foxpro 2.6a exe in win 7

[dougerstew]

Hi,
Is there any way to make win 7 be able to launch a foxpro 2.6 exe? I get "the version of this file is not compatable with the version of Windows you're running".
Any help is appreciated!

Doug

 

[TamarGranor]

I think you'll have to do this in Windows XP mode.

Tamar

 

[dougerstew]

Thanks.
I was afraid of that, but noticed some other threads about using foxpro in win7, and hoped it might be possible to run an exe in win 7 too.

 

[JRB-Bldr]

As I have indicated in previous related postings, I have not tried to get FP26D or FP26W to run in Win7, but I have gotten VFP to run.

Maybe the same configuration issues might work for FP26

See: thread182-1669798

Good Luck,
JRB-Bldr

 

[DSummZZZ]

As I mentioned in some other thread, a Fox 2.x executable will run in W7 32 bit, but not W7 64 bit.



-Dave Summers-

Even more Fox stuff at:

http://www.davesummers.net/foxprolinks.htm

 

[dougerstew]

Thanks, Dave. XP mode it is!

 

[JRB-Bldr]

Dave - Again I'll admit that I have not tried to make this combination of environmental issues work together, but won't an FP26 (32-bit) executable work in a Win7 64-bit environment if you set the FP-EXE's Compatibility mode to 32-bit (or XP Compatible) within the specific EXE's Properties?

If that's what you mean by using 'XP Mode' then I apologize for the redundancy of my question.

Some individuals have been going through the effort of setting up virtual XP mode's within their Win7 system to run VFP EXE's and that is what I thought you might have been referring to - since I found that to not be necessary.

JRB-Bldr

 

[dougerstew]

I was refering to that. When I right click on the shortcut to the exe, the compatibility tab has everything greyed out, so I can't change the settings.

 

[JRB-Bldr]

Have you done all that I recommended in: thread182-1669798

It sounds as though you may not have appropriate permissions.

Specifically from that list of recommended changes, have you tried turning off the Win7 UAC?

And are you doing this from a Windows logon user with Administrative rights?

Good Luck,
JRB-Bldr

 

[dougerstew]

no i haven't. I am logged onto the pc with administrative privileges.
* Turn UAC OFF - what is UAC?
* Configure EXE as 32-bit (or XP Compatibility)- How do you do this?
* Use 32-bit drivers for ODBC using ...\SysWOW64\odbcad32.exe
How do you do this? I've never used odbc when creating an exe file.

Sorry for my ignorance.

 

[Dan Freeman]

Haven't been paying much attention for the last 10 years, have you?

All of those are Windows issues. Nothing specifically to do with Foxpro.

Go get Doug Hennig's article about developing for Windows Vista:

http://www.stonefield.com/techpap.aspx

(It should really say "Vista and later" but "later" didn't exist yet.)

That should get you started.

 

[dougerstew]

ok, thanks. I'll check it out.

 

[JRB-Bldr]

The Windows issues are not related specifically to Foxpro itself, but they DO affect how (or even IF) older applications (many of different kinds of them) will run in a Win7 64-bit system.

You can investigate the How To's by looking into the following...

From Doug Hennig's web page referenced above pay particular attention to:
Developing VFP Applications for Windows Vista
What is needed for Vista is applicable to Win7

Also you can....
* Turn UAC OFF
Do a Google Search for: Turn UAC Off Win7

Configure EXE as 32-bit (or XP Compatibility)
Do a Google Search for: set 32-compatibility mode win7

Use 32-bit drivers for ODBC using ...\SysWOW64\odbcad32.exe
You only need to do this one if your FP application is using ODBC drivers to access non-FP data tables in an 'alien' database such as SQL Server, MySQL, Informix, ext.
If not, then it is not necessary.
If so, do a Google Search for: 32-bit odbc win7

Good Luck,
JRB-Bldr

 

[DSummZZZ]

Dave - Again I'll admit that I have not tried to make this combination of environmental issues work together, but won't an FP26 (32-bit) executable work in a Win7 64-bit environment if you set the FP-EXE's Compatibility mode to 32-bit (or XP Compatible) within the specific EXE's Properties?

I tried setting the compatibility mode on W7-64 bit and no matter what we tried, it kept telling me the version was incompatible.
I had admin privileges on that machine. We ended up purchasing W7 32 bit for it.
Admittedly, the executable is Foxprow Windows 2.5 so I don't know if a 2.6 app would work or not. Our policy now though is "Don't buy a computer with the 64 bit OS until we have a chance to rewrite the app in VFP"


-Dave Summers-

Even more Fox stuff at:

http://www.davesummers.net/foxprolinks.htm

 

[JRB-Bldr]

Don't buy a computer with the 64 bit OS until we have a chance to rewrite the app in VFP

Wise decision...

Good Luck,
JRB-Bldr

 

[dougerstew]

does it matter what version of vfp you get?

 

[JRB-Bldr]

At this point in time, there is only 1 version of VFP that I would consider purchasing - VFP9.

There is no point in paying for an older version when you can get VFP9 and its enhanced features.

Good Luck,
JRB-Bldr

 

[dougerstew]

Thanks for all the input. Is there a steep learning curve, or is it possible to easily convert the existing 2.6 files?

 

[JRB-Bldr]

FP2.6 code itself will run un-modified in VFP9.
By that I mean that the code syntax is 100% usable in VFP9 - although now there are more commands/functions available to use.
And much of the FP2.6 code will run without modifications in VFP9.

That being said, in order to get the majority of the VFP9 benefits, it might be good (not essential) to re-develop the application using the newer OOP, class-oriented VFP approach.

Additionally instead of using the old Screens, Menus, & Report methodology, VFP uses a newer 21st century-appearing approach which gets rid of the old appearance, etc.

A few specific general notes:
* FP Screens become VFP Forms
* FP Screen snippets become VFP Form Methods (where the code goes Load, Init, When, Valid, Release, Unload, etc. Form methods) and use VFP Form Designer not the Wizard.
* FP @Row,Col <whatever> Menus and Reports become VFP Menus & VFP Report Forms (also use the associated VFP designers to create NOT Wizards).

I generally recommend that individuals new to VFP should spend some time watching the free on-line VFP tutorial videos at:

http://www.garfieldhudson.com/FreeVideos.aspx

And if/when you encounter challenges you can always post a question to the VFP language-specific area of this forum.
Microsoft: Visual FoxPro Forum
forum184

Good Luck,
JRB-Bldr

 

[Dan Freeman]

Is there a steep learning curve, or is it possible to easily convert the existing 2.6 files?

There is a learning curve with any new product and VFP is best approached as if it were a new product when coming from 2.x.

There is a converter. That is the best I can say of it. There is one.

When converted, FP 2.x screens result in forms of a special class that cannot be created from scratch and carry behaviors that cannot be conjured from scratch. You'll need to turn off Windows Themes which immediately makes your application look different from every other Windows application. You will spend more time working around quirky behaviors than you would creating a new form from scratch in the first place.

That said, I've known many who convert and run the converted code unchanged until they need to touch/enhance a part of the system at which time they rewrite only those parts of the system. It can be used as a crutch. I've also known people who run their generated SPR files as PRG files in VFP until they get around to building new forms to replace them.

Your mileage may vary.

Just be aware that if questions arise in your converted forms and you come here for help you should clearly spell out "THIS IS A CONVERTED FORM". Most of us haven't used them much and won't take that as a default consideration.