Is VFP 7 A True 32-Bit App - Will It Run On The MS's New 64 Bit O/S 1

[ibanezGuitars]

Hello,

I'm faced with the very real possibility that parts of our facility may be jumping onto Microsoft's brand new 64 bit processor O/S bandwagon as it pulls out of the barn. Can anyone tell me:

1) Is VFP 7.0 (or any later versions) a true 32 bit app?

2) Will there be problems running on a Win x64 box or with some of the the low level function calls on the 64 bit O/S?

Thanks for your time,

Dave

 

[dbMark]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but Visual FoxPro has always been 32-bit since day 1, which was version 3.0, I think.

From Microsoft's VFP FAQ:

Q: Are there plans for Visual FoxPro to support 64-bit versions of the Windows operating system?

A: No. While Visual FoxPro will remain 32-bit and not natively use 64-bit addressing, it will run in 32-bit compatibility mode. Visual Studio 2005 will support creating native 64-bit applications.

I wonder, one of the things that made FoxPro and Visual FoxPro so fast and the programmers' favorite was its Rushmore speed optimizations on indexing and searches. Is that technology still covered by a patent or whatever? Makes me think that someone somewhere could develop a 64-bit FoxPro work-alike look-alike for both Windows and Linux. I know there are lots of database languages out there, but do any try to stay close to VFP? Any legal reason why not?

 

[craigber]

Look at

http://dabodev.com/

Craig Berntson
MCSD, Visual FoxPro MVP,

http://www.craigberntson.com

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

 

[Mike Gagnon]

Craig,

I must be blind, but can you quote the part of the blog that addresses the subject at hand?


Mike Gagnon

If you want to get the best response to a question, please check out FAQ184-2483 first.

 

[dbMark]

Sorry, Mike. I had answered ibanezGuitars and then posed a question whether there were any similar database languages poised to step up and carry the torch into the new 64-bit world. He was answering my [followup] question. Frankly, I don't remember hearing about Dabo before. While I haven't determined whether it comes or will come in a 64-bit flavor, I'm glad to hear of it.

 

[Mike Gagnon]

dbMark

I understand your post that clarifies MS' position on VFP and 64bit, but as you say in Dabo's case there doesn't seem to have any mention of 64 bit support or not.



Mike Gagnon

If you want to get the best response to a question, please check out FAQ184-2483 first.

 

[craigber]

If Python runs on 64 bit, Dabo will too.

Craig Berntson
MCSD, Visual FoxPro MVP,

http://www.craigberntson.com

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

 

[dbMark]

Yes, Python does run on some 64-bit platforms. Ed Leafe, one of the Dabo developers, pointed me to this Python mail archive from June 2002:

http://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-list/2002-June/107594.html

[reply #107594 by M. Loewis]
Q: Has anyone looked at making Python 64-bit clean?

I believe the interpreter itself is 64-bit clean; the Alpha port has been working for a long time.

Q: I was looking at trying to use the new mmap module to map in a large (>2G) file, and the comments in the source note that the mmap regions are limited to int-size (31 bits), primarily because Python objects are also limited to this size.

I don't think this is the case. Yes, Python objects are limited to int-size - whether or not this means 31 bits depends on your 64-bit platform. It appears that you have a specific 64-bit platform in mind, where sizeof(int) is 4.

Q: Does anyone know if there's an inherent reason why it would be impossible or difficult to make Python 64-bit clean (say as a compilation option)?

I would not make it a compilation option. I think the best approach would be to use size_t as the object size; that may potentially cause problems in case people want to put negative numbers into the size. Because of this problem, it might be appropriate to write a PEP.

Notice that this change does not make it "64-bit clean" - there still might be other problems that nobody has noticed so far.

[reply #107599 by F. Lundh]
Q: Has anyone looked at making Python 64-bit clean?

It is 64-bit clean, and has been so for many years.

Q: I was looking at trying to use the new mmap module to map in a large (>2G) file, and the comments in the source note that the mmap regions are limited to int-size (31 bits), primarily because Python objects are also limited to this size.

Python *integer* objects are limited to that size on platforms where a C long is 32 bits.

Python runs perfectly fine on tru64, Itanium, and other 64-bit platforms. On most of them, Python ints hold 64-bit values.