====================================== FoxPro Developers Network of San Diego ====================================== FoxDev TipsLetter #03-03 March-April, 2003 Website: Editor: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- CONTENTS: * Calendar * From the Editor * Tech Tips: VFP 8 Released by Ken Levy Free PDF Maker * Other Stuff: 2003 and Beyond by Andrew Grygus VFP vs "Microsoft Platforms" from ProFox Letter from Peru Klingon Programmers * Knowledge Base Updates New/Updated KB articles on VFP * Links: Where Can I Find...? * Administrivia ====================================================================== CALENDAR: Thu - April 10 - Drew Speedie ----------------------------- Short Presentation - (none) Main Presentation - Drew Speedie Topic: Practical Uses For BINDEVENT() VFP 8.0 adds a new BINDEVENT() function that allows binding any VFP object to a custom "event handler". BINDEVENT() is a powerful feature that has many uses in a VFP application, including the ability to bind to VFP's _Screen methods and properties. BINDEVENT() can also be used to implement what amounts to "subclassing at runtime", eliminating the need for many subclasses, especially "leaf" member objects. This session consists of a brief explanation of BINDEVENT() and related functions, but is mostly demonstrations of BINDEVENT() in action. Thu - May 8 - Whil Hentzen -------------------------- Short Presentation - Barbara Peisch: VFP 8 Collection Classes Main Presentation - Whil Hentzen Topic: Linux and VFP Thu - June 12 - Mike Stewart ---------------------------- Short Presentation - OPEN Main Presentation - Mike Stewart Topic: Security considerations in VFP Thu - July 10 - Kevin McNeish ----------------------------- Short Presentation - OPEN Main Presentation - Kevin McNeish Topic: TBA Thu - August 14 - Craig Bernston -------------------------------- Short Presentation - OPEN Main Presentation - Craig Bernston Topic: TBA Thu - September 11 - Mike Feltman --------------------------------- Short Presentation - OPEN Main Presentation - Mike Feltman Topic: TBA ----------------------------- All meetings start at 6:30 pm. Sizzler Meetings: Back room of Murphy Canyon Sizzler: 3755 Murphy Canyon Rd Take I-15 to the Aero Dr exit (South of Balboa) Head West to first traffic light West of freeway Turn Right Sizzler is on the right almost immediately Buy your dinner at Sizzler and we'll have our Q&A session while we eat. PLEASE TRY TO COME EARLY ENOUGH TO ORDER YOUR DINNER BEFORE 6:30! Escondido Meetings: Training room of Bergelectric 2222 Meyers Rd. - Take highway 78 to Nordahl (Just west of I-15) - Go south past Mission - Turn right on Meyers (first right past Mission) - The building is on the right just before Oper Street. ====================================================================== FROM THE EDITOR: Pretty late for a March newsletter, and a little early for the April one. I've been busy - being semi-retired takes up way too much of my time. Actually, I put in about 6 hours a day reviewing possible material, discarding that which is too violent or immoral for your delicate sensibilities. Big batch of KB articles - I suspect lots of the FIX numbers are updates to bug reports that are fixed in VFP 8. I have to applaud the efforts of the FoxPro group in keeping this reasonably up to date; it's not an easy job. I urge you to read the article "2003 And Beyond", reviewed (with link) in the "Other Stuff" section. Doesn't matter whether you're a corporate developer, a consultant, or just a business user - there's a lot of stuff here you need to think about. You may or may not agree with his views (and like any prediction, it won't all happen), but he's sure covered the ground. And it's not a pretty picture. The Letter From Peru is just a delight for lovers of the English language. I've always loved the British style of subtle put-downs - Dr. Nunez is a master at it. Dan Covill ====================================================================== TECH TIPS ====================================================================== VFP 8 RELEASED Ken Levy This announcement from Ken Levy: Microsoft Releases Visual FoxPro 8.0 February 1, 2003: The