A ramble on Visual FoxPro (v) Characteristics of-visual FoxPro 7

As mentioned several times before, Visual FoxPro 7 was officially released in mid-May 2001 and was listed in the United States in June. Now many netizens have been visual FoxPro 7 of the official version of English, after use, produced a variety of judgments. In the United States, it is believed that visual FoxPro 7 is the most "revolutionary" version of Fox's history after the visual FoxPro 3, and the evaluation is very high; at home, many of the earliest adopters sigh: This is Microsoft embarrassed to say SP product, it is Visual FoxPro 6 +sp6 ... The difference between the two evaluations is so great, who is the one who is not?

At the end of 2000, the author got its Bata 1 edition, and in July 2001 the official edition of English was obtained. The first meeting is really disappointing--the interface changes too small--except for a few windows can be parked, the menu more than a few icons, almost indistinguishable from visual FoxPro 6, the most intolerable is that the visual control does not increase ...

I was so impatient to read. To help understand the new features of Visual FoxPro 7, I slowly have the feeling that with visual FoxPro 7 I will never use Visual FoxPro 6, which is also my judgment on visual FoxPro 7, though it is imperfect, Some places are not satisfactory, I still think give it a 80 points should always be. Next I will talk about the use of feelings:

Great development environment, which is mainly embodied in six aspects:

IntelliSense (IntelliSense input hint), Object Browse, document View, Task List (tasks lists), recently used file records, window docking.

2. IntelliSense. I used to envy VB programmers, they have in VB 5 o'clock IntelliSense tools, so they do not have to remember a large number of commands, functions, in the external ActiveX, COM programming can easily get the object's methods, properties, events.
   In Visual FoxPro, if there is no difficulty in remembering the contents of the Visual FoxPro itself, there is a headache for ActiveX, COM properties, methods, constants. Visual FoxPro 7 now supports IntelliSense and provides powerful user-defined functionality, which is a configurable tool in visual FoxPro; now visual FoxPro 7 not only supports intelligent input navigation for internal objects, commands, functions, More support for intelligent input navigation for ActiveX, COM, and exciting: Visual FoxPro IntelliSense also supports the latest web Service. You can be proud to say that Visual FoxPro IntelliSense is the best and can be defined by the user.

4. Object Browse. Like IntelliSense, it has long been in other development environments, but it doesn't reduce my interest in it. First, it's really useful for COM objects, ActiveX observation tools, and most importantly: Visual FoxPro 7 's object Browse is tightly integrated with the visual FoxPro development environment--it's easy to get from the object In the browse, drag-and-drop COM object interface to the program, it is very simple to "implement" COM object interface.

6. Document View. This is an auxiliary tool for program editing that lists all the procedures, methods, functions, macro definitions, and headers in a file to help programmers navigate quickly in large amounts of code.

8. The task list is a intimate design that functions like a "bookmark". But what's more powerful than "bookmarks" is that once you close the file "bookmark" It is released and the task List does not. Any time you click the task List item, you can quickly open the file and navigate to the relevant location.

10. Like word, Visual FoxPro remembers that a user has recently used a file, which can reduce the time a user finds a file.

12. Window parking. The larger the display, the higher the resolution, the smaller the programmer's desktop space--the development environment is important for the management of the internal tool forms--a reasonable combination that provides a larger working space. Among the development tools I've used, I like the environment configuration of Visual FoxPro, and I'm not satisfied with the clutter of the command window, the Data Working window, the property window. All right now.--visual FoxPro 7 supports the tool window parking, which achieves the goal of saving space.

Visual FoxPro 7 has subtle changes in the development environment and more voluminous works. It absorbs the advantages of a variety of development environments, incorporating Fox's own characteristics, commendable.

Database events

The most beautiful feature of visual FoxPro 7 is about 60 database events, the biggest improvement to the database engine since Visual FoxPro 3. These events are of great significance in managing the entire database, and we can write the code to maintain the database in the event, as long as there is a corresponding action to trigger, so that all the relevant actions are recruited, rather than written in the application as before! The database event application face may be very wide, play its role still rely on the wisdom of everyone!

