>I am primarily a FoxPro 2.x developer but am trying to convert over to
>Visual FoxPro OOP.  I've done some small OO projects and have become
>increasingly aware of all the neat things that can be done with class
>frameworks.
>Considering my relative inexperience with developing a class framework, I
>have taken notice of the many commercial Framework packages available.
>
>1.  Does anybody have experience with any of these commercial frameworks:
>Visual ProMatrix, Visual Extend, Visual FoxExpress, Codebook 3.0, Mere
>Mortals Framework, or MaxFrame?
>
>I have been considering Visual ProMatrix because it has alot of builders
>which will help me get up and running quickly yet will this eventually limit
>my efforts when I become more proficient with working with classes.
>
>
>2.  How important is it to know the Visual FoxPro Codebook 3.0 framework?
>I've seen alot about products being "codebook compliant/compatible" and
>there are many employers looking for codebook proficient programmers.
>Whould a commercial framework like Visual FoxExpress be a good medium
>between having RAD builders and being codebook compatible?
>
>
>3.  Can Commercial Frameworks be mixed?  ie. Could I use one framework that
>has a lot of builders and then later integrate other features from other
>frameworks (hopefully without too much hairpulling)?

Garrett, I'm glad you're considering upgrading to PUTM!

My group is using Visual MaxFrame for a large (5-programmer, 1 year) project, and have found it excellent. It does NOT have builders or form designers, but it DOES have a lot of methods which solve sticky problems. One of our last items was to supply read-only security for certain users. It was as simple as placing an "R" in their user records. Every form automatically disabled data entry!

There's quite a steep learning curve with any framework. Many people have made the decision to spend the time building their own framework instead, and that's valid if their work environment allows it. However, we were 'given' this by our superiors, and found the benefits outweighed the problems by a substantial amount.

HTH
Barbara