Visual FoxPro Team at Microsoft is very excited to announce that Visual FoxPro 8.0 was completed and released to manufacturing (RTM) on January 31st, 2003. The Visual FoxPro team was hoping to release Visual FoxPro 8.0 in early January, but we needed the extra time to ensure we released the most stable version of Visual FoxPro yet, even more solid than Visual FoxPro 7.0 with Service Pack 1. Visual FoxPro 8.0 is the most feature rich release of Visual FoxPro since version 3.0. I'd like to include some details about Visual FoxPro 8.0, related announcements, and upcoming activities around the release. Visual FoxPro 8.0 is fully compatible with previous versions of Visual FoxPro and includes everything needed to write, build, and test great data-centric applications. Product highlights in Visual FoxPro 8.0 include structured error handling, CursorAdapter class for universal data access, new auto-increment support for data tables, Windows XP Themes support, new base classes and controls, new GDI+ image support, new event binding for objects, full hierarchical support, new XML Web services features, updated OLE DB provider, improved development productivity, and new and improved compatibility with Visual Studio .NET and SQL Server 2000. Visual FoxPro 8.0 Product Highlights: - Structured error handling - Control and encapsulate error handling in code using TRY...CATCH...FINALLY structure, escalate exceptions using THROW, and manage using Exception objects. - Universal data access - Use the CursorAdapter class for unified data access to native Visual FoxPro tables, XML, Microsoft SQL Server 2000, and ODBC or OLE DB data sources. - View Designer - Build SQL SELECT statement queries using two-way editing between the Query/View designer and source code output. - Auto-increment support - Create auto-increment counter fields for primary key fields in Visual FoxPro data tables. - Windows XP Themes support - Apply Microsoft Windows XP Themes to Visual FoxPro applications, including controls at the form and container level. - Advanced controls - Build smart client desktop forms using rich features such as orienting tabs on page frames, locking and automatically resizing columns, highlighting grid rows, changing background color and positioning images on command buttons. - GDI+ image support - Display and rotate images on forms with support for file formats such as .bmp, .jpeg, .gif, animated .gif, wmf, emf, .tiff, and more. - Event binding - Bind native and custom events and methods to other Visual FoxPro objects. - XML data import and export - Import and export hierarchical XML using support for XML DiffGrams between Visual FoxPro data cursors and ADO.NET DataSets. - XML Web services - Publish and consume SOAP-based XML Web services compatible with .NET technology over HTTP using the Microsoft SOAP Toolkit 3.0 (included). - OLE DB Provider - Provide access to Visual FoxPro data from other clients such as Microsoft Visual Studio .NET and Office XP. - Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Desktop Engine (MSDE) - Build desktop and shared solutions compatible with Microsoft SQL Server 2000 and migrate them to SQL Server 2000 directly without modifying code. - Deployment tools - Create setup programs for your applications using an exclusively developed version of InstallShield® Express for Visual FoxPro. - Powerful base classes - Subclass member classes such as pages in page frames and headers and columns in grids. Subclass the DataEnvironment class and use the DataEnvironment and CursorAdapter builders. You can manage application objects using the new Collection class. - Development productivity - Use the Task Pane to manage development tasks and access Visual FoxPro Help, XML Web services, and community news. The new Toolbox provides easy access to frequently used items such as classes, controls, and code snippets. You can search for and replace symbol and text references throughout projects and files using the Code References tool. Visual FoxPro 8.0 is included in all levels of MSDN Subscriptions (Universal, Enterprise, and Professional). Also included in those levels of MSDN Subscriptions are Visual FoxPro 8.0, Visual