Your application can be logically split into 3 tiers even if the UI, middle tier business objects and data all reside on the same machine. This would be a logical 3-tier app deployed physically as 1 tier.

Lets say you have a 3 tier app that is physically deployed in 3 tier (not a very common scenario). Your UI can receive XML or ADO, convert it into a vfp cursor, and bind to that. When its all done, convert it back to XML or ADO and send it back to the application server where the middle tier lives. The middle tier could be using views to update the database.

The more common scenario is to have your business objects and UI on the same client machine. There would be no reason to convert the data to xml or ado in such a case. Your business object just opens views that your UI binds to. Your front end uses views. The business object maintains the dataenvironments and views. This is still a 3 tier app. This is the way mere mortals works.


>>>Dave
>>>
>>>If my controls bind to views, what will the views be based on? Surely they can't be based on what's in the DB.
>>
>>Yes, views are based on db tables. This is physical 2 tier, logical 3 tier where the business objects are instantiated in the memory space of the client not on an application server.
>
>I should've emphasised a bit, I actually meant 3-tier, so my front-end wouldn't be able to use views.
>
>Thanks
>Kev