Pertti, Meta Data has been around longer then VFP, so using it is not unique to Fox. I have used a DD playing with VFE as well as Report Writing tools. I found it a pain to set up, and the savings you received were not nearly as great as the time it took to set it up on the front end. YMMV.

Using the BizObjects in MM.NET are real easy to pull the data you need whe you need it. In the MM.Net product you will learn how the VPM product did it's voodoo behind the scenes.




>Stephen:
>
>VPM data access happens through (VFP) views, that part is not coded into the application at all. Hence the system can access many backends with very few changes.
>
>Data dictionary is used to populate many control properties during design time (e.g., label/grid captions); define error and tooltip messages; define input masks and formats; define default values (e.g., today's date); set up a few event triggers (e.g., pre-save processing); turning on audit file entries; setting up security levels; etc. Although .NET is a different beast from VPM, and although some of the datadictionary work can be done through the back-end, there is a lot there that could still be very useful to have during design and run-time.
>
>In addition, if you can use a CASE tool to create your database schema, you can also create "domains" of controls, that will automatically populate some or all properties for a certain type of control (e.g., phone number field with certain format and mask (999)999-9999 or state field with it's own domain of valid data). Makes your design work very consistent AND makes it go a lot faster in the long run!
>
>With a datadictionary you can create fully or partially data-driven applications, which make on-site customizations and changes to an already installed program much easier (no re-compilation).
>
>While I'm not advocating embedding datadictionary functionality to MM .NET exactly as it is in VPME, I AM suggesting that there is a lot there that could make working with MM .NET a lot easier. BTW, VPM is not the only framework that relies heavily on a datadictionary, F1 is another one that comes to mind...
>
>Pertti
>
>
>
>I don't think that the PM use of the DD would work well in .NET. It's doing the work inside of it's own .APP, correct? It creates the code necessary to access the data & more. In .NET your no longer tightly coupled to your data. Your going through a data layer via a data set or a data pump.
>
>__Stephen
>
>
>>While we are at it -- how about an active data dictionary? I have used the Promatrix framework for VFP extensively over the last couple of years, and gotten so used to the data dictionary that working without one seems like living without electricity and plumbing. This particular framework has an add-on product that will import database schema designs directly from xCase (a database design CASE tool for VFP, SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL, InterBase, etc. backends) into the datadictionary, and boy HOWDY does that one make my life easy!
>>
>>Data dictionary can maintain and insert a whole bunch of properties and methods/triggers for each data item, so that setting up controls is very easy (drag from data dictionary, drop onto the form). Same goes for various utility functions and data integrity management.