XML and Web Service

Visual FoxPro 7 supports the conversion of XML documents to the FOX cursor, and it's exciting that we used to have a headache for  delivery when we were developing COM applications--my solution was to mimic ADO and let the client program get the recordset in a circular fashion. When a COM component is getting a recordset, it seems more troublesome ... Now, the industry's new standard--xml can be text (string) way to pass , is really a good thing!

Visual FoxPro 7 supports XML and also has built-in support for SOAP, which makes visual FoxPro 70% the. NET architecture, we can use visual FoxPro7 to easily develop and publish Web services so that our applications can be invoked at any time, any place, by any Internet-enabled device to serve them.

The Web service is the hottest topic in the industry today, and Visual FoxPro is the first Microsoft company to develop a Web service. Support for Web Service makes visual FoxPro programmers able to develop new distributed applications.

COM and COM +

The sense of the development of COM components is very good, not only the improvement of the efficiency of the development, but also the effect of COM component operation is obviously improved. Visual FoxPro is from 5.0 to support the development of COM components, 6.0 version began to mature, 6.0 of SP3 later support the development of multithreaded components, 7.0 version of the development of COM components significantly better than the 6.0 version of the operation, can be said to be mature, perfect technology.

I thought visual FoxPro 7 support for COM can be divided into two parts: visual FoxPro acts as a COM client, visual FoxPro as a COM service program.

Visual FoxPro 7 supports the "Interface" implementation of COM components to support early binding. This is a great innovation, and we know that COM itself does not support "inheritance," so we can't write "subclasses" based on a COM component, but we can implement multiple "inheritance" through "Interface" of the "implementation" COM component ...

COM components written with Visual FoxPro 7 are more reliable than any previous version of Fox and fully support the COM + specification of Windows 2000. In its promotional visual FoxPro 7, Microsoft noted that visual FoxPro COM components can be used as interface-free data processing at industrial sites to show their stability.

Install Shield Express for Visual FoxPro

Install Shield is the mainstream installer software, in Visual FoxPro 7 Microsoft has replaced the original Installation Wizard with the Install Shield Express for Visual FoxPro Limited feature edition. What's more, this version of Install Shield provides a Chinese language pack, which means that the installer for the Chinese interface can be generated. With install Shield, we will be able to make the most current installation procedures.

There are a lot of new features, you can see it yourself! can also refer to the author of the "Visual FoxPro 7 Ramble" article.

The software upgrades to our users is good, mainly depends on how many problems he has solved for you, how much pain relief. Visual FoxPro 7 May be more attractive for advanced users, and the average user will certainly be interested in its super development environment.

Visual FoxPro 7 SP1

January 16, 2002, Microsoft released the SP1 of Visual FoxPro 7. This is a thorough patch package-almost no new features are introduced.

Add SP1 can improve the visual FoxPro 7 of the XML support, according to the author test, do not install SP1, xmltocursor () function can not correctly parse the Chinese characters, and installed the SP1 after the problem is resolved!

Our Visual FoxPro 8

When we were talking about visual FoxPro 7, Visual FoxPro 8 was already like we were coming!

Visual FoxPro 8 Product code is "Toledo", is selected by the FoxPro community.

New features of Visual FoxPro 8 that you've seen

In early September 2001, at the "VFP DevCon 2001" Meeting in the United States, members of the Microsoft Fox team convened a keynote address called "Visual FoxPro 7.0 and Beyond", Calvin Hsia A few of the new features of visual FoxPro 8 that have been completed have been demonstrated for the attendees of the meeting, albeit with little improvement. I personally feel that 2003 years of Visual FoxPro 8 will be officially released, but as for that is his name is not visual FoxPro 8 I do not know, maybe Microsoft will change its name ...

1. Support for self-growing fields.

2. With a property, the table control's current row highlights the actual color, and when the table loses its cursor, it still displays the current row with high brightness.

3. The page Frame control's page header supports placement of the top, bottom, left, and right four orientations.

4. The tooltip of the control supports multiple lines of display.

5. All controls support the Windows XP interface style.

Microsoft's positioning for visual FoxPro 8

In the FoxPro Advisor magazine, there is an article called "Memo from Microsoft", which publishes the Microsoft Visual FoxPro Product Manager Ken Levy's plan for the 2002 Visual FoxPro development, which specifically refers to the VIS UAL FoxPro 8 Product positioning, the original is:

The main top-down goals for Toledo are to provide a better rich client, improve distributed WEB client features, improve D Eveloper productivity, and increase discoverability for ease of use. You can be direction focuses on features VFP developers have requested.

