The LA Fox Developer Newsletter

March 1994

LA Fox President’s Column (con’t from Page 2)

easily be integrated with a custom app, and the

licensing agreement allows distribution without

royalties.

And since you have the source code, a look inside

will illustrate data driven application design using

FoxPro. Of local interest is the fact that Ken Levy's

GenScrnX was an enabling technology for building

the FoxFire interface. I was much more strongly

impressed by the Windows version than the earlier

DOS version.

Object Oriented Programming

In my quest to climb the Object Oriented learning

curve, I recently read another book that Savannah

Brentnall recommended, called Object Oriented

Information Systems, by David Taylor. This is an

updated and expanded version of his book men-

tioned in an earlier newsletter, and I think you will

find it more informative and satisfying. While the

former was a “manager’s guide” that surveyed the

subject at surface level, this one has more depth on

topics such as languages, methodology, object

databases, and supporting tools. However, it is

presented entirely at the idea level and is not a

programming book - don’t expect examples or

discussion about code or about specific software

products that you recognize.

While I found the book informative and well written,

several things were imtating. He spends too much

time “bashing” current software technology - we all

know it has limitations, no one thinks its totally

wonderful, so just tell us about the new way that is

better. He seems to assume that all software is

developed for corporate business requirements,

where large scale, wide scope, long term, big staff,

and big resources prevail. Most of us work in

situations where none of these attributes are

present - its not okay to apply a complete pro-

gramming staff for a year before the first payoff

appears, its more like one or two people applied for

several months to get a fully working, robust appli-

cation into operation. This makes me wonder

whether object oriented technology is really mean-

ingful for the class of applications we typically

address with FoxPro.

The author advocates a linkage between object

technology and 4GL environments, but his discus-

sion is very limited and not very specific, so it’s hard to

know how this all relates to today’s world (it was

written in 1992) of high performance microcomputer

platforms using rich development tools like FoxPro,

SQL Server and PowerBuilder.

Announcements

On March 30, Microsoft will broadcast another of their

DevCast technology-update satellite conferences. This

time the emphasis will be database products, including

FoxPro, Access, Visual Basic, SQL Server, and

ODBC. This is a 4 hour live, interactive session direct

from key developers at Microsoft. The claim is that

they will build a client server app before your very

eyes. There is no charge for this conference. You can

register by calling 800 423-8883.

Microsoft has expanded their CompuServe support to

include a Fox User Forum in addition to the normal

Fox Software Forum. “Go FoxUser” to exchange

information with the user community, and “Go

FoxForum” for technical support discussions.

The International Database Interchange is a multi day,

multi track conference put on by the “Advisor” maga-

zine publishers, which covers FoxPro, Access, and

Visual Basic. The agenda is similar to a Developer

Conference, with technical sessions at several levels

presented by top level consultants and trainers. The

conference will be held in Palm Desert on April 24

through 27. Brochures are available at the user meet-

ing, or you can get information and register at 800

438-6720.

Job Opportunity - bd Systems Inc is looking for a

senior FoxPro Programmer/Analyst as a full time

employee to develop and maintain several complex

applications. The work involves requirements definition

through development and ongoing support. Mail

resume to Herb Oliver at bd Systems, 385 Van Ness

Aye, Suite 200, Torrance Ca 90501.

At the April 19 meeting, we will hear a presentation by

Omega Systems on their new Versions software, a

very flexible, automated version control system that

helps manage multiple versions of source and object

files in a software development project. It includes a

checkin and checkout system for team development,

keeping track of who did what and when, and provid-

ing version history reporting. It works in the Windows

environment and is compatible with FoxPro and Visual

Basic, and apparently is also usable with SQL Server

to keep track of the large variety of database objects.

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