VFP Licensing?

[BTilson]

Is there a licensing scheme with VFP? What I need to know is, if we buy one copy, can I develop and deploy applications all aross our network, or do we have to purchase a license for each individual computer the applications will be used on?

I've looked on Microsoft's site, but couldn't find anything specific in regards to licensing.

Does anyone know?

Thanks!

Brooks Tilson
Database Development
Tilson Machine, Inc.

 

[Mike Gagnon]

The license applies to the developper, not the end product.

Mike Gagnon

If you want to get the best response to a question, please check out FAQ184-2483 first.
ReFox XI (www.mcrgsoftware.com)

 

[pthalacker]

Hi Brooks,

As Mike says there is unlimited runtime distribution with a single developer license. You need 1 license for each person who is going to use the developer IDE.

You can download it here.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...25-561a-4abb-9f47-b01d05964b63&displaylang=en

pamela

 

[Olaf Doschke]

Hi Brooks,

yes, that's another one of the big points pro VFP, you tend to forget these if you use it daily: No license fees per user, no database licensing. The license of VFP is bound to the developer using it, so you may even install VFP on several computers for your development.

And VFP is runtime based like VB, so you make your setup and deploy your exe with runtimes. That's very easy done, as VFP ships with a light version of Installshield Express since VFP7.

As VFP apps search for their runtime DLLs and EXEs quite cleverly and the runtimes find gdiplus.dll and a MS Visual C runtime DLL by themselves (VFP is written in C and thus the VFP runtime needs that C runtime), you can also simply deploy without an installer by just dropping all needed files into the application directory, if you want.

There are few components like MS XML parser (to support some XML features of VFP) or OCX controls that really should be registerd and need more care. Installshield does care about these details, if you build a setup.

Either way: Once a VFP app is installed and working you may just need to distribute the newest EXE version of your app and are done with updates.

Maybe also look at these sources at microsoft:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/vfoxpro/

and especially

http://msdn.microsoft.com/vfoxpro/roadmap/

a nice article about the power of vfp concerning large data sets:

http://advisor.com/Articles.nsf/aid/MATIV02

Ken Levy's monthly letters (he's VS Data Product Manager)

http://msdn.microsoft.com/vfoxpro/letters/

eg find out in this month's issue how active the VFP community is and that later this month the book about what's new in VFP9 will be freely available.

Bye, Olaf.