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XBase
Appreciation
Protect a good idea from the onslaught of unproven fads!
A look at an innovative collections scripting language
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I have been called "outdated," "ignorant," and many other nice names for admitting that I like XBase in front of other computer professionals. I have found it the best standardized (or nearly standardized) Rapid Development environment there is. Don't get me wrong, XBase is far from perfect, and I have plenty of complaints and suggestions for improvement, but it still beats most other languages even with its flaws. (XBase is a term for languages derived from the dBASE III+ language, such as Clipper, FoxPro, and others.)

http://www.geocities.com/tablizer/xbasefan.htm

Regards,
Otto

Otto

Nice post. Very clever.


Thanks from Chile
Adolfo

Otto,

Actually, there was a dBase II ... which is what I used to start programming in 1982 under CP/M.

I've been using xBase so long that I can visualize most projects quickly and see just how easy they could be to build.

However, the problem is that the world has moved into new technologies that xBase simply does not support. I finally "bit the bullet" and really started to study, and use, Visual Studio 2010. Why ? Because the future is now, and the key to successful business applications will be to coordinate a variety of devices seamlessly. People want to use a desktop, laptop, tablet, and phone all to get their work done. Each has a great purpose. The desktop and laptop are no problem, but the tablet ( touch screen ) and phone are more readily addressed in other software then they are with xbase tools currently available.

I have a legacy application that will remain in xbase ( xHB + FWH ), but I'm now looking at developing a new series of products with Visual Studio. It will allow me to integrate the above platforms with the web, and even address incorporation of the Cloud.

Finally, there are many applications that now share data, and integrate together. They usually include guidance in Visual Basic and C# examples, but never xBase. Tying these into our applications is sometimes difficult, and/or limited.

There have been many calls for an xBase .NET compatibility. I believe people see that will be necessary for the future.

No one should make fun of you for using xBase. It is a solid platform, and it gets the job done very well. However, where newer technologies are evolving, we are not likely to keep up.

Tim

Hello Tim,
>No one should make fun of you for using xBase. It is a solid platform, and it gets the job done very well. However, where newer technologies are evolving, we are not likely to keep up.

I am using VS since version 2003. Then I took the painful update path to 2005. Then with some programs to 2008.
My pocketPC solution is still written with 2003 because updating would mean in practices to make it all new.
In the meantime my Fivewin ECR is ready.
http://forums.fivetechsupport.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=18877&p=99059&hilit=ecr#p99059

Now I am glad that I have all again in Fivewin. I do have 2010, too but I don’t use it much. Also I didn’t upgrade all the 3rd party components.

>but I'm now looking at developing a new series of products with Visual Studio. It will allow me to integrate the above platforms with the web, and even address incorporation of the Cloud.
Tim I hope for you that you have a mighty developer team to help you. As a hobby it is very nice getting all those updates and new features.

Best regards,
Otto

Otto:

How are you going to market and support this product now that FWPPC (and every other Windows Mobile app) is not supported on the new WIndows Mobile 7?

Randal

[quote="Otto"]Hello Tim,
In the meantime my Fivewin ECR is ready.
http://forums.fivetechsupport.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=18877&p=99059&hilit=ecr#p99059

Tim:

I too have a need to integrate the use of tablet pc's and other handheld devices and I'm very interested to know your thoughts about how you will "coordinate a variety of devices seamlessly" for retrieving/collecting data.

I spent quite a bit of time developing an app for pocket pc's (Windows Mobile) only to have it made obsolete by Microsoft's release of Windows Mobile 7.

There are so many devices available, each on a different platform. Android, Blackberry, IPad, Windows Mobile, etc. Will you be targeting a specific platform?

Thanks,
Randal

Randal,

I think that the release of FiveWeb by Laiton will fill that gap, since every device to be integrated should have a web browser...

The App will be placed into a Web or Local Server and it can be accessed by any OS Platform...(Android, Windows Phone, Windows, Linux, Mac, etc...)

Bayron:

Yes, this is the route I'm thinking of going however, I wanted to get some feedback about what other people are doing.

I am very interested in Fiveweb but I think you could achieve the same effect using any CGI app.

One issue I'm struggling with is how to capture a signature.

Thanks,
Randal

Bayron wrote:Randal,

I think that the release of FiveWeb by Laiton will fill that gap, since every device to be integrated should have a web browser...

The App will be placed into a Web or Local Server and it can be accessed by any OS Platform...(Android, Windows Phone, Windows, Linux, Mac, etc...)

Randal,
> How are you going to market and support this product now that FWPPC (and every other Windows Mobile app) is not supported on the new WIndows Mobile 7?

http://forums.fivetechsupport.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=21289
http://forums.fivetechsupport.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=19104&p=100380&hilit=windows#p100380

Regards,
Otto

Otto wrote:Randal,
> How are you going to market and support this product now that FWPPC (and every other Windows Mobile app) is not supported on the new WIndows Mobile 7?

http://forums.fivetechsupport.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=21289
http://forums.fivetechsupport.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=19104&p=100380&hilit=windows#p100380

Regards,
Otto

Otto:

So what does this mean? Will your app run on Mobile 7?

As to the signature, I know you can do this with FWPPC and I can do it now with our mobile app.

Randal

Randal,

>So what does this mean? Will your app run on Mobile 7?
At the moment I think you can’t use FWPPC to develop Windows phone 7 applications.
But also if you use VS you have to use marketplace to deploy your self-developed applications. This is not what I want.
But maybe this will change.

Best regards,
Otto

Randall, Otto,

First, I think its great if you can do it all in FWH / xHB. Its just that so many changes are coming in the tech world, and the vast majority is focused on .Net for business, and Apple for personal. I'll skip Android because I think that product is way to fractured.

The marketing issues is actually quite simple. Apple allows you to market through their App store. They take 30% of the price which I believe is quite fair for the exposure and ease they offer. Microsoft is now aggressively helping developers market new products, and its a free service. Once the logistics are finalized, watch for them to have a store similar to Apple's App Store. Both of these make it easy to market products, and updating is much easier.

Right now I could do the integration on a good ADS network. Portable devices, away from the business location, can have clients access the server via the net. Thus, a well written network program will function quite well.

I think phones are generally too small to conduct business. But tablets will have the same network connectivity.

The key issue will be the web interfaces. I used hosted servers, and they will be cautious about me putting any running programs on there. However, the Microsoft capabilities are fully supported. Microsoft also has an excellent set of website development tools ( Expression Studio ) which coordinate with Visual Studio.

Otto, you pointed out that other developers comment negatively about xbase products. So do tech support people who are critical of .dbf files. This comes from their own lack of knowledge, and it is sad. But, it is a reality, and when a potential client hires a consultant, I often do not get a serious look because I'm not using the tools they expect. I've come to a point of saying that it is a C based program which, like every other program, compiles to machine code. So, when marketing, my choice of development tools makes for a harder sale. Most of my clients are not informed enough on computers to know the difference, so they take the word of friends and "so called experts" who are similar to the people you encounter.

My main point is that my current income is to be derived from my xbase product, but for future development, I believe the only way to remain competitive will be with .NET compatible products. A perfect example of this is the move to the Codejock Calendaring system. We now have several FWH people using it successfully, but it is a lot of work, and we have to do more work to make it function then we would using Visual Basic or C#. Our clients want tools like the Outlook style/compatible calendar, but there is not enough funding in the xbase development world to make such controls available to us directly. I wish it were different and that I never had to make a change, but that is not the reality we now know.

Of course, when it comes to multi-device applications, Apple has the solution. To take full advantage, however, you will need to use their development tools, which are free, but that also means a lot of learning.

Tim