FoxPro 7.0, Visual Studio 6.0, Visual Studio .NET, upcoming Visual Studio .NET 2003, development versions of Windows, and more. Refer to http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscriptions/prodinfo/levels.asp for product information of MSDN Subscription levels. MSDN Subscription members will be first to obtain the released version of Visual FoxPro 8.0 (within a few business days of RTM, first week of February). Pricing information for MSDN Subscriptions can be found at http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscriptions/prodinfo/pricing.asp (upgrade pricing of MSDN Subscriptions available for licensed users of Visual FoxPro 5.0 or later). Visual FoxPro 8.0 will be available separate from MSDN subscriptions via stand-alone full product or upgrade purchases 6 to 8 weeks from the RTM date (around mid March). U.S retail prices for the stand-alone versions of Visual FoxPro 8.0 include: full product $649, upgrade $349, and academic $75. For a limited time, a $50 rebate will be offered with Visual FoxPro 8.0 (for upgrade version only, in U.S. and Canada only) for owners of Visual FoxPro 7.0 (proof of purchase required with mail-in rebate coupon). Visual FoxPro 8.0 will be covered in depth at many upcoming Visual FoxPro conferences including EssentialFox, DevTeach, and Advisor FoxPro DevCon. The April issue of FoxPro Advisor magazine will be dedicated to Visual FoxPro 8.0 topics. There will be a special edition of CoDe magazine, independent of regular issues, dedicated completely to Visual FoxPro 8.0 with all of the articles to be placed online for free public access and linking. This special issue of CoDe magazine by publishers EPS Software will be released and sent out near the end of March with the issue title of CoDe Focus: Visual FoxPro 8.0. There is now a Visual FoxPro 8.0 Case Study Template available for download (Word document format) at the Microsoft GotDotNet.com developer community Web site on the Visual FoxPro with Visual Studio .NET page at http://gotdotnet.com/team/vfp. This case study template is designed to be used for submissions to Microsoft for possible microsoft.com product showcasing for applications using or in the process of upgrading to Visual FoxPro 8.0. This case study template is also intended to be used independent of Microsoft by Visual FoxPro developers to create case studies to be posted on Visual FoxPro community Web sites. Also available on the GotDotNet site on the Visual FoxPro page is a 2.5 minute video download of Eric Rudder (Sr. VP Developer & Platform Evangelism Division, Microsoft) discussing Visual FoxPro 8.0. Microsoft currently has no plans to create a service pack (SP) for Visual FoxPro 8.0, and we will evaluate the need for one to be created in the future if required. The Visual FoxPro team has already started working working on the next version of Visual FoxPro (code named Europa) and we are now taking feedback and suggestions for features via the Wish List on the UniversalThread (http://www.universalthread.com) as well as other Visual FoxPro community sites online. There will be an MSDN Chat with myself and several members the Visual FoxPro team at Microsoft sometime in March. Refer to http://msdn.microsoft.com/chats for announcements and dates/times for this upcoming chat and others. The main calls to action for Visual FoxPro community members is to upgrade to Visual FoxPro 8.0, convince others also upgrade, and educate others about the great new features in this new version. Additional information about Visual FoxPro 8.0 will be found at http://msdn.microsoft.com/vfoxpro in early March. Included in the new MSDN Web site content to be added to the Visual FoxPro Web site on MSDN next month will be a detailed Visual FoxPro Evaluation Guide as well as new technical whitepapers. Also to be posted will be new Visual FoxPro 8.0 code samples and utilities for free download (which will displayed in the new Visual FoxPro 8.0 TaskPane when refreshed). The MSDN Visual FoxPro product download section will also soon include a download of the Visual FoxPro OLE DB Provider, same as the version included in Visual FoxPro 8.0 but separate free independent download for anyone to use. Stay tuned to further announcements on the Visual FoxPro community news site http://foxcentral.net. Ken Levy Visual FoxPro Product Manager Microsoft klevy@microsoft.