ex dBASE IV programmer asks about VFP8

[s36e175]

Hi, can anyone confirm for me VFP will provide a painless dBASEIV conversion? (Visual dBase does not!).

Years ago I built an app for my father-in-law in DBASE IV. I haven't programmed in anger for years but he still uses it to run his quite substantial business.

I bought Visual dBase 5.5/6/7 and later upgraded to 7 and played around with these, but I never really hit it off with VdB and because of the many say/get routines I never got around to converting the app over. I also toyed with Access but found that similarly frustrating.

All I really wanted to do was to move the app as it was, then maybe look at adding a few things to it as he required them, rather than have to re-write the thing.

Some of the DBASEIV date handling, reindex, and pack options don't seem to work in this post Win95 world.

Will VFP8 give me what I need, or is it going to force me to get all O-O like VdB does?

Thanks, Jim

 

[craigber]

You can use procedural xBase code in VFP, but I recommend going OOP. That's the only way you can take full advantage of the language. I've never used dBase IV, but your program should mostly convert over. There will be somethings that don't work, but you should be able to find similar commands, etc in VFP.

Craig Berntson
MCSD, Visual FoxPro MVP,

http://www.craigberntson.com

Author, CrysDev: A Developer's Guide to Integrating Crystal Reports"

 

[Mike Lewis]

Jim,

The Visual Foxpro language is almost 100% compatible with dBASE IV. There are a few very minor differences, all of which are documented. There is even a command (SET COMPATIBLE) which governs the behaviour of the very few commands and functions where the behaviour is different.

However, the development environment in VFP is very different from dBASE IV. There is no Control Centre (the ASSIST command is still valid, but it does nothing). Instead of a dot prompt, there is a command window. The various design tools (screen designer, report designer) are completely different, although the generated dBASE code should still run OK.

In general, a dBASE IV application should run pretty well out of the box under VFP, although it will look terrible. It will essentially be a 25 x 80 DOS app running under Windows. But it will be a good starting point.

So, yes, you can migrate an app from dBASE IV to VFP. However, doing so will not bring you any of the benefits of VFP, the most important of which is object-orientation. If you are able to, it is much better to re-design the app with VFP in mind from the outset.

Finally, if you do decide to go with VFP, be sure to come back here when you have more questions. There are a lot of folk here who know VFP really well and are willing to help.

Mike


Mike Lewis
Edinburgh, Scotland

http://www.ml-consult.demon.co.uk

 

[FoxEgg]

Jim,

First let me congratulate you on getting any dBaseIV routine to run reliably... I escaped from dBaseIV because it reliably crashed ... switched to FPD2.6 and was amazed at the speed and stability... but that was all in the last millenium.

I sympathize with your quest... I am still in the conversion routine... but it is necessary... conversion to VFP is a lot like child birth... Painfully difficult to start with, but worth the effort, and it is very satisfying watching the progeny grow... (although growth is slow)...

If you need an epidural or forceps.. then I agree with Mike that Tek-Tips forum is truly outstanding... The help that these guys offer is golden.

Like you, I had a working app and tried running it under VFP which it does do... BUT just as surely as it is impractical to return to DOS 1.1 and the C:> you must bite the bullet and learn new tricks...

I took YEARS to get to my level of incompetence... and so I WOULD STRONGLY SUGGEST THAT

1. you do a course in VFP... a few things shown to you makes the process immensely easier.. and it WILL SAVE YOU YEARS OF TRIAL AND ERROR...

2. redesign the entire project from the bottom up... it allows you to think about it a-fresh and learn those new tricks...

Good luck....

John Fox

 

[s36e175]

OK, I took the VFP8 plunge, and found the app kind of ran, but looked ugly and some bits still didn't work (format files).

But I have realised the whole thing can be made into a very simple app by redesigning with VFP8, and so far it's been much more pleasant than my MS Access experiences.

I could have used VdB which I quite like, but VFP seems a little more nimble and it's also much harder to find other people with VdB skills locally, and I don't want to end up as the only on-going development/support option for this app!

Rgds, Jim

 

[Mike Lewis]

Jim,

As I mentioned in another thread, it makes sense to at least re-design the user interface. VFP programmers rarely use the old @/SAY/GET style of programming. VFP forms look much better and are easier to program.

However, you should be able to salvage any dBASE processing code. For example, if you have any routines that do calculations or validations, these should still run OK, and you should be able to plug them into your app.

Good luck with the project.

Mike


Mike Lewis
Edinburgh, Scotland

http://www.ml-consult.demon.co.uk