"Nothing runs like a Fox." Microsoft has de-emphasized marketing and turned Foxpro principally into a developer's tool. (I am not a developer.) Unfortunately, due to poor marketing, a lot of developers have moved to VBasic or Access when Foxpro has better data handling than VB and greater speed and robustness than Access. (Good grief! The DBF/DBT/DBC file format was much safer than the MDB file format.)
Bright Future? One very promising feature in Visual Foxpro v.5 (released in 1996) is an "Upsizing Wizard" which will create a duplicate SQL database from your Foxpro tables or database. I've not used this feature, but it provides an open migration path to high-end products. I don't feel claustrophobic with my Foxpro database.
Another Voice. 6/99. Interesting comments from a European VFP developer's website, who argues that FoxPro is "ideal for database handling in almost all circumstances." He sees it great for full-fledged user db programs; ideal for creating full aps for small and medium groups; and excellent as an in-house "front-end" to large DBMSs like SQL. Read this reasons at SevenSoftware.com.
Confession. These are notes I wrote, which I don't keep too well updated. I've never actually used these solutions. Rather, I've generated static pages from reports -- I wrote some Foxpro 2.6 and Visual Foxpro 3 +6 reports to generate static HTML (I call the result "spaghetti" HTML) -- essentially text reports with HTML tags pasted into as FP's report bands (where variables were needed) or as straight text in the report. I uploaded such a file from my music CD tables into such a report --a large HTML file -- so I could check it remotely before buying more duplicates.
[Information Sites] [Commercial/Product/Services Sites] [Foxpro to HTML Solutions]
Don't forget to look at my Databases on the Web notes.
Microsoft's Visual Foxpro web page.
Foxpro
Ring Web (recommended)
Netgadgets
(Jason's Foxpro 2.6 Page)
Magic
City Fox User Group (Birmingham, AL) Recommended!
MCFUG
Favorite Fox Links
Universal Thread (VFP)
Colin's Foxpro Web Links (quite good set of links)
Electric
Foxpro By Donaby Henton. With dorky cartoon.
The Foxgang http://www.foxgang.net/
(software, services)
How to get Foxpro data or applications to the Web? a) You can use FoxWeb or Web Connection (below). b) You can rebuild certain parts of an app using classes mentioned in FOXISAPI. c) Wait until VFP 6.0* d) Rebuild Web Interface using a VFP Business Object for your real business transaction processing.
* Note: Visual Foxpro version 6 is supposed to have better ways to get data to the Web including the ability to run MS "ActiveDocs" i.e., documents will open desktop applications. E.g., a VFP running inside a browser. Problem for ActiveDocs solution is it requires considerable bandwidth, Windows and IE 4.0. For corporations it will have built-in versioning. [notes from microsoft.public.fox.vfp.web postings of Rick Strahl and Lisa Slater.]
There are some good links at
Microsoft's White paper on high-end databases is "The
Best Database for
the Internet and Intranets" while their summary strategy written in nerd-ese is located here: http://www.microsoft.com/sql/inet/InetDevStrat.htm.
A friendlier version is: "Dreaming
of Databases" a good, older article by Mary Haggard at Microsoft's Site Builder Network (6/97) concerning (Microsoft's) database to Web solutions. Off-the-shelf
solutions includes SQL, IDC, ADC, ASP & ADO, Visual InterDev.
Microsoft SQL Server. And the price tag is: pretty inexpensive compared to Oracle!
Microsoft dbWEB. Old solution from 1995-96 which MS is trying to kill. As of 10/97 Microsoft no longer promotes. Users are send to InterDev or Access. See the MS guide "Use Microsoft Access 97 To Share Data on the Web" http://www.microsoft.com/Access/Internet/WebWiz/
Microsoft Visual InterDev Microsoft's other recommended solution which integrates database, ActiveX, VB and a host of other things. The data interface between VI and VFP is via ODBC, but you still need to produce the user interface with VI. This solution must run on a Windows NT box with Microsoft Internet Server. (People who want to use VFP or FP code should look at non-Microsoft solutions like FoxWeb
Also worthwhile while learning Active Server Pages: ASP Help PagesMicrosoft
Visual Foxpro search wizard page
Includes - Convert to form readable by CGI/Perl
Includes - Conversion to SQL for use by programs like MiniSQL
Includes - Allaire's Cold Fusion
Compiled by Paul Romaine.
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