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The LA Fox Developer Newsletter
August 1997
Visual FoxPro HOT TIP
from Brent Vollrath, FoxPro Development Manager

I had a situation that required the opening and searching of a large number of files. I needed to search all different types of files, so I was using low-level file functions to handle the opening (FOPEN) and searching (FREAD). When everything was completed, I was a bit disappointed with the performance of the search. While trying to optimize the code, I stumbled across something quite interesting.

It turned out that the opening of the files took longer than the actual search. I looked back at my code and saw that I was opening files read only and unbuffered:

FOPEN(<FileName>, 0)

There can’t be a quicker way to open a file than that, right? WRONG! I found that by opening the files read/write and unbuffered, the performance of my search increased substantially:

FOPEN(cFiIeName>, 2)


System Drives (Con’t from page 4)
If the drive is va%id, call the
Get Drive Type function to see
what type of drive it is.
IF BITTEST(InValidDrives, InCounter)
lcDriveLetter=CHR(lnCounter+65)+”:”

*_
Call the routine to get the
drive type.
lnDriveType=GetDriveType(lcDriveLetter)

lcMsg = “Drive "+IcDriveLetter+" is a”

DO CASE
CASE InDriveType = 1
lcMsg = IcMsg + Hard Disk (non-”
+
“removable) Drive.”
CASE InDriveType = 2
lcMsg = IcMsg +“ Floppy Disk”;
+
“(removable) Drive.”
CASE InDriveType = 3
lcMsg = IcMsg +“ partitioned”;
+
“Hard Drive.”
CASE InDriveType = 4
lcMsg = lcMsg + Network Drive.”
CASE InDriveType = 5
lcMsg = lcMsg + “CD-ROM Drive.”
OTHERWISE
IcMsg = lcMsg + “n unknown type.”
ENDCASE
?IcMsg
ENDIF
ENOFOR

RETURN


(Con’t, next column)
Job Opportunity
FoxPro Senior programmer - Los Angeles area (5 miles north of downtown in the Silverlake area). Immediate opening in vertical market software company specializing in service and subcontracting businesses. Minimum of 5 years experience in business related programming. SBT accounting systems experience preferred. FoxPro 2.6 Windows/DOS required. Visual experience a plus we will be migrating to VFP 5 in the next few months. Some working knowledge of network and operating system environments a plus. Accounting background or familiarity a plus. Work well with resellers and endusers. Experience with online support via PC Anywhere.

Company in business for 14 yrs.

Salary $45-52K plus benefits.

Some flex hours possible (4 9’s and a midweek 4 for example).

Call 213-484-1194. mailto:mark@5-star.com

Best Regards,

Mark Pettibone,
Five Star Software
http://www.5-star.com
Professional Software for Service and Subcontracting Businesses
Distributor for WebTV


System Drives (Con’t from prev. column)
fEd. Note: Charlie Parker is a Senior Practice Partner for
Fowler Software Design in Eldorado Springs, Colorado. He has
28 years of computer systems experience and has worked with
FoxPro for the last 3 years. He can be reached at
CParker@FowlerSoftware.com.]


Out and About (Con’t from page 2)
Paul Allen, Seattle Seahawks owner, noted Jimi Hendrix freak, and, oh yes, co-founder of Microsoft, announced plans to sell of 5.45 million shares of Microsoft for an estimated bottom-line figure of $781 million. That only leaves the world’s sixth-richest (that’s right, sixth) man with about 94 million shares worth an estimated $13.5 billion (that’s right, billion).

If you’re looking for an off-the-wall book, try The Weird Wide Web by Erfert Fenton and David Pogue. It celebrates the craziness of the Internet by chronicling the more “unique” sites on the web: The Page O’Spam site; The Exploding Head Page (which features such celebrities as Rush Limbaugh and Bill Gates); the Captain James T. Kirk Sing-Along Page. Yes, these are just a few of the wild and crazy sites to be found in the pages of this book. Truly Weird!!
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