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- FREE PDF MAKER Bob Lee has a free VFP report-to-PDF maker on his site, here: http://64.152.50.10/vfpps2pdf/ Does not make use of any shareware products. ====================================================================== OTHER STUFF ====================================================================== 2003 AND BEYOND by Andrew Grygus [This is a link to a long and fairly frightening article about the future of PC computing. This guy pulls no punches. His take on Microsoft strategy has the unfortunate ring of truth to it. DC] http://www.aaxnet.com/editor/edit029.html "This article is a guide to trends that are already in full motion and well known by technology specialists, but are far from obvious to most business managers. I can't tell you what to do about them, without studying your particular business, but it will cast some light on what you should be looking at." Here are just a few quotes: ------------------------------------- Keep in mind that "Telecom = Fraud", so avoid anything that has to do with telephones and phone lines unless you think you're sharp enough to play with the big guys who get paid to invent and perpetrate those frauds. Better to invest in wildcat oil wells. Most handset manufacturers are highly suspicious of Microsoft's intentions, and those that aren't are idiots, as Sendo has proven so well. ------------------------------------- If you're over 40, the technology employment picture becomes really grim. You have abilities far beyond a 28 year old's, but he's the one that's going to get hired. For over 40s, there are many opportunities in consulting, especially in small and medium business, but that takes social skills and above all, selling skills, exactly what many chose technical careers to avoid. ------------------------------------- The PC software industry is in the final days of being destroyed by Microsoft. Having leveraged a monopoly it was handed by IBM into multiple monopolies, with complete control over the PC manufacturers, and with an "Ethics? We've heard of it" attitude, Microsoft is preparing to drive the few remaining significant software publishers out of the Windows market. "But," you say, "how can Microsoft displace Intuit? Everybody's using QuickBooks. Intuit is just too popular." Microsoft's "Triple Terminator" is the transition of Windows software to .NET, Longhorn and Palladium. Microsoft will "help" Intuit make these transitions the same way they "helped" WordPerfect and Lotus make the transition from DOS to Windows. Only Microsoft software will be able to take full advantage of the this future world - Intuit is the WordPerfect of the future. "A Microsoft partner is a victim they haven't gotten to yet" ------------------------------------- The market for commercial software running on Linux is, however, a market for small companies to serve, and will not spawn a "new Microsoft". Microsoft has only two profitable products, Windows and Microsoft Office. open source equivalents of both are already free (Linux and OpenOffice) or very inexpensive (commercial Linux and StarOffice). ------------------------------------- At the root of Microsoft's problems is its financial structure. Leveraged by stock options and other financial tricks (R7), it depends heavily on rapid revenue growth and increasing stock value. When you've saturated your market (over 90%), and that market is stagnant, rapid revenue growth becomes difficult. By necessity, Microsoft must expand into new markets. Problem is, they've never been particularly successful in entering any markets where they could not leverage their monopolies. As is true of other monopolies, they simply aren't competitive in open markets. While Windows has a profit margin of 85%, and Microsoft Office has a margin of 79%, every other Microsoft division is losing money in reams (R4). ------------------------------------- The very disappointing uptake of Windows XP has convinced