Alternative to VFP 3

[DrAlbany]

Hi Guys...,

Just wondering if anyone has any newer suggestions as an alternative to VFP?

I still can't believe how flexible VFP is and that I still keep coming back to it time and time again... I haven't found anything I can't do with it <sigh>

I have a couple of projects I want to start but, while I know VFP will handle it, I want to try another language. Something that's as flexible, reasonable cost, can handle local single-user DB and multi-user DB via a network. Preferably an all-in-one tool where I don't need to install multiple technologies to get a simple project up and running and where I can distribute the apps without having to purchase more licenses...

I don't really want to have to install MS-SQL or some other standalone DB which just introduces more complexity Especially when deploying to a clients computer

Any insights would be fantastic, thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Why, oh why did you abandon us Micro$oft

Many thanks

Steve

If you alway do what you've always done, you always get what you've always got.

 

[Koen Piller]

Steve,

What is there against my advise: stay with VFP9SP2 ?

Koen

 

[Mike Lewis]

Something that's as flexible, reasonable cost, can handle local single-user DB and multi-user DB via a network. Preferably an all-in-one tool where I don't need to install multiple technologies to get a simple project up and running and where I can distribute the apps without having to purchase more licenses...

That sounds like an accurate description of VFP.

So what is your reason for wanting to try something else?

Mike

__________________________________
Mike Lewis (Edinburgh, Scotland)

Visual FoxPro articles, tips and downloads

 

[DrAlbany]

Hi Guys...,

Thanks for your replies...

I just thought it was getting a bit old and I wanted to keep up with the times lol... I know VFP still has some mileage left in it, guess I will keep with VFP

I suppose I just needed the reassurance to keep using it

Thanks again guys, and thank you Mike... It means a lot coming from you

Regards

Steve

If you alway do what you've always done, you always get what you've always got.

 

[GriffMG]

I have tried developing new stuff in c#, but it is rubbish compared to VFP.

Even after seven years I'm still 10 times as productive in VFP.

Regards

Griff
Keep [Smile]ing

There are 10 kinds of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.

I'm trying to cut down on the use of shrieks (exclamation marks), I'm told they are !good for you. ​

 

[Scott24x7]

Hi DrAlbany,
I've had the same quandary, and looked at a lot of options. One thing I find is one reason its hard to move off is because of the devil you know...
VFP is unique even among the xBase world. There are so many aspects of VFP that I love, despite its shortcomings and oddities. I struggled to find something else that "grooved" the way VFP does. C# in particular didn't sit well with me. I have one other that I'm still looking at, which is XBase++. They were working on a VFP integration which I think is complete now, though I haven't had a chance to try it lately due to other work I have on. But it may be worth taking a look at.


Best Regards,
Scott
MSc ISM, MIET, MASHRAE, CDCP, CDCS, CDCE, CTDC, CTIA, ATS

"Everything should be made as simple as possible, and no simpler."

 

[Tore Bleken]

I have followed xBase++ for some years now, and I am still not sure what to mean about it.
First of all, it has been "almost ready" for many years now....! When I asked them about five years ago, they expected it to be ready within a year or two. Secondly, it will never be compatible. It's a one way train; you run your project through their "transpiler", and after that you wave goodbye to your FoxPro code for good. xBase syntax is very different from VFP syntax!

 

[GriffMG]

I have been using xBase++ on a migrated Clipper application for maybe a decade.

The app is very DOSsy even now, and while it has some Windowsy bits it is unlikely to get any more so.

One thing I can say is that while the syntax is different, the resultant program is very robust indeed.



Regards

Griff
Keep [Smile]ing

There are 10 kinds of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.

I'm trying to cut down on the use of shrieks (exclamation marks), I'm told they are !good for you. ​

 

[Scott24x7]

Griff,
Yeah, that is my expectation (different but robust). I think the point about it being a viable VFP replacement though is that it:
a) Is VFP like in that the interface and the DB are closely coupled
b) xBase languages (Clipper, dBase, Fox, etc.) at least have more in common with each other than the "C" family, or other Visual family languages (VB)
c) xBase++ is still being developed, and by that I don't just mean making the language more VFP like, but more to the point that it's not a "dead language". While it doesn't have the weight of the likes of Microsoft behind it, it does at least have a developer base that is progressing the language and keeping it in line with modern OS (though that is less an issue than most VFPers make it out to be)
d) I also believe (though haven't used it yet) that it supports OOP which is important to me from a development standpoint

I will give it another look at some stage, just at the moment I'm buried in a bunch of other stuff.


Best Regards,
Scott
MSc ISM, MIET, MASHRAE, CDCP, CDCS, CDCE, CTDC, CTIA, ATS

"Everything should be made as simple as possible, and no simpler."

 

[GriffMG]

Scott

It is OOPsy, certainly, in a Clippery kind of way - that said I am working with a version from 10 years ago, so it must have moved on a bit.

I quite like working in it, but I only have one project, and it's old, huge and complicated - I have been working on a C# replacement for it, but my heart is hardly in it!


Regards

Griff
Keep [Smile]ing

There are 10 kinds of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.

I'm trying to cut down on the use of shrieks (exclamation marks), I'm told they are !good for you. ​