Visual FoxPro 8 will make significant improvements and enhancements to client development, unlike Microsoft's positioning for visual FoxPro 5 and 6, highlighting the role of visual FoxPro in Visual Studio, emphasizing visual FoxPro development Middle-tier applications, COM components. Now that visual FoxPro has left visual Studio, the product is repositioned, adapting to the needs of the developer, and proposing Rich-client (FAT-clients) positioning!

Also, visual FoxPro 8 may be able to develop Web form, the so-called distributed Web Client features.

Visual FoxPro 8 won't be. NET language

Ken Levy also said that Visual FoxPro 8 would stick to the existing architecture and would not run on the. NET Common Language Runtime (CLR) engine. NET language.

My expectations for visual FoxPro 8

The following is just the author opinion.

Remote Data access

Every major upgrade in Fox history has to do with data engines, such as the addition of built-in SQL statements and Rushmore Technology at 2.0, and the completion of a complete database concept at 3.0, with the addition of remote data processing technology; 7.0 introduces the concept of database events. The author thought that visual FoxPro 8 might have improved the processing of remote data, and we know that visual FoxPro is now accessed through ODBC for Remote data, and ADO uses OLE DB primarily to access remote data. PB Such software is the underlying channel access to a variety of mainstream databases; In the latest ado.net, Microsoft added direct (bottom) access to SQL Server 7.0 and 2000, while still accessing other databases with OLE DB. Now we have to use the ADO component in Visual FoxPro to access remote data through OLE-DB, but in practical terms ADO is not a mainstream way for Fox to access remote data, so visual FoxPro 8 There should be a more efficient way to access remote data: either the underlying channel to SQL Server or the use of OLE DB to connect to remote data ... (Haha, what I wrote last year, this year has been confirmed by Microsoft: The Fox team is improving Visual FoxPro communication with SQL Server.) It seems that my feeling is quite accurate! ）

No matter how the access path changes, it is not felt to the user, just as the user does not feel that I am connecting to SQL Server data through ODBC, but it works better. (Note: ODBC is still the absolute mainstream, stable remote data access method, but slightly slower than OLE DB, but its compatibility is absolutely better than the OLE DB ADO.) So in the next few years ODBC is still a trusted solution for remote data access, especially for Visual FoxPro users.

Of course, as FOX users increasingly use SQL Server as a background database, Visual FoxPro 8 enhances development efficiency by enhancing development environments, such as data dictionaries, where users can easily view and maintain data-source tables, views, stored procedures, triggers, and more.

Reporting tools

Visual FoxPro 8 will greatly improve the reporting tool, first by processing the report as a single object, by making it easy to access, controlling, and then improving the performance of the report, such as the multiple-detail band report ... ; Report Preview is more free, the preview window will no longer be a modal window, because the window can be any of the specified forms ... The report displays data that can be saved with the report so that the report can be used as a history document ...

Of course, Microsoft may also be Crystal Report built into the Visual FoxPro, but I firmly believe that: Visual FoxPro 8 will be in the statement to give us a reply!

Calling the API is more convenient

I think the direct call API is not the best programming method, but sometimes there is no way to invoke it. Visual FoxPro 8 supports data types such as "struct", and visual controls have handle properties that make it easy to use the various features of the API in Visual FoxPro, unlike what is now a common API call, which is cumbersome in visual FoxPro ... ...

Improvements to the interface

I am Blunt: Visual FoxPro Interface Effect is simply a disgrace to Microsoft! If visual FoxPro 8 brings us some fresh air in this area, there are two possibilities: I think Microsoft will upgrade the entire interface and the built-in visualization controls on the existing basis, so that they conform to the trend of windows, more standardized, more popular, or perhaps visual FoxPro 8 will join. NET system, inheriting the beautiful interface provided by that common runtime. I think: If Microsoft is ready to improve the Visual FoxPro unsightly interface, the first option may be greater. (Haha, I have guessed almost!) ）

The above conjecture (even better wishes) in addition to the desire to compile encryption may be all users of Microsoft's expectations, let us see what Microsoft will bring us!

