Designing Your Own Framework

by Jim Booth

Overview.. .What we will see Designing a framework is not a small undertaking. There are many considerations to be addressed by the design. Using an effective design can mean the difference between success or failure on a development project.

In this paper we wilt discuss the major points and issues related to the design of an application framework. The high points are listed below.

* Establishing Requirements

* Determining the Scope of the framework

* Abstract Design

* Designing Class Hierarchy

* Making a Framework Flexible

What we will NOT see One of the major problems encountered in object oriented design is being so caught up in the detail of implementation that the whole picture cannot be seen. This paper will circumvent this problem by NOT discussing the details of implementation, but will instead focus on the abstract design and the issues involved with that design.

Issues and items which will not be discussed are:

* Specific Code

* Specific Class Definitions

* Specific Third Party Frameworks

What is a framework?

It is the underlying skeleton upon which an application is built.

A framework has certain responsibilities in the functioning of an application. These responsibilities are:

* Menu Management

* Form Management

* Security Management

* Communication Management

* Data Access Management

Establishing Requirements

Probably the one most influential factor governing the success

(Con’t, page 3)

At LA Fox

Out and About

by Barry R. Lee

Auqust 16, 1999,7:30 PM, Mike Feltman. F1 Technologies

recently released Visual FoxExpress 6.0. Visual FoxExpress 6.0 includes a major rewrite of the Visual FoxExpress framework as well as many improvements to the Visual FoxExpress interlace. Mike Feltman will discuss the architechture of the new Visual FoxExpress 6.0 Framework and demonstrate creating an application using Visual FoxExpress. He’ll also stick around tn answer general questions about Visual FoxPrn and Object Oriented Programming.

September 20, 1999, 7:30 PM, Mike Cummings. Mike will doing a “how-to” session with Rick Strahl’s WebConnect.

October 18, 1999, 7:30 PM, Mike Vincent. Since presenting his introductory session on DBI Tech’s ActiveX Controls, Mike has discovered several cool things about this tool. Don’t miss this one...

November 15, 1999, 7:30 PM, Twila Miller. Twila always provides us with outstanding presentations. This one promises to be no different.. .“OLE Automation with MS Word and Excel”. If she has time, she’ll also be covering some MAPI issues as well.

December 20, 1999, 7:30 PM, The Annual LA Fox Christmas Party. It’s that time of the year again. Come join us for merriment, good times, LA Fox fellowship, and tasty treats. And what would the Christmas party be without The White Elephant Gift Exchange? So come prepared for a good time.

(Con’t, page 2)

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and much more!

The LA Fox Developer

A Newsletter for FoxPro Application Developers in Southern California Visit our WebSite at: http://www.mesllc.com/lafox.html August 1999

The August meeting of LA Fox will be held on Aug. 16, 1999, at 7:30 PM at our new meeting place (NCR, 100 N. Sepulveda Blvd., El Segundo, CA). For details on how to get there, see the map on the back page.