Microsoft they must force upgrades. Current Windows based software will not be compatible with the Longhorn filesystem. Microsoft has already stated that all their own software has to be rewritten for it - so will everyone else's. This will eliminate a huge number of software titles which are useful, but not sufficiently profitable to justify rewriting them. ------------------------------------- Office 2003 and Windows Server 2003 will include a Rights Management Services feature for document security (W25). If Microsoft can convince businesses to use this feature, Office 2003 documents will be completely unreadable by OpenOffice / StarOffice, WordPerfect Office, Lotus, and by all older versions of Microsoft Office, forcing a total upgrade of Windows, Office and the computers it runs on. NET differs very sharply from everyone else's concept of Web Services. While everyone else concentrates on making Web Services platform agnostic, .NET is designed to force the use of Windows to the maximum extent. The key .NET services were bundled together into a package called My Services (code named Hailstorm). Unfortunately, My Services had to be withdrawn, because most of the big retailers and financial services refused to sign up because they didn't trust Microsoft (Yes, even corporate executives learn - it just takes longer). ------------------------------------- [This link came from Scott Finnie's Newsletter, an excellent tech newsletter concentrating on networks and broadband internet. DC] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- VFP vs "MICROSOFT PLATFORMS" from ProFox Greg Gum reported a job posting with the following in it: "Company looking for individual with at least one year of hands on experience with VB.NET and/or C#. Enterprise wide system being converted from Visual Foxpro into a Microsoft Platform." Charlie Coleman replied as follows: Geez! I think I'll put a post out there on HotJobs: "Looking for individual who doesn't mind wasting time on the latest MS buzzwords and technology. Taking longer to develop software is smiled on in our company. Obtaining results is not critical. Our managers like to use MS terms and phrases when presenting to the Board. Producing a real application before MS changes paradigms to something else will result in substantial bonuses. We have tons of money to blow on buying hardware and MS licenses." And, ahem, BTW, VFP *is* a Microsoft Platform (if they are talking about 'tools' - if not, VB and C# are not 'platforms' either....???) I wonder if all industries have as many twits as the computer industry does.... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- A LETTER FROM PERU Dr. Edgar Villanueva Nunez [The Peruvian Congress introduced a bill calling for all government systems to be based on open source software (which includes Linux, but not Windows). Microsoft wrote a letter of protest, to which Peruvian congressman Dr. Edgar Villanueva Nunez wrote his now famous (and totally devastating) response.] http://aaxnet.com/editor/edit996.html Lima, 8th of April, 2002 To: Senor JUAN ALBERTO GONZALEZ General Manager of Microsoft, Peru [Some excerpts] ------------------------------------- Your letter continues: "4. The bill imposes the use of open source software without considering the dangers that this can bring from the point of view of security, guarantee, and possible violation of the intellectual property rights of third parties." Alluding in an abstract way to "the dangers this can bring", without specifically mentioning a single one of these supposed dangers, shows at the least some lack of knowledge of the topic. So, allow me to enlighten you on these points. ------------------------------------- As you know perfectly well, or could find out by reading the "End User License Agreement" of the products you license, in the great majority of cases the guarantees are limited to replacement of the storage medium in case of defects, but in no case is compensation given for direct or indirect damages, loss of profits, etc... If as a result of a security bug in one of your products, not fixed in time by yourselves, an attacker managed to compromise crucial State systems, what