Select Visual FoxPro

The author is a programmer, not engaged in the administration, to do marketing, talk about the truth, one is one, rhetoric is not like. To say the truth, Visual FoxPro in its application is not as magical as those who brag about, the world's first, not as much as the society of those who do not have a smattering, pretend to say that the poor, my view is that the use of Visual FoxPro enough with any current popular development tools to contend with, The key is: You are not a master, you are not the use of Visual FoxPro in its appropriate areas.

Why do we choose Visual FoxPro as our development tool, because he is useful to us, other tools for us to use without it handy, with the Visual FoxPro we can develop a stand by comparison, withstand market storms, withstand the test of production practices system, That's enough for us,!!!.

At the end of this article, I want to let you see the Amazon site (www.amazon.com) on the visual FoxPro 7 of the English introduction, although there is advertising color, this text is true, comprehensive overview of the characteristics of visual FoxPro, use:

Microsoft Visual FoxPro 7.0 enables to build high-performance desktop, Client/server, and WEB database applications With its database development system. Employ its powerful data engine to manage large volumes of data, it object-oriented programming to reuse components s applications, and its built-in XML support to quickly manipulate data. Visual FoxPro 7.0 provides the tools and powerful data engine developers need to manage large of data, volumes the Y are organizing tables of information, running queries, or building full-featured database applications for end users. It helps developers achieve maximum productivity through a powerful development environment and Easy-to-use visual design Tools, and provides the flexibility to build all types of database applications, and to build and consume COM + components and Web Services.

Make applications accessible to Third-party tools, such as screen readers, voice-recognition devices, and automated test H Arnesses. You can also make Visual FoxPro data easily accessible to non-visual foxpro-based. Build interoperable applications and components through the ability to represent Visual FoxPro data as XML and to import X ML data into Visual FoxPro tables. Control user actions with the code that executes when databases are opened, closed, or modified. You'll reduce coding time by obtaining powerful, extensible language assistance as your type. View and quickly navigate to procedures, functions, and methods in source code, dock common tools such as command, data se Ssion, and debug windows. Can create setups for your custom applications using a special version of the popular InstallShield Express developed Exclusively for Visual FoxPro. The Enhanced Code Editor reduces coding time with support for bookmarks and shortcuts, find capabilities, and case convers Ion.

Finally, I want to tell you a good news: September 24, 2001, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer published a speech about Visual FoxPro 7.0. In addition to introducing the new features of Visial FoxPro 7, he also represents Microsoft's commitment that Microsoft will continue to drive the development of visual FoxPro to provide better support to global developers!

The original text reads as follows:

Hi, I ' m Steve Ballmer from Microsoft, and it's my great pleasure to is able to talk to you about a newly released version 7 of Visual FoxPro. Visual FoxPro 7 is a great tool for building database solutions to all sizes. From multi-tiered database applications, to data-intensive COM components, and XML Web services.

I hope you ' ve heard by now about. NET, Microsoft's platform for next generation XML Web services. Visual FoxPro 7 ' s support for XML standards, such as SOAP and WSDL, make it easy to create. NET Web services in the same E Nvironment you know.

Along with full support for Windows XP, Visual FoxPro 7 ' s XML support allows integration with. NET Enterprise Servers As SQL Server and our BizTalk server. and XML support in OfficeXP makes it easier than ever for Visual FoxPro 7 developers to import and export spreadsheets. Microsoft is committing to improve Visual FoxPro and continue to serve the needs of FoxPro developers.

The developer community is core of us. We value The bet you ' re making on us. The time and energy are put in building great Visual FoxPro applications for Windows, and we won ' t let you down.

We ' re committed to continually improving our tools to match your evolving demands as application builders. We'd ' ve got exactly the right line up with visual FoxPro and Visual Studio. NET, allowing you to continue to Innova Te and do incredible things for the customers we all serve.

I hope you agree with us this Visual FoxPro 7 is a exciting release. and I hope you to join me in supporting Ken Levy and the rest of the Fox team here at Microsoft as we build a bigger, and bet ter, and a more successful FoxPro developer community. A lot.

Therefore, our view is that if you want to develop excellent applications and want to protect your investment, then it is right to choose Visual FoxPro.