To work with large amounts of information and create complex database management systems, Microsoft developers created the Visual FoxPro software visual environment. For more than 30 years, its versions have been in demand in many commercial, research, manufacturing and other organizations.
Creating Distributed Database Tables
Visual FoxPro is a highly specialized program for creating and organizing a DBMS. Among the few competitors, only it can provide ample opportunities in programming in its own VPF language, which is a modification of the old xBase.Local and server databases
In the Visual FoxPro editor, you can write programs to work with local and network relational databases. It has a set of wizards and tools that allow you to "write" client databases for servers, which will simplify user access to them.Interoperability with other Microsoft products
This project, developed for Windows, has been owned by Microsoft since 1992, which means it is adapted to third-party spreadsheet formats, such as XLS (MS Excel). In addition to changing the content, they can be compiled with each other into new arrays.Advantages
- work with multilevel server and local DBMS;
- own VFP language with a library of ready-made functions and operators;
- support for more than 40 table formats that can be opened and modified in other software environments;
- high speed and visibility of work with large volumes of information;
- a toolkit of constructors, builders and wizards will greatly simplify the writing of program code;
- there are examples of work performed that reveal all the possibilities of Visual FoxPro.
disadvantages
- difficult to understand interface for beginners;
- meager functionality for designing programs;
- high system requirements for RAM;
- not supported by the developer.
Visual FoxPro is a complete software environment for creating and managing relational databases. Supports a huge number of file formats (some of them: dbf, fxp, idx, act, app, cdx, dbc, dct, fpt, frt, frx) and has a built-in programming language for solving narrow tasks (interacts with external data sources, performs export / import, has built-in SQL language).
Visual FoxPro can be downloaded for free for study and development directly from the official website of the developer, however, some extensions may be paid.
It has long been no secret that the requirements of modern computer users increasingly involve the use of voluminous information storages, which are called databases, and software tools for their management DBMS. Practically at any enterprise, firm and even the smallest office there is a need to implement conceived projects using databases. Among other things, built-in mechanisms for data retrieval (SQL query language) are often needed, as well as an interface for interacting with external software.
Despite moral obsolescence (compared to other DBMS) and a limited set of developer tools, this DBMS continues to be successfully used to solve a whole list of tasks, and the choice in its favor is due not only to its rich functionality, but also to the fact that Microsoft Visual FoxPro can be downloaded can be free.
It should also be noted that, given the widespread use of Visual FoxPro, this software will be used for a long time as the main software solution at a number of the largest enterprises in our country, not to mention the educational field, where it is still popular not only as a tool for working with dbf, but also as an IDE.
It should be additionally noted that many modern software products build their work by combining the necessary information into a single array (cloud service), which will be available to the user from anywhere in the world with a clear interface and the ability to quickly find the necessary information.
Especially for such purposes, Microsoft developed a software environment called Visual FoxPro, the main task of which is to create full-fledged databases and develop tools for working with them (update, delete, backup, etc.).
Visual FoxPro is a continuation of the popular DOS version of FoxPro., which in the distant nineties won the love and respect of developers around the world. One of the main advantages of Visual FoxPro is the fast work with the contents of the database with frequent access, modification and deletion of data by users.
In addition, the DBMS already includes many ready-made templates that can be useful for novice users whose task is to organize quick access to information and its exchange.
The nice thing is that the latest improvements to the software environment and a number of bug fixes are included in the latest version of the product. So, for example, programmers are provided with new opportunities for creating arrays with data, starting from scratch. The developers also took care of organizing the possibility of printing the necessary content and improved the search. Integration into Microsoft Office batch applications has been carried out, support for working with diagrams and the ability to create server applications have been added.
Initially, Visual FoxPro can only be downloaded in English(in the basic version, 30 MB in size) and yet this DBMS has a number of undeniable advantages over its old competitors.
This archive includes the VFP9RUS.DLL file.
Before installing a new service pack for Visual Foxpro, you must remove the Russified DLL if it was previously installed, because. when starting the environment after installing a new SP, it will give an error that the version of the DLL file does not match.