guarantees, reparations and compensation would your company make in accordance with your licencing conditions? [Even if the subject weren't interesting to us, this is worth reading just for Dr. Nunez' command of language and dry humor. DC] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- KLINGON PROGRAMMERS Things overheard from Klingon programmers *Specifications are for the weak and timid! *This machine is a piece of GAGH! I need dual Pentium processors if I am to do battle with this code! *You cannot really appreciate Dilbert unless you've read it in the original Klingon. *Indentation?! - I will show you how to indent when I indent your skull! *What is this talk of 'release'? Klingons do not make software 'releases'. Our software 'escapes' leaving a bloody trail of designers and quality assurance people in its wake. *Klingon function calls do not have 'parameters' - they have 'arguments' - and they ALWAYS WIN THEM. *Debugging? Klingons do not debug. Our software does not coddle the weak. *I have challenged the entire quality assurance team to a Bat-Leth contest. They will not concern us again. *A TRUE Klingon Warrior does not comment his code! *By filing this bug report you have challenged the honor of my family. Prepare to die! *You question the worthiness of my code? I should kill you where you stand *Perhaps it is a good day to die! I say we ship it. *Our users will know fear and cower before our software! Ship it! Ship it and let them flee like the dogs they are! ====================================================================== VFP KNOWLEDGE BASE UPDATES ====================================================================== The following KB articles are new or updated, per KBAlertz.com (thru 03/22/03) Visual FoxPro ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Q099595 HOWTO: Use @ ... SAY Commands & Control Codes to Print in FP/W Q114498 INFO: Transposing First Character w/ Last Character in a Field Q129646 FIX: Error Routine Not Called for USE Command Q131578 FIX: Math Problem with INT() Function Q134367 PRB: "Too Many Files" Open in FoxPro for Macintosh Q134437 FIX: Report Wizard Preview Error If View Given as Child Table Q135384 FIX: Unbalanced Parentheses in IF Condition Not Seen by Parser Q135563 FIX: One-to-Many Report Based on Two Views Causes Errors Q138937 How to Tell Which Directory Holds a Visual FoxPro App's .Exe Q139183 BUG: View Not Accurate with One-to-Many Grandchild Relation Q141316 FIX: Report Is Wrong When You Relate Tables on Currency Field Q141354 FIX: Adding Description to Table's Index in DBC Corrupts Table Q141528 FIX: Data Designer Validation Text Causes Invalid Page Fault Q141877 What Is Visual FoxPro 3.0a? Q142313 FIX: Using RI Builder & Long Table Names Makes Triggers Fail Q143247 FIX: Scrolling Edit Window Causes Incorrect Highlighting Q143248 FIX: Error: "Variable 'TITLE' is not found" as Start Tastrade Q148357 FIX: Class Designer Changes the Width of a Form Class Q148873 INFO: Visual FoxPro Calculates Leap Year Correctly in 21st Century Q150596 FIX: Error Message "Variable is Not Found" When Running Form Q155890 PRB: FoxPro for Mac's Setup Wizard Can't Copy Source Files Q157953 FIX: Print Button in Preview Does Not Respect the FOR Clause Q158760 FIX: Setting Grid RowHeight to Large Number Affects Page Down Q159527 OFF97: Can't Install Visual FoxPro or Microsoft Office 7.0 Q162800 Genmenu5.exe Updated VFP 5.0 for Windows GENMENU Program Q163029 FIX: Default Value Does Not Update Table in Local/Remote View Q163037 FIX: Label Properties Cause Illegal Operation Q163669 FIX: Setup Wizard Does Not Use Default Directory Specified Q163933 FIX: Executable Error " is not an object file" Q164252 FIX: Receiving Error When Selecting 254th Item in List Box Q165492 HOWTO: Use ADO with a Visual Foxpro Database Q167147 FIX: Invalid Page Fault Occurs After Replicate of Enter Key Q168056 FIX: Mismatched pushjmp/popjmp Call Error and VFP Closes Q174968 INFO: Programmer's Guide to Using ADO in Visual FoxPro Q186368 FIX: GPF Issuing QUIT from a Form Run in the Form Designer Q190623 INFO: Accessing Data in an Active Document Application Q191413 HOWTO: Use Offline ADO Recordsets