The LA Fox Developer Newsletter

May 1994

FoxPro Certification (Con't from page 7)

Tom Rettig - “...I just don’t see the harm in MSFT providing another very good method for people to do this for themselves. Should they not have a DevCon because those who attend gain a marketing advantage over those who don’t? ... Good marketing costs time and money, and it generally pays off quite well to make the investment. Much of our background is similar, and I see it as a marketing opportunity. I also see it as an obligation because I don’t want people wondering why I didn’t take the test and I want to remain competitive with others who do.”

Pat Adams - “Well, if MS did a certification similar to the method I proposed, it would be possible to have certifications for different levels - FoxPro Windows, FoxPro DOS, FoxPro Mac, FoxPro Unix, single-user, multi-user, client server, etc. And even within those categories it would be possible to have subcategories or ratings.”

Bill Rankine - "...I do not think any CP scheme, especially a vendor CP scheme, can actually do that [measure programming and design skills]. The scheme would have to be partitioned into programming skills, system design skills, business analysis skills, client interaction skills I’d love to see MSFT put together a “Fundamentals of Database Design” scheme and see Fabian Pascal’s response! <s> ..."

Steven E. Davies - “...But let’s not take ourselve too seriously. Being a FP “expert” is a bit like being a big fish in a fairly small pond... As for a test process, I don’t claim to be a great educator but I rather prefer seeing how someone handles valid problems rather than parrot information. Hell, I bet most of the FoxPro Gods have to refer to Help, occasionally. Give ‘em a situation to be resolved and methods of measurement to grade success. I want to know who knows how to think!’

Let us know what think... .we’re interested in hearing from you. You may send your comments to Barry Lee, CID# 72723,3422, or send your comments directly to Microsoft at Lisa Brummel’s CompuServe mailbox. I’m sure they’ll be interested in hearing from you on what may turn out to be a very important issue. (Lisa’s CID# appears in the adjacent column, “Reach the Stars”.)

From the Pen of Ken (Con't from page 5) mate this conversion.

GENSCRNX supports the following in the CON FIG. FPW:

_TRANSPORT=”GENSCRNX. PRG” to allow pre and post processing of all transporter functions *without* changing the supplied transporter. For example, you can control all of the default settings that occur when transporting from a DOS screen to the Windows platform, overriding any settings that you don’t like (screen background color to gray as default for example). This same technique will be even easier in FP

3.0. As for resources and support for creating the proper GENSCRNX utilities for the FP 2.5 to FP 3.0 conversion, there is no problem. With thousands of developers using GENSCRNX including Flash, the demand will be there. Also, any of these little utilities that support a GENSCRNX upgrade for upward compatibiltiy will remain in the public domain. Understand that this will not require extensive effort.

GENSCRNX is public domain, so there plans, or reason, for this to change. GENSCRNX for FoxPro 3.0 will only be required for backward compatibility only. Any changes/additions for GENSCRNX to work with FoxPro 3.0 will only be for backward compatibility and will remain in the public domain. Categorically, GENSCRNX, PTX Editor (coming soon), etc., will remain public domain, similar to Flash’s QuickStart. Flash will use them with their products (similar to FoxFire!, INTL, etc. using GENSCRNXIGENMENUX), but will *never* use them as a commercial product.

If you have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to respond.

Reach the Stars

Some useful CompuServe mailbox numbers:

Page 8