1) DLL is intended for Russification of Visual Foxpro developer IDE
2) Download and install SP2 for Visual Foxpro 9.0
3) For those who have Russian Windows installed and the country Russia is specified in the regional settings, you just need to copy this file to the directory where Visual Foxpro is installed.
4) For those who have a different country in their regional settings, you need to rename this file to VFP9ENU.DLL and copy this file to the directory where Visual Foxpro is installed, after creating a copy of the original file, so that if necessary, return everything as it was.
5) If for some reason it is necessary to remove the crack, then for 3) - you need to delete the VFP9RUS.DLL file from the Visual Foxpro directory, for 4) - unpack the original VFP9ENU.DLL file and replace the patched DLL.
(Do not forget to make a copy of the VFP9ENU.DLL file in step 4). Good luck.
Distribution Visual FoxPro 9+ SP2 for Windows - for those who don't.
If something didn't work:
First, the vfp9enu.dll file was copied into the vfp9rus.dll file. Then the resources of the same name were copied from the vfp9rrus.dll file to the vfp9rus.dll file
Resources 10, 2, 3, 4 have been replaced in the \999 folder.
Resource 1 from the \999 folder remained the same as it was in the English version, because when replacing it, the set collate to "russian" command does not work. Also, resource 5 from the \999 folder - left the English version, because. I found a description of the error on the forum: do not Russify the decryption for PEM (file 5 in the \999 folder): otherwise, an exception when typing in MaxLenght TextBox "a in the properties window.
The VFP9RUS.DLL file is copied to the Visual Foxpro directory. When you start the shell, the menu shows in Russian - for Russian Windows.
You use this file at your own risk. There are no guarantees. For fatal or other errors, simply remove the VFP9RUS.DLL file from the Visual Foxpro directory.
Before downloading the file, make a note of the version number of Visual FoxPro you have installed. Select the DLL to download with the same version number as the one installed on your computer. Download the archive. Unpack the Russian version of the DLL into the Visual FoxPro directory. When you start the program menu will be in Russian, if you have the Russian version of XP installed and the Russian language for date/time/number formats is set in the regional settings. If you download a DLL version that does not match the one installed on your computer, Visual FoxPro will generate a DLL version mismatch error on startup. To return the English interface, simply remove the Russian DLL file from the Visual FoxPro directory. For those who have other date / time / number formats set in the regional settings to get the Russian interface - 1) create an archive copy of the VFP*ENU.DLL file from the Visual FoxPro directory - 2) delete the VFP*ENU.DLL file - 3) Unpack the Russian file to the Visual FoxPro directory and rename it from VFP*RUS.DLL to VFP*ENU.DLL - 4) To return the English interface in this option, you must return the original version of VFP*ENU.DLL to the Visual FoxPro directory from the archive copy of the file (see. item 1). The name of the VFP*RUS.DLL file must be in uppercase. Attention - before installing the SP (update), remove the VFP*RUS.DLL file from the Visual FoxPro directory. After installing the SP, install the new version of the DLL (the version of the Russian DLL and the version of Visual FoxPro must match).
Maybe something else is needed. I have an English shell
It is possible that the regional settings are set to English by default. You can rename the vfp9rus.dll file to vfp9enu.dll and replace the original one (after saving a copy of it) in case you don’t like something, to return everything as it was.
It's possible that the locale is set to English by default.
In fact, everything is very simple. It is necessary to rename the file, by type, Upper("Vfp9rus.dll") ;) In places, when working with a file, such gizmos come out.
Precisely, the name VFP9RUS.dll must be in uppercase. It worked for me right away.
relational database management systems developed by Microsoft Corporation. The FoxPro programming language served as the basis for this software product. It belongs to the xBase family of languages, developed on the basis of the syntax of the dBase programming language. Other members of this family are Clipper and Recital.Originally FoxPro (original name - Foxbase) has been developed by Fox Software since 1984. In 1992, Fox Technologies was bought by Microsoft, new versions of the product have changed significantly and acquired the prefix "Visual". The last version of the original FoxPro, version 2.6, ran under Mac OS, DOS, Windows, and Unix; already in the version of Visual FoxPro 3.0 from MS, the list of supported platforms was reduced to Mac OS and Windows, and in later versions from MS - only to Windows. The current version of MS Visual FoxPro is based on COM and Microsoft says there will be no .NET version of the product. There is a Sedna project that should make it possible for Visual FoxPro to interoperate with .NET.
recent history
In late 2002, Visual FoxPro was shown to be able to run on Linux under Wine, however this essentially violates the User License Agreement (EULA).
