The LA Fox Developer Newsletter

April 1995

Delphi (Con't from page 6)

engine that is used in dBase and it supports dBase

and Paradox file formats. For Client-Server work,

Delphi also includes a development version of the

Interbase server. Either one is a big step up from

the toy Access database included with VB.

Using dBase files is a little strange in Delphi. The

indexes speak Xbase:

DTOS (dDueDate) +str (nCustNo)

but not Pascal. Delphi speaks Pascal, but not

Xbase. (Why, yes, Dr. Frankenstein, those 2 left

hands look good on your... son) To be fair, the

same problem exists for any non Xbase tool that is

using DBF files.

There is no Database container nor a data dictio-

nary in Delphi, so file server applications (those

using dBase or Paradox files) will not have triggers,

stored procedures, and all the other goodies new to

the database engine in Visual FoxPro.

FoxPro’s famous database speed is not bested by

Delphi, but reports are that the BflE is competent,

and often close to as fast as FoxPro.

Does Delphi’s compiled code translate into a speed

advantage over Visual FoxPro? For data access

work, no, FoxPro is still usually faster. The user

interface in a Visual FoxPro app is not going to be

as snappy as a Delphi app, but that is seldom a

large concern.

Would I use Delphi over Visual FoxPro for re9ular

database applications? Not likely, unless the

application had a significant non-database require-

ments, or had to run well on an 8Mb machine.

Delphi would be a great choice for developing a

‘shrink wrap’ type application. Delphi will produce

very sophisticated, fast running, relatively small

Windows applications rapidly. Programs that

require lots of custom user interface work would be

a natural fit in Delphi.

Since Delphi and Visual FoxPro have different

strengths, and both represent the best in their

class, I’m keeping both of them in my toolbox.

Out and About (Con't from page 4)

Bill Phinizy, Chairman. Their goals are: 1) to provide a

financially reasonable means for members and non-

members to obtain a basic understanding of FoxPro

and FoxPro programming; 2) to promote the OCFDG

to the Southern California developer and business

community; and 3) to earn money for the group. The

committee will sponsor three levels of classes (begin-

ning, intermediate, and advanced), to be taught in

Orange County, on a member and corporate level.

Members of LA Fox interested in becoming involved

in this project should contact Barry R. Lee, (714) 968-

4225, CID# 72723,3422. More on this as it devel-

ops...

“Further Adventures of Mr. Bill”, Part 2. Has any-

one out there been following the Wall Street Journal

letters in which Bill Gates (Microsoft), Philippe Kahn

(formerly of Borland), and Jim Manzi (Lotus Corp.) are

holding open discussions with/about each other? Its

made for an extremely interesting exchange of ideas

regarding where each is coming from. Here are some

of the more “quotable” points and exchanges:

Bill Gates “It is understandable that Mr. Manzi would

prefer o measure performance in terms of competitcr

criticism: Lotus has not fared well with customers

under Mr. Manzi’s leadership. It was larger than

Microsoft when Mr. Manzi became CEO, and today is

less than one-fifth of Microsofts size... I still think my

job is the best one in the world... Microsoft has taken

large and expensive risks in leading the industry... .ln

each case, most informed industry observers said we

would fail. In fact, Mr. Manzi himself led the attack on

Windows and decided early on that his company

should not invest in developing a version of the

company’s flagship product, Lotus 1-2-3, for Windows.

Similarly, Mr. Manzi discounted the potential of the

Macintosh and abandoned the few customers Lotus

had there.. The marketplace soon showed that it was

more powerful than any single company and Microsoft

Excel filled the void Mr. Manzi created for an innova-

tive Windows spreadsheet... Likewise, both Lotus and

Microsoft will be displaced if we lose sight of the need

to innovate...'Non-competitive practices’ are familiar

allegations that are not truthful. (Manzi] thinks that by

his merely repeating them, he is contributing to a

constructive discussion.. .The PC marketplace is

working for customers. Lets get on with innovation.”

(Con't, page 8)

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