Actually there is no difference between VFP 5, 6 and 7 applications when it comes to converting them for use over the Web. Because of the nature of the World-Wide-Web, there is no way you could take an existing FoxPro application and just get it to run over the web. Web browsers receive information in a language called HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) and send information back to servers using HTML forms. In order for FoxPro to communicate with web browsers it must be able to read the input of HTML forms, and format its output as HTML text. For this reason, the input and output routines of existing applications will have to be re-written. Other procedures handling the logic of the application, (e.g. queries, data-updates, etc.) can remain as is.
You may have heard about VFP 6 and 7's capabilities in terms of compiling your applications as ActiveX controls, which can be executed within Microsoft Internet Explorer. It is true that this capability may allow you to convert some applications so that they can be deployed over a Web server, but this does not make them Web applications. First of all, in order to run these applications, users will have to download and install the VFP Run-Time DLLs. Another problem is performance: it will only be sort of acceptable if all your users are on the same LAN as the Web server, or have very fast connections. In general, this solution is only feasible if you are deploying an application to a group of users that belong to the same organization. Obviously, in such a case you might as well install the application on their individual desktops.
FoxWeb Support Team
support@foxweb.com
Sent by Dianne Elliott on 03/18/2002 02:54:03 PM:
I need help/advice. My task is to convert (or at least direct the conversion of) a mature VFP 5.0 application to the web. The app has many forms and I'd prefer not to re-write them if this can be avoided. I've been doing a lot of internet research today. From what I've read, it appears that conversion would be relatively easy in VFP 6 or 7, but is going to be a real bear in VFP 5.0. What is my best course of action?