in Visual FoxPro Q192692 Rs2dbf.exe Converting ADO 2.x Recordset to VFP Cursor Q192762 Dbf2rs.exe Converts a VFP Cursor to ADO 2.x Recordset Q193947 HOWTO: Determine Recordset Field Properties Using ADO Q194516 HOWTO: Use ADO Hierarchical Recordsets Q194960 HOWTO: Create an Asynchronous Connection in ADO Q197193 FIX: Application Error in Locals Window with Specific Variables Q221693 FIX: C0000005 Fatal Error With This.Caption=This.Text In GotFocus Q221703 FIX: Component Gallery Does Not Refresh After Changing Property Q221715 FIX: Class Browser HTML Export Code Gives Invalid HTML 3.2 Code Q221721 FIX: Mismatched Pushjmp/Popjmp With DataToClip( ) On Big Table Q221730 FIX: Enabled_Assign Fires Incorrectly for Container in Container Q221738 FIX: Memory Leak With SET SYSMENU OFF Q221741 FIX: C0000005 Fatal Error with Unknown Var in Include File Q222112 FIX: Class Not Selected Opening Class Browser From Form Designer Q235119 PRB: No Version Info if COM DLL/EXE Is Built Under Windows Me/98/95 Q236069 PRB: View Field Properties Window Defaults to First Field of View Q239771 HOWTO: Return a Resultset from Oracle Stored Procedures into an ADO Recordset Q248795 PRB: Setup Wizard Does not Distribute Current ODBC Drivers Q258532 FIX: Random Characters in Report Do Not Print Under Localized Windows Q259371 BUG: ActiveX Controls Are Disabled Q271638 BUG: Report Preview Unreadable When Zoom Is Set at 75 Percent Q297803 FIX: Visual FoxPro Crashes When Two Instances of REPORT FORM PREVIEW Are Active Q297826 FIX: CHRSAW() Function Can Cause System to Stop Responding When AutoYield = .F. Q299695 FIX: Error Message: "Ambiguous date/datetime constant" with View Q299788 FIX: Setting SelStart = 0 in EditBox Causes Fatal Exception Q299799 FIX: Creating A Class with the Same Name as a Base Class Causes Error Q299849 FIX: Failed TABLEUPDATE Places Record Pointer on Nonexistent Record Q299934 FIX: Database And Table Opened with NOUPDATE Still Allows Index To Be Created Q814184 INFO: How To Update Data By Using the TableUpdate Function with the CursorAdapter Object Q814373 INFO: Microsoft Visual FoxPro 7.0 with MSDE 2000 Installed May Be Vulnerable to Slammer Worm Visual FoxPro 6.0 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Q221687 FIX: C0000005 Fatal Error with CLEAR DEBUGGER and SUSPEND Q221688 FIX: _VFP.Eval() Only Accepts Strings of 255 Characters or Less Q221702 FIX: C0000005 Fatal Error w/ ISBLANK( ) and Array Prop in Init Q221722 FIX: C0000005 Fatal Error Using DIRECTORY("\\\dirname") Q221725 FIX: DATE() Function Does Not Propagate NULLs Properly Q221726 FIX: C0000005 Fatal Error Creating Index Tag Q221736 FIX: WriteExpression Fails With Unknown Error Code -5 Q221740 FIX: Form Does Not Close After Using PEMSTATUS() Q221743 FIX: NVL() Releases Object Ref and Causes Fatal Error C0000005 Q232092 BUG: In-Top-Level Form Appears to Hang Q232093 BUG: Objects Disappear After Being Assigned to Custom Properties Q236078 BUG: Mouse Clicks on the Scrollbar of an Open ComboBox are Trapped by Underlying Object. Q245781 BUG: DEFINE WINDOW in Load Event Does Not Appear Q247526 BUG: Hundreds of Icons Cause Icon Property Not to Refresh Q250080 BUG: Mouse Pointer Changes to Default Pointer over Text Box Border Q260227 BUG: "File is in use" Error with Only One User Q266075 BUG: Modifying Files with Name "Neu" Does Not Display Content Q266089 PRB: MODIFY VIEW with Long IN Clause Causes Visual FoxPro to Terminate Q274011 BUG: SET("FILTER") Converts Dates to Current Date Format Q299507 FIX: Disabled Label On a Form Only Wraps One of Two Colors Q299793 FIX: Using More Than 255 Characters in Coverage Dialog Causes Fatal Exception Error Q299843 FIX: Using the Send Menu Changes the Current Folder Q299912 FIX: Verify Connection of MS Access Database Connection Changes Current Folder Q300055 FIX: Init Event Shows Twice in Event Tracking on Objects Created with AddObject() Q305238 FIX: FOR...EACH Fails When Character Array Element Contains More Than 255 Characters How To Look Up These Articles: To get to a specific KB article: a. Go to support.microsoft.com. Search is at left of the page. b. Select "Visual FoxPro" on the drop-down. c. Enter the document