Skip to main content

VFP 10? Maybe not - but definitely more than just 9 and available for 64-bit Windows



I was in a meeting the other day and someone mentioned Visual FoxPro 10. Well, we all know this doesn't exist but I received a follow-up email with a note from the developer of the LienWriter.

Definitely curious, I took a look online. There were some posts online about it but nothing really earth-shaking. The best place to see it is the actual site.

When I took a closer look, there was some things to be aware of:

1. It's NOT VFP 10 - It's VFP Advanced.

2. It's continually in development. There are updates that resolve other bugs on a fairly regular basis. The final release of 2018 was updated with a 2019 release in February, fixing several bugs.

3. The 64-bit IS 64-bit. What does this mean? It doesn't use MSVCR7 - but rather MSVCR10. This is a C++ DLL that VFP uses. In the 64-bit version VFP Advanced uses MSVCR10. You can build an executable with the 64-bit version, distribute it on a machine with nothing more than MSVCR10 and the VFPA.DLL, and it will run completely on its own.

4. The 64-bit version is NOT the 64-bit version you are looking for (yet). When someone mentions 64-bit, a few things come to mind - mainly, the 2GB limitations that VFP currently has, 256 field limits, size of memo fields, total record sizes and more. Sadly, VFP Advanced (VFPA) does not do this (yet). So why update? Well, it DOES run as a 64-bit application.

5. 64-bit needs more controls. All of the ActiveX controls you've likely used in the past don't have 64-bit equivalents. So you need replacements for tree-views,listviews and others. The MS Web Control DOES have an equivalent which means if you are pushing more to web-looking interfaces, you're in luck but otherwise, you need to find alternatives.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Blogs and RSS come to Microsoft.com

MS has just introduced their portal and it's pretty comprehensive. Nothing quite like learning that some people use AIM instead of MSN messenger, or that there really may be a need for supporting 4 monitors ( Cyrus Complains ) However, it's really a great sign that MS is serious about supporting the blogging community which seems to have um, exploded in size in the past year. Blogs and RSS come to Microsoft.com

FoxInCloud Stats

FoxInCloud sent this link a while back about their statistics regarding visits to their site: http://foxincloud.com/blog/2017/12/27/VFP-community-lessons-from-foxincloud-site.html What's interesting here is the breakdown of people. Yes, I think it's understandable that the Fox community is getting older. Another factor is the growth of the mobile and web environments taking over development. These environments really do push people towards the newer non-SQL or free SQL/hosted environments but more towards hosted storage options like Amazon and Google. A tool like FoxInCloud that helps MOVE existing applications to the cloud inherently competes with those environments. But FoxInCloud also allows developers to extend their application further by giving them a starting point using Javascript and the basic CSS (such as Bootstrap). If you're not rebuilding your application from scratch, it's certainly a great step forward. FoxPro VFP

Facebook Revolt - imeem alternatives?

When Scoble noted how Facebook under major revolt , I immediately thought of a site I found yesterday. The value offered by Facebook's feeds however do seem very cool - if only they had been smart and made them opt-in, instead of opt-out. I have been impressed though with Facebook's opening of their API's - they certainly get it that they need to open it up to developers. I haven't really explored this other site, beyond my first look. In some ways, I think the whole social networking site thing is just silly , but this site (imeem) definitely showed some value. I could find music (as posted by the artist), it worked in Firefox and it allowed people to rank, add to delicious and more. And when I'm looking at someone, I can see what they're up to (or rather what they allow us to see). Anyways, you may want to check it out.