The LA Fox Developer Newsletter

June 1997

Lead, Follow...

by Fred Haeckl

After returning from the First Annual Southwest Regional FoxPro Spring Conference, one thing becamecrystal clear:

either start learning new technologies or get left behind. Last iionth’s “From The Boardroom” article concentrated on the verwhelming pace of the current software industry and the need for developers to scream at the software manufacturers to slow the pace down. I couldn’t disagree more.

rhe entire world is going through rapid change. Ever heard of 3PR (Business Process Reengineering)? This is the latest in :he management crazes to try to get a handle on how to be competitive in today’s market. Unlike most who deem BPR as 3nother gimmick, I’ve done a good deal of reading on the ;ubject and feel that BPR, like OOP, are tools to help us keep ip with this new pace. From the introduction of The Discipline of Market Leaders by Michael Treacy and Fred Wiersema:

Is your company willing to cannibalize its hottest product with a risky, untested new one? Offer a service at a loss hoping to establish a long-term relationship? Link up with an adversary to drive its cost even lower? If not — or if you believe the answer isn’t of paramount importance— get used to mediocre market performance and to playing competitive catch-up continuously. Your company will never be a market leader. Not until it learns discipline.

If you’re not willing to change, or learn new things, you will not grow... Simple as that.

Back to the conference. The keynote address, by David Lazar of Microsoft, pointed out the many benefits of Office 97 and Visual Studio 97. Emphasis was placed on ActiveX controls and VBA, and how these tools could help benefit a VFP developer.

Kirk Nason talked about Transaction Server and how it can manage multiple OLE Automation Servers written in VFP and how Systems Management Server could automate the upgrades. He also mentioned that J++ has gained over 50% of the market share and that Active Desktop is even being adopted by Apple after recently dropping OpenDoc.

Menachem Bazian presented a way to allow users to design and build their own forms, similar to how Telemagic allows it in FPW 2.6. Have you looked at Outlook 97 that comes with Office 97? If you go to the “Tasks” area and double-click on a task to edit it, one of the menu items under “Tcols” is “Design Outlook Form”. This allows you to drop fields from Outlook onto a form, or any other control. It will even allow you to write VBA code behind each screen.

Finally, Yair Alan Griver demonstrated Visual Basic code (yes, that’s right - the dreaded VB) to communicate with a VFP OLE Automation Server as a middle tier that enforces business rules. The code was very similar to VFP; however, the GUI was cleaner. He even showed how to enforce the same business rules from Excel.

What’s the answer? I think you must devote a number of hours per week to learning new things. Similar to R&D, you must reinvest your resources in your company in order to stay competitive. Either that, or surround yourself with talented people that specialize in one or more of these areas. The day of the single programmer doing it all himself/herself I feel is gone. There will always be a team of programmers, with more diversity and better tools, that will beat you out. In today’s fast-paced business climate, you must “Lead, Follow, or Get Out of the Way!”

Job Opportunities

I am looking for a FoxBase Unix programmer, to make reports for an existing FoxBase Unix application. In Los Angeles County. Contact John Herring, John Herring@compuserve.com

We are looking for a Foxpro 2.6 programmer to do some customizing of an SBT accounting system. Company is located in south OC and would run for 2-3 months 3+ days p1 week. tf anyone would be interested in taking on this project, contact Ken at 714-476-0879 or E-Mail at rhicirv@aol.com.

Immediate Opening for a FoxPro 2.6, SBT. Co. in South O.C. Needs programmer for +/-24 hours/week. Develope specific reports for order entry, GL, barcode/inventory, etc. This is a very casual environment near the beach in So. O.C.

Please call Genevieve ©RHIC (714)476-0879, ore-mail:

RHlClRV@aol.com, or GMCrawford@earthlink.net, for immediate consideration. The pay for this position is approx. $30/hour.

We have a variety of programming positons available. Another

FoxPro position may be coming up next week.

Dear Barry: I stumbled onto your website. I am an orthopedic surgeon in Manhattan Beach and have develped a very interesting application that has revolutionized my practice and needs fine tuning before going into beta. I have been overwhelmed with the development and need help. I had a bad experience with a local developer and would appreciate speaking briefly with you about your group and this VFP application.

Please call me at work -310796-0705, Home -310 546-6635, or page me at 800 372-9497. I get e-mail at 71637.273©compuserve.com.

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