Frequently Asked Questions

Find answers to your frequently asked questions about Visual FoxPro.
 

Q: What operating system is required for Visual FoxPro 9.0?

Developing applications with Visual FoxPro 9.0 is supported only on Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 3 or later, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 and Windows Vista. You can create and distribute run-time applications for Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows 2000 Service Pack 3 or later, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 and Windows Vista. Installation on Windows NT 4.0 Terminal Server Edition is not supported.

Q: What will be added to Visual FoxPro after version 9.0 and will there be a Visual FoxPro 10.0?

The Visual FoxPro team at Microsoft is now working on a new project, code-named Sedna and the second service pack (SP2) for VFP 9. Refer to the Visual FoxPro Roadmap at http://msdn.com/vfoxpro/roadmap/ for more information.

Q: What types of applications can I build with Visual FoxPro 9.0?

With its local cursor engine, tight coupling between language and data, and powerful features, such as object-oriented programming, Visual FoxPro 9.0 is a great tool for building database solutions of all sizes, from desktop and client/server database applications to data-intensive COM components and XML Web services.

Visual FoxPro 9.0 is an application development tool for building extremely powerful database applications and components. Its data-centric, object-oriented language offers developers a robust set of tools for building database applications on the desktop, client/server, or on the Web, through components and XML Web services. Developers will have the necessary tools to manage data from organizing tables of information, running queries, and creating an integrated relational database management system (DBMS) to programming a fully developed data management application for end users.

Q: Can I use Visual FoxPro to build Web applications?

Visual FoxPro COM components can be used with Internet Information Services (IIS) to build high-powered Internet database applications. This is because Visual FoxPro components can be called from Active Server Pages (ASP). Visual FoxPro is compatible with ASP but works even better in conjunction with the more modern ASP.NET. The components will retrieve and manipulate data, and will build some of the HTML returned to the user.

Q: Can you consume XML Web services with Visual FoxPro?

Yes, Visual FoxPro 9.0 makes it easy to consume XML Web services by integrating the SOAP Toolkit into the product.

Q: Is Visual FoxPro a part of MSDN Subscriptions?

Yes, Visual FoxPro 9.0 is included in the Professional, Enterprise, and Universal levels of MSDN Subscriptions. Visual FoxPro 9.0 is available for download to MSDN Subscribers via MSDN Subscriber downloads.

Q: How long will Visual FoxPro be supported by Microsoft?

A: Visual FoxPro 9.0 has standard support by Microsoft through December 2009 and extended support through December 2014 via the developer tools lifecycle support plan.

Q: How long will the SOAP Toolkit included in Visual FoxPro 9.0 be supported by Microsoft?

Licensed users of Visual FoxPro 9.0 have a special lifecycle support plan for the SOAP Toolkit, supported by Microsoft on the same support plan as Visual FoxPro 8.0 which is through December 2008 and extended support through December 2013.

Q: Is Visual FoxPro 9.0 compatible with Visual Studio 2005 and SQL Server 2005?

Yes. We improved XML support and added new data types in Visual FoxPro 9.0 which improves .NET interop and SQL Server compatibility.

Q: How does Visual FoxPro 9.0 compare to SQL Server 2000?

We do not contrast Visual FoxPro versus SQL Server 2000. We position SQL Server 2000 as a database engine and Visual FoxPro as a developer tool. While Visual FoxPro has a database engine built-in, it is not positioned as a stand-alone database engine only. The trend is for an increasing amount of Visual FoxPro based applications to use SQL Server 2000 as the data storage in the solution. Of course this is not required, it depends on the requirements of the solution. SQL Server offers security, reliability, replication, and many other features of a full relational database engine while the Visual FoxPro database system is an open file based DBF system that does not have many of those features. We leave it up to developers and companies to position and to compare various Microsoft products and technologies with each other and decide which ones are best for them to use when and how.

Q: Are there plans to enhance the 2 GB database size limit in Visual FoxPro?

A: The 2 GB limit is per table, not per database. We do not have any plans to extend the 2 GB table size limit in Visual FoxPro due to many reasons including the 32-bit architecture that already exists within the product. For large, scalable databases we recommend SQL Server 2005.

Q: How is Visual FoxPro related to Windows Vista?

Visual FoxPro 9 Service Pack 2 will be fully supported on Windows Vista. SP2 is planned to be released by end of Summer of 2007.

Q: Are there plans for Visual FoxPro to support 64-bit versions of the Windows operating system?

No. While Visual FoxPro will remain 32-bit and not natively use 64-bit addressing, it will run in 32-bit compatibility mode. Visual Studio 2005 supports creating native 64-bit applications.

Q: How do you position Visual FoxPro in relation to Microsoft Access?

Microsoft Access, the database in Office, is the most broadly used and easiest-to-learn database tool that Microsoft offers. If you are new to databases, if you are building applications that take advantage of Microsoft Office, or if you want an interactive product with plenty of convenience, then choose Microsoft Access. Visual FoxPro is a powerful rapid application development (RAD) tool for creating relational database applications. If you are a database developer who builds applications for a living and you want ultimate speed and power, then choose Visual FoxPro.

Q: Is Visual FoxPro part of Visual Studio .NET?

A: No. Visual FoxPro 9.0 is a stand-alone database development tool which is compatible and evolutionary from previous versions of Visual FoxPro. Visual FoxPro 9.0 does not use or install the Windows .NET Framework. Visual FoxPro 9.0 is compatible with Visual Studio .NET the area of XML Web services, XML support, VFP OLE DB provider, and more. Visual FoxPro and Visual Studio are complimentary tools that work great together, such as Visual FoxPro 9.0 plus ASP.NET for adding WebForm front ends and mobile device front ends to Visual FoxPro applications.

Q: What is Microsoft's position on Visual FoxPro related to Visual Studio and .NET?

A: We do not have plans to merge Visual FoxPro into Visual Studio and .NET, and there are no plans to create any sort of new Visual FoxPro .NET language. Instead, we are working on adding many of the great features found in Visual FoxPro into upcoming versions of Visual Studio, just like we've added great Visual Studio features into Visual FoxPro. If you want to do .NET programming, you should choose a .NET language with Visual Studio.

Q: Should Visual FoxPro developers who are learning and adopting .NET programming chose Visual Basic or C# as their primary .NET programming language?

A: It is really up to developers and companies to decide which .NET language is best for them. C# is generally for developers who like to write and control all of their code, very source code centric. Visual Basic is more RAD (rapid application development) and ease of use oriented while providing access to the full power of the .NET Framework.

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