costs were prohibitive and the return on investment was not measurable in increased sales.

>Now with that being said I hope I haven't offended anyone.<
Not offended, but this thread did appear to be a bit one-sided, with a rather harsh view of ProMatrix being put forth. It seemed that, at best, the responses were damning ProMatrix with faint praise.