The LA Fox Developer Newsletter

September 1997

ActiveX (Con’t from page 5)

More on VFP 6.0

From Robert Green at MS

There has been some confusion voiced here recently about whether Visual FoxPro would continue to be included in Visual Studio. I would like to clear this up.

Microsoft is currently hard at work on the next version of Visual FoxPro. This will ship both in and in conjunction with the next version of Visual Studio. Let me be totally clear. The next version of Visual FoxPro will ship as a standalone product and it will also be available in Visual Studio, both Professional and Enterprise editions.

At DevCon (Sept 14-17 in San Diego) we will preview the next

version of VFP in the keynote. Paul Gross, VP of Developer

Tools at Microsoft, is the keynote speaker. If you can’t join us at

DevCon, make sure you visit the Visual FoxPro Web site

(www.microsoft.com/vfoxpro) for daily updates.

Robert Green (rgreen@microsoft.com)

Visual FoxPro Product Manager

Microsoft

Figure 1: Simplified Component Diagram Check the Registry

The ActiveX control can only be instantiated it it has been instafled on the user’s computer. If has not, you’ll get a bunch of nasty errors. One solution is to create an object that can check the registry to make sure the control has been regis tered. You may also need to check for the existence of the OCX itself. Using this object to check the registry allows you to trap errors before they happen and if written generically, will save a lot of coding as you use ActiveX controls more frequently.

Summary

At this point, the real advantage of ChartFX really shows. The user has a graph the they can manipulate, change perspective, change graph type, colors, etc. all using the control’s bufit-in user interface. This gives casual or non-technical users a very powerful graphical tool for viewing data with a minimum amount of effort. This shows very well to potential customers in product demos and really makes the product stand out of the crown.

References

Software FX web site, www.softwarefxcom/chartl5c

Advanced ActiveX Controls, Greg Carpenter, Microsoft Corp., w~wv.microsoft.corn/vfoxpro

Microsoft Corp.

Developer Magazine, Apr/May 1997; Vol 8, Nol; pp. 40- 45

(Con’t, page 9)

News from CompuServe...

Sold !!!

by Jeff Donnicci

MS Fox User Forum

If this isn’t a convoluted transaction, I don’t know what is. At any rate, it looks like we’ve got a new owner.

MAJOR COMPANY/INDUSTRY NEWS: (All prices as of 10:35am EDT) ** WORLDCOM INC. (WCOM: 33-5/8, + 2-1/8) agreed to acquire COMPUSERVE CORP. (CSRV: 13-1/8, - 3/8) from H&R BLOCK INC. (HRB: 40-1/2, + 9/16) in a stock for stock transaction. Under the terms of the agreement, each share of CompuServe stock will be converted into .40625 shares of WorldCom stock. At Friday’s closing, the value of the transaction was approximately $1.2 billion. Additionally, WorldCom agreed to acquire ANS Communications from AMERICA ONLINE INC. (AOL: 77-1/4, + 7-5/1 6), which will also sign a five year contract under which WorldCom will become AOL’s largest network service provider, in exchange for AOL receiving CompuServe’s Interactive Services Division and $175 million in cash.

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