In December 2005, VFP soared into the Top 20 on the TIOBE index for the first time. In March 2007, it was in position 19, making it a "B" group language. As of August 2010, VFP (combined with XBase) is at position 25.
In March 2007, Microsoft announced that there would be no VFP 10, thus VFP 9 (released to manufacturing on December 17, 2004) is Microsoft's last commercial release of VFP. Version 9 support continues with service packs that were released on December 8, 2005 and October 11, 2007.
Codenamed "Sedna" (named after the dwarf planet Sedna, discovered in 2003), work is underway on a project that is a set of xBase component additions to VFP 9.0 to support a range of scenarios and algorithms for interacting with various Microsoft technologies, including SQL Server 2005, .NET Framework, Windows Vista, Office 2007, Windows Search, and Team Foundation Server (TFS). Microsoft has released "Sedna" under a Shared Source license on the CodePlex site. Microsoft has clarified that the core VFP will continue to be closed source. Sedna was released on January 25, 2008. As of March 2008, all VFP 9 SP2 xBase components (including Sedna) were available for community development on CodePlex.
Version History
Operating system compatibility
| Version | VFP3.0 | VFP 5.0 | VFP 6.0 | VFP 7.0 | VFP 8.1 | VFP 9.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Windows 3.x | Yes | Not | Not | Not | Not | Not |
| Windows NT 4.0 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not | Not |
| Windows 95 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not | Not | |
| Windows 98 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Runtime only | Runtime only |
| Windows ME | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Runtime only | Runtime only |
| Windows 2000 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Windows XP | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Windows Server 2003 | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Windows Vista | In compatibility mode | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Windows 7 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Executable files
| Version | Return value of VERSION() | EXE file size | EXE file date | DLL file size | DLL file name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VFP 9 SP2 with Hotfixes | Visual FoxPro 09.00.0000.7423 for Windows | 5,648 kb | April 3, 2009 | 4,624 kb | VFP9R.DLL |
| VFP9SP2 | Visual FoxPro 09.00.0000.5721 for Windows | 5,648 kb | October 16, 2007 | 4,624 kb | VFP9R.DLL |
| VFP 9 | Visual FoxPro 09.00.0000.2412 for Windows | 5,620 kb | December 13, 2004 | 4,600 kb | VFP9R.DLL |
| VFP 8 | Visual FoxPro 08.00.0000.3117 for Windows | 5,236 kb | September 25, 2003 | 4,200 kb | VFP8R.DLL |
| VFP 7 | Visual FoxPro 07.00.0000.9465 for Windows | 4,260 kb | January 4, 2002 | 3,344 kb | VFP7R.DLL |
| VFP 6 | Visual FoxPro 06.00.8961.00 for Windows | 4,091 kb | August 18, 2000 | 3,295 kb | VFP6R.DLL |
| VFP 5 | Visual FoxPro 5.0.0.415 for Windows | 4,065 kb | January 24, 1997 | 3,148 kb | VFP500.DLL |
| VFP 3 | Visual FoxPro 03.00.00.0711 for Windows | 4,374 kb | December 16, 1995 | 3,657 kb | VFP300.ESL |
| FPW 2.6a | FoxPro 2.6a for Windows | 2,444 kb | September 28, 1994 | 2,946 kb | FOXW2600.ESL |
Further development
The development of the MS product is discontinued with the release of SP2 for version 9.0, the MS product will be supported until 2015.
At the end of March 2007, the MasFoxPro (MoreFoxPro in English) Spanish-speaking FoxPro community movement was organized, the purpose of which was to write a petition to Microsoft with a proposal to continue working on updating Visual FoxPro or release it to the open source community. On April 3, 2007, the movement was noted by the technical press.
Also on April 3, 2007, Microsoft responded to the petitioner's requests with this statement from Alan Griever ( Alan Griver):
We understand the FoxPro community very well and what played a big role in what we announced on March 13th. It's always a tough decision to announce that we're not going to release another version of a product, and it's the first thing we consider very carefully.
