>>The bottom line...I don't contrain my development based on third-world limitations. If I had a simple app to write, the choice to use dbf's would be behind the use of MSDE.
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>In terms of a "third world app", I will maintain that I can write a more "sophisticated" app, faster, using DBF'S, "native" DML/DDL, than you will ever do using MSDE.
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>While you're dinking around with views, SQL pass thru, blah, blah ... I will have my app up and generating benefits while you're jerking around with UML, data spaces, connections, views, pass thru, partitioning, whatever ...

Have you used SQL Server Enterprise Manager? IMO it's better at handling SQL Server databases than VFP is at handling its own databases. We should be so lucky as to have a tool that good for VFP. And if you want to talk views, updates etc. you have a full SQL syntax rather than VFP's subset.

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>Your "ultimate solution" will probably look better on some over head projector, but it will come in several months later (at least) than the "25 cent" solution. Your "benefits" of scalability, recoverability, connectivity, MS suckability, etc. are often figments of the (non-user's) imagination ... ie. they have no "current" relevance in the "third world". "Planning for the *future*", in this context, is also BS ... (IMO).
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>John, your "solutions" sound no different from what IBM, Price Waterhouse, Arther Anderson (LOL) have been flogging over the years ... Usually a "canned" solution, that lacked imagination, and that catered to "their" bottom line; ie. "we'll" come in and make it right ...

Ironically, a third-world app might be a good use of MSDE over VFP tables. Power there can be unreliable; if you're an experienced VFP developer you can't tell me you've never seen a table trashed by a power outage. Even in 1st world Canada I've lost count of the times I've had to fix tables and indices corrupted by my apps being run on Windows 95 boxes with flaky NICs, substandard Ethernet cable and unreliable power. Frankly, it sucks.

If you're talking speed of development it depends on a lot of things, not all related to the back end choice:

- VFP Framework - if you use one, big win here. But both of you can use a framework.

- Data Access toolkit - John might use something like DataClas here. I haven't used the product but it might make access to SQL data pretty transparent from VFP.

- Building the database - as I said above, IMHO VFP has no advantage over MSDE + Enterprise Manager here.

For a "simple app" I don't see the development time difference being "several months (at least)".