number in the textbox below it. d. Click on the green arrow. To Subscribe: Subscribe at . You can specify any MS product to receive alerts on. ====================================================================== LINKS ====================================================================== This is a (semi) permanent list of places to look for technical help when you get blind-sided by the latest urgent requirement. We don't give specific URLs for MSDN articles because (a) they're too long and (b) they change too often! ------------------------------- MSDN ON LINE: There's a ton of stuff here, look at the Magazines tab, and read some of the regular columns. MSDN Library Look in Technical Articles | Visual Studio | Visual FoxPro MSDN Library: "Building Three-Tier Client/Server Applications with Visual FoxPro" ADO MSDN Library: ADO Jumpstart for Microsoft Visual FoxPro Developers John V. Petersen, April 1999 DNA (Distributed interNet Architecture): MSDN On-line: "Top Windows DNA Performance Mistakes and How to Prevent Them" FoxPro 2.6: http://members.aol.com/FoxProResources/fpfp.htm MTS: Microsoft Transaction Server MSDN Library: "Microsoft Transaction Server for Visual FoxPro Developers" ODBC: MSDN Library: "Using Visual FoxPro to Access Remote Data" ODBC drivers are part of MDAC - Microsoft Data Access Components - and are available for download at: "www.microsoft.com/data" VS Installer: MSDN Library: a. "Using Visual Studio Installer for VFP 6.0 Applications" b. "VFP 6.0 and VS Installer Tutorial" VFP Publications: www.advisor.com FoxPro Advisor www.pinpub.com FoxTalk magazine www.hentzenwerke.com Hentzen Publishing (Books, discussion, and downloads) VFP General: msdn.microsoft.com/vfoxpro Microsoft's official VFP home page www.foxcentral.net Joint effort by Microsoft, West-Wind, and the Universal Thread Lots of news and development info. MS Developer Applications Forum on Compuserve http://go.compuserve.com/msdevapps The History of FoxPro (submitted by Steve Settimi) www.foxprohistory.org The Universal Thread http://www.universalthread.com The "Wiki" www.wikis.com fox.wikis.com fox.wikis.com/wc.dll?Wiki~FoxForumWiki Here is the most complete set of FoxPro links you're likely to find: http://www.cetus-links.org/oo_visual_foxpro.html Private websites with useful free info and downloads: www.prolib.de/foxlinks.afp wOOdy Wondzinski www.honeypass.com Allen Pollard www.ukfug.org.uk British user group www.lafox.org LA user group www.pinter.com/ Les Pinter www.vfug.org/ Virtual Fox User Group www.leafe.com Ed Leafe, ProFox listserve www.jamesbooth.com www.foxforum.com www.foxfolk.com www.foxite.com (registration required) A group of Dutch developers - refreshingly geeky. (Don't be put off by the registration - they're not selling anything.) www.stevenblack.com www.craigberntson.com WEB Development: These products all work well with VFP. AFP www.afpweb.com and www.afpages.com DotFox www.elsoftware.com FoxWeb www.foxweb.com Web Connection www.west-wind.com X-WORKS www.x-works.com Windows General Win32 API (with VFP examples) XML - What's New in XML for Microsoft Windows 2000 See also OLE DB drivers for XML in MDAC 2.6 at "microsoft.com/data" [Contributions solicited. DC] --------------------------Administrivia------------------------------- This newsletter is a service to all FoxPro developers, provided without charge by the FoxPro Developers Network of San Diego (FPDN). Anyone may subscribe (or unsubscribe) at our web site . The link is on the home page. The Resources button on the website will take you to the back issues of the newsletter. The editor (Dan Covill) is solely responsible for the content. E-mail him with YOUR tips, comments, or complaints. Editor: Dan Covill 858-272-2448 dcovill@acm.org Board of Directors: Eric Lendvai - President 760-734-4929 eric@elsoftware.com Art Bergquist - Vice Pres 760-740-0428 abergquist@sbcglobal.net Thad V'Soske - Secretary 619-544-9900 tvsoske@yahoo.com Barbara Peisch - Treasurer 760-729-9607 barbara@peisch.com Lou Syracuse - Director lsyracuse@delmardb.com Claude Nikula - Director 619-615-6318 crndev@cox.net ----------------------------------------------------------------------