We are not announcing the end of the FoxPro project: FoxPro applications will obviously continue to work. According to our internal estimates, there are more applications that run on FoxPro 2.6 than there are on VFP, and FoxPro 2.6 hasn't been supported for many years. Visual FoxPro 9.0 will be supported by Microsoft until 2015.
For Microsoft to keep developing the FoxPro core, it needs to look at creating a 64-bit development environment that will include an almost completely rewritten core product. We have also invested in building a scalable SQL Server database, including the freely available SQL Server Express Edition. As far as forming third party partnerships, which we've heard about as interpreted by a number of major FoxPro customers, that would make it impossible to use FoxPro as it will no longer be from an approved vendor. We felt that putting an open source environment on CodePlex that balances the needs of both the community and large customers is the best way forward.
original text(English)
We’re very aware of the FoxPro community and that played a large part in what we announced on March 13th. It's never an easy decision to announce that we're not going to release another version of a product and it's one that we consider very carefully.
We’re not announcing the end of FoxPro: Obviously, FoxPro applications will continue to work. By some of our internal estimates, there are more applications running in FoxPro 2.6 than there are in VFP and FoxPro 2.6 hasn’t been supported in many years. Visual FoxPro 9 will be supported by Microsoft through 2015.
For Microsoft to continue to evolve the FoxPro base, we would need to look at creating a 64-bit development environment and that would involve an almost complete rewrite of the core product. We’ve also invested in creating a scalable database with SQL Server, including the freely available SQL Server Express Edition. As far as forming a partnership with a third-party is concerned, we’ve heard from a number of large FoxPro customers that this would make it impossible for them to continue to use FoxPro since it would no longer be from an approved vendor. We felt that putting the environment into open source on CodePlex, which balances the needs of both the community and the large customers, was the best path forward.
Notes
Literature
- Gorev A., Akhayan R., Makasharipov S. Efficient work with DBMS Gorev A., Akhayan R., Makasharipov S. Efficient work with DBMS. - St. Petersburg. : Peter, 1997. - 700 p. - ISBN 5-88782-132-9
see also
Links
- Visual FoxPro Home
- Visual Foxpro 7 Articles and Reviews (Russian)
| xbase programming language | |
|---|---|
| Implementations | dBase Clipper Visual Objects Visual FoxPro· Harbor Project · XBase++ · Flagship · xHarbour · Recital · Vulcan.NET · Cule.Net · CLIP · VP-Info |
| Frameworks | FiveWin Class(y) Harbor MiniGui LetoDB CA-Tools Nantucket Forum ooHG HBQt HBWxW DBFree Apollo HwGUI WxHarbour xbGTK xHGtk T-Gtk |
| IDE | HBIDE dBase Xailer Visual Objects |
| Instruments | Mediator DBFView Advantage Database Server EasyReport Clip2Win |
| Major programming languages (comparison IDE history chronology) | |
|---|---|
| Used in developing |
|
| Academic | |
Visual FoxPro is a professional relational database application from Microsoft developers based on the FoxPro object-oriented programming language. It has a large set of different tools for creating databases, managing them, as well as processing and storing data. It is very convenient when working, due to the presence of specialized designers, wizards, hint services, etc. in the application.
Visual FoxPro is fast with large databases. Supports the use of widely used spreadsheet formats to allow quick exchange of information with other Microsoft applications. The program has a large number of integrated templates and examples for quickly creating databases, even with a multi-level structure. On top of that, it supports over forty different file formats (act, app, cdx, dbc, dbf, dct, dcx, fky, fll, fmt, fpt, frt, frx, fxp, idx, etc.).
In the latest version of the product, the reporting system has been significantly improved, SQL capabilities have been expanded, the database search system has been improved, the function of printing data has been improved, the visual presentation of information in the form of graphs or charts has been fully implemented, and support for IntelliSense technology has been added, which greatly facilitates the creation of software. code, due to the auto-completion function when writing commands or parameters. Also, Visual FoxPro now provides the ability to save settings for the main window, dialog boxes, toolbars, and table settings using a settings file.
