Hi David,

An answer to your first question is easy, use MSDE which you probably already have since it comes with many programs, includiong Office. Or you can download it for free from Microsoft. It is Microsoft SQL server, 'the real thing', but with some limitations. For development it is simply perfect, and you can't get anything else cheaper. One of the limitations of MSDE is in the administration programs, but you many different are freely available as downloads. Search for MSDE here at UT and you will find many relevant messages.

For the second question I must admit that I am no expert, but if your application is design around remote views or SQL commands, the conversion is relatively easy.

>Hi,
>
>During my VFP career, I've developed VFP applications only using the native dbf tables that come with Visual FoxPro. However, a prospective client of mine has requested that I design a VFP application, which will connect with a SQL Server backend database.
>
>The problem is that I've never used SQL Server and I don't own a standard or enterprise edition of SQL Server. Also, I primarily develop applications off-site, package them into installation files, and ship them to the clients. This makes it impossible for me to directly work with a client's SQL Server system (since I'm primarily an off-site developer at the moment). I want to avoid purchasing the standard or enterprise editions, since they are very costly.
>
>I've done some research, and found that there is an SQL Server Development version, which allows a developer to create a fully functional SQL Server application, and later upgrade/migrate it to the enterprise edition of SQL Server. I'm also aware of the SQL Server 2000 Desktop Engine, which comes with VFP, and seems to allow the same flexibility for later migration to a full version of SQL Server.
>
>My questions are the following:
>
>1) Which development edition of SQL Server is most suitable for developing solutions off-site (without access to a client's enterprise or standard edition of SQL Server)? Is SQL Server 2000 Desktop Engine suitable for this?
>
>2) What is involved in upgrading an application (developed with SQL Server Desktop Engine) to a client's full SQL Server system? Is this just a simple process of copying the application's database files/tables on to the client's hard drive/server? Or, is something else involved?
>
>Thanks for any help,
>Dave