There’s still software out there today that uses FoxPro for data storage.
Microsoft's FoxPro 2.5 Is Fast and Easy to Use (1993)
11–20 of 108 posts
Re: Microsoft's FoxPro 2.5 Is Fast and Easy to Use (1993)
#12Foxpro is top notch. And I have never used it. Here is why:
- My former best friend has created a software in 1995 that manages 30% of all vendor machine ( coffee, candy bars, sandwich) in Europe. The software uses Foxpro.
1) He tried twice to migrate to other dev tools. Never succeed.
2) His software is so good his company was in average 40% more profitable then competitors.
3) His CEO has bought 10 competitors of the same size in 20 years. Each time my friends software would replace the former. Than the financial margin would go up.
Re: Microsoft's FoxPro 2.5 Is Fast and Easy to Use (1993)
#13Foxpro had an embedded db engine and so SQL commands could be used directly in the language for fetching data, which made it fantastic for CRUD database apps, which is what nearly all applications were back in those days. The 'tables' we're just dos files that could sit on a network drive to make the application multi-user. I think there was some limitation with the SQL, e.g. no outer joins, but it was still very handy.
MS continued to support foxpro somewhat into the .net era but then it fell to the wayside. When Linq arrived for c# it made me smile because it harks back to FoxPros embedded SQL, although of course Linq represents a _lot_ more than just embedded queries.
Re: Microsoft's FoxPro 2.5 Is Fast and Easy to Use (1993)
#14Never worked with Clipper but my first job was building a replacement bookkeeping system to sell to schools. The original was built up over 20 years and the only real reason it needed to be replaced was the market was moving to online payments. Connecting to these systems from inside a school environment was a logistical nightmare.
I still recall being reminded about the raw performance that customers got out the original that couldn’t be replicated in a web environment. My standard reply was the reduction in data fix support calls in my version. Swings and roundabouts ;-p
Re: Microsoft's FoxPro 2.5 Is Fast and Easy to Use (1993)
#15For those curious about Foxpro, I found this link which contains a tutorial with screenshots on how to use it.
Worth it just for the very nostalgic Windows 3.1 controls.
http://www.dfpug.de/loseblattsammlung%5Cmigration%5Cwhitepap...
Re: Microsoft's FoxPro 2.5 Is Fast and Easy to Use (1993)
#16Foxpro is top notch. And I have never used it. Here is why: - My former best friend has created a software in 1995 that manages 30% of all vendor machine ( coffee, candy bars, sandwich) in Europe. The software uses Foxpro. 1) He tried twice to migrate to other dev tools. Never succeed. 2) His software is so good his company was in average 40% more profitable then competitors. 3) His CEO has bought 10 competitors of t…
I wonder if Microsoft could just open source it now. I can't imagine they're making money from it in 2021 and this would definitely add to the community goodwill towards them, which they definitely lack.
Re: Microsoft's FoxPro 2.5 Is Fast and Easy to Use (1993)
#17Foxpro is top notch. And I have never used it. Here is why: - My former best friend has created a software in 1995 that manages 30% of all vendor machine ( coffee, candy bars, sandwich) in Europe. The software uses Foxpro. 1) He tried twice to migrate to other dev tools. Never succeed. 2) His software is so good his company was in average 40% more profitable then competitors. 3) His CEO has bought 10 competitors of t…
I hope you didn’t fall out with him over a bad sandwich
Re: Microsoft's FoxPro 2.5 Is Fast and Easy to Use (1993)
#18When I worked in a college bookstore in 2014, we used FoxPro to record customer information when they bought a laptop.
Never thought I’d see it mentioned on Hacker News.
Re: Microsoft's FoxPro 2.5 Is Fast and Easy to Use (1993)
#19Foxpro had an embedded db engine and so SQL commands could be used directly in the language for fetching data, which made it fantastic for CRUD database apps, which is what nearly all applications were back in those days. The 'tables' we're just dos files that could sit on a network drive to make the application multi-user. I think there was some limitation with the SQL, e.g. no outer joins, but it was still very han…
It was flexible too - my all-time favourite application of FoxPro is Island ECN, one of the first big Alternative Trading Systems and a direct ancestor to NASDAQs current INET platform.
The matching engine was written in FoxPro for DOS! --- the source code is here-> http://josh.com/notes/island-ecn-10th-birthday/
Re: Microsoft's FoxPro 2.5 Is Fast and Easy to Use (1993)
#20Foxpro had an embedded db engine and so SQL commands could be used directly in the language for fetching data, which made it fantastic for CRUD database apps, which is what nearly all applications were back in those days. The 'tables' we're just dos files that could sit on a network drive to make the application multi-user. I think there was some limitation with the SQL, e.g. no outer joins, but it was still very han…
At least two major doctor/hospital softwares in my country still use FoxPro. But new features piled on top of decades old code base make it pain in the ass to use. (i.e. online communication with health insurance company halts the main program